U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Wednesday the creation of a Second Amendment Enforcement Task Force to protect the fundamental right to keep and bear arms.
The task force is part of Bondi’s response to President Donald Trump’s executive order of February 7 to root out unconstitutional Biden Administration rules on firearms and roll them back to protect the Second Amendment rights of all Americans.
“For too long, the Second Amendment, which establishes the fundamental individual right of Americans to keep and bear arms, has been treated as a second-class right,” Bondi wrote in a memo to Department of Justice employees. “No more. It is the policy of this Department of Justice to use its full might to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.”
Bondi said that the new Second Amendment Task Force is one element of a comprehensive plan of action that she is proposing to President Trump.
“This task force will continue the Department’s ongoing work to implement Executive Order 14206 and protect the fundamental right secured by the Second Amendment,” she wrote. “The Task Force is principally charged with developing and executing strategies to use litigation and policy to advance, protect, and promote compliance with the Second Amendment.”
Bondi will chair the task force and the associate attorney general will serve as the vice chair. Other members of the task force will include representatives from Bondi’s personal staff, the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the Office of the Associate Attorney General, the Office of the Solicitor General, the Civil Division, the Civil Rights Division, the Criminal Division, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“The prior administration placed an undue burden on gun owners and vendors by targeting law-abiding citizens exercising their Second Amendment rights,” Bondi said in a press release announcing the action. “The Department of Justice’s new Second Amendment Task Force will combine department-wide policy and litigation resources to advance President Trump’s pro-gun agenda and protect gun owners from overreach.”
Of course, pro-gun organizations, including the Citizens Committee On The Right To Keep And Bear Arms (CCRKBA), reacted very positively to AG Bondi’s announcement.
“This is the news we’ve been waiting for,” said Alan Gottlieb, CCRKBA chairman. “From the wording of Attorney General Bondi’s memo, it looks like ‘gloves off’ time may have finally arrived. It marks a significant, and welcome change at the Department of Justice, because it is clear we now have leadership in place which treats gun owners as allies instead of antagonists.”
Gottlieb added that his organization is hopeful the task force will have a long-term effect on the freedom of all American gun owners.
“We’re hoping this bold step by Attorney General Bondi brings an end to years of harassment and penalization of gun owners and begins the process of dismantling unconstitutional laws and regulations at the federal, state and local levels of government,” Gottlieb said. “The Second Amendment protects a first-class right, and it feels great that after years of fighting this battle, gun owners now have support, rather than resistance, from the Department of Justice, and an administration that is definitely in our corner.”
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