Gun Rights Orgs Facing Trump DOJ ‘Opposition’ Aren’t Sure What To Make Of Its New 2A Division

Gun rights groups aren’t fully sold on the Trump Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision to launch a new Second Amendment Rights division.

Advocates frustrated by the DOJ’s recent litigation positions are reserving judgement, hoping its creation is more than a public relations stunt.

“The Justice Department’s stance on the Second Amendment is not much better today than it was over the past four years,” Gun Owners of America (GOA) Senior Vice President Erich Pratt told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “This DOJ has met us with opposition in almost every legal battle we have had.”

The DOJ has filed briefs urging courts to shut down GOA cases challenging policies that have since been repealed and defending restrictions like a 1986 machine gun ban. One of GOA’s biggest concerns is the DOJ opposing their challenge to National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) registration requirements, which the group declared an “open attack on the Second Amendment.”

Several firearms manufacturers filed a lawsuit challenging the NFA alongside GOA in July. When Congress zeroed the act’s $200 tax on certain firearms in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” it eliminated the “constitutional foundation” on which the NFA’s registration requirements rested, the groups argue.

“A new office doesn’t erase that record of hostility,” Pratt continued. “That said, the Civil Rights Division has already taken pro-Second Amendment actions in the past few months, and if a dedicated office builds on that work and produces real results, we will welcome it. Words and press releases mean nothing, gun owners will judge this Department by its actions.”

The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment.

In its Nov. 20 filing, the DOJ argued that the question is not whether NFA is “good policy” but whether Congress “exceeded its enumerated powers or violated a fundamental right in making those policy choices.”

Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde, along with 30 other Republican members of Congress, urged the DOJ to take the position that the NFA is unconstitutional.

“It remains our clear intent that these transfer and registration requirements shall no longer apply to firearms now subject to a $0 tax, for the reasons outlined above,” their Nov. 10 letter stated.

Other organizations, including the National Rifle Organization (NRO), filed their own lawsuit against the NFA in October.

The Firearms Policy Coalition, which is a party to the NRA lawsuit, referred the DCNF to its statement from its President Brandon Combs, who offered suggestions for the DOJ’s launch of its new division. He wrote that the DOJ needs to work with those who are litigating to support Supreme Court review in “strong cases” and realign its positions “to stop undermining the very rights this new office is intended to safeguard.”

“If this new section is led by genuine Second Amendment litigation experts, faithfully grounded in the original public meaning of the Constitution, and fully coordinated with the groups and firms already driving the long-term strategy, this could be a significant step forward for the fight for liberty and the right to keep and bear arms,” Combs explained. “There is already a strong long-term strategy being implemented across the country, so the DOJ should integrate and partner rather than starting from scratch or going its own way.”

 ‘Welcomed Sign’

President Donald Trump issued an executive order in February on “Protecting Second Amendment Rights,” and the DOJ has publicly stated it would make the Second Amendment a priority. Some groups are pleased with steps the administration has taken, which stands in stark contrast to how the Biden administration dealt with gun owners and manufacturers.

The DOJ and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) repealed in April the Biden administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, which imposed stringent standards for federal firearms dealers that led to licenses being revoked over paperwork errors.

The DOJ also proposed a rule in July that “will provide citizens whose firearm rights are currently under legal disability with an avenue to restore those rights.”

In October, the DOJ hit the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s with a lawsuit for an alleged “pattern and practice of infringing the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens seeking concealed carry weapons (CCW) permits.” The civil rights division announced an investigation into the department in March.

The DOJ is currently backing a challenge to Hawaii’s conceal-carry restrictions at the Supreme Court, arguing in a November amicus brief that the government “cannot enact licensing regimes that effectively eliminate the right to public carry.”

Despite disappointment with certain litigation positions, many groups remain hopeful a major shift is underway.

“The administration has made major strides in correcting assaults on our Second Amendment rights, but there is still a lot of work to be done and some notable opportunities for improvement,” Second Amendment Foundation Director of Legal Operations Bill Sack told the DCNF. “The DOJ has taken productive stances against state gun control laws, going so far as filing briefs in multiple courts agreeing with SAF positions. The DOJ has also indicated a commitment to investigating patterns and practices of constitutional infringements being perpetrated by state and local officials.”

Larry Keane, general counsel at the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), called the new office “a positive, welcomed sign that Washington, D.C., is finally beginning to recognize our efforts are part of the solution.”

“This marks a historic course correction in federal policy and highlights the Trump Administration’s continued effort to assess ongoing infringements on Second Amendment rights,” he wrote in a Dec. 2 post.