Gun rights groups see 'golden age' under Trump administration
The National Rifle Association's John Commerford calls Trump's second term the 'golden age of the Second Amendment' as the Justice Department announces gun regulation changes.
Objective Facts
John Commerford, executive director for the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action, said the organization views Trump's term as the 'golden age of the Second Amendment'. Commerford spoke to NPR after the Justice Department announced a series of changes to repeal or alter existing firearms regulations. The Trump administration is calling for a review of all Biden-era firearms regulations and the elimination of 'all infringements on Americans' Second Amendment rights'. The administration is using powers within the DOJ to align itself and federal regulations with the wishes of the gun rights movement. Gun control organizations including Giffords and Brady told NPR they are prepared to challenge portions of the final ATF rules in court that they view as dangerous to public safety.
Left-Leaning Perspective
NPR's reporting featured gun control groups directly. Gun control organizations including Giffords and Brady told NPR they are prepared to challenge portions of the final ATF rules in court that they view as dangerous to public safety. Brady's president stated 'Our mission is to free America from gun violence. These regulations go absolutely in the wrong direction'. Emma Brown, executive director of Giffords, acknowledged 'There's not enough urgency from our leaders. There's not enough action from our federal elected officials in particular' to get gun laws passed at a federal level. Kris Brown, president of Brady, made a specific argument about stabilizing braces: 'There's no public safety argument that can possibly be made for why you would want to eliminate the regulation of stabilizing braces. Because literally, if you buy that product and put it on a pistol, it becomes a short-barreled rifle. And the purpose of that is mass killing'. The ATF is working to unravel some of the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act changes. Leftist coverage focused on the public safety stakes and the timing. Gun control activists slammed the moves as 'dangerous and irresponsible' just days after the White House Correspondents' Association dinner attack. Emma Brown stated 'President Trump is doing everything he can to reward his gun industry CEO friends and donors', framing the regulations as industry favoritism rather than principled constitutional policy.
Right-Leaning Perspective
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called the slate of revisions the 'most comprehensive regulatory reform package in the history' of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Blanche said the changes bring gun regulations in line with Supreme Court precedent while cutting down on unnecessary burdens, stating 'For too long, regulations were written without any real understanding of how firearms businesses operate, how lawful gun owners handle their firearms, or what truly improves public safety'. Aidan Johnston, director of federal affairs for the Gun Owners of America, said 'We're winning on all fronts'. Blanche stated the administration's goal is not simply to reverse Biden-era policies temporarily but to build legal and regulatory changes more difficult for future administrations to unwind, saying 'We're not gonna take two steps forward'. When addressing expected lawsuits, Blanche said on the 'Gun Talk' podcast 'We're gonna get sued the day after we release these regs. We don't care. That's what we expect'. The administration hired Second Amendment scholar Robert Leider as ATF general counsel and Blanche called him 'a genius' on gun issues, saying the administration instructed him to 'rework every single regulation consistent with this president's directive'. Robert Cekada, the newly-confirmed ATF director, said in preemptive response to criticism: 'I've been a law enforcement officer for over 34 years. I would never let the public be at risk based on the regulations that we are proposing today'.
Deep Dive
Gun rights groups view the Trump administration's second term as a 'golden age,' with the president, his allies and Justice Department leaders claiming it is 'the most pro-gun presidency in modern American history,' with many in the gun industry agreeing. The specific catalyst is the Justice Department's announcement just four days after the White House Correspondents Dinner attack of a series of changes to repeal or alter existing firearms regulations. Since Trump's return to the White House, the tone has shifted from his first term (when he called for reviewing bump stocks), with Trump in an executive order calling for a review of all Biden-era firearms regulations and the elimination of 'all infringements on Americans' Second Amendment rights'. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called the package the 'most comprehensive regulatory reform package in the history' of the ATF and said the changes bring gun regulations in line with Supreme Court precedent while cutting down on unnecessary burdens, stating that 'regulations were written without any real understanding of how firearms businesses operate, how lawful gun owners handle their firearms, or what truly improves public safety'. Gun control groups counter that this is reckless. Brady's president said the regulations 'go absolutely in the wrong direction', and they are prepared to challenge portions in court. What each side gets right: The right correctly identifies that courts have already blocked some Biden-era regulations (such as the bump stock rule), and that the administration is attempting to formalize those court decisions rather than invent new law. The left correctly notes that ongoing mass shootings and violence complicate the timing of deregulation, and that these actions reverse a recent direction set by Congress in the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. What each side omits: The right does not reckon with the fact that around 44,000 people died of gun-related injuries in 2024 according to the Pew Research Center, or acknowledge that public opinion may not fully align with their agenda—Gallup showed a majority (56%) of Americans supported stricter gun sales laws and a slim majority (52%) supported assault weapons bans. The left downplays that some regulations being eliminated have already been blocked by courts, and does not engage substantively with the administration's argument that the changes align with Supreme Court precedent rather than contradict it. The regulatory changes are headed to a judicial showdown, sparking calls for lawsuits from both those who embrace gun ownership and those calling for gun control. With Congress as contentious and narrowly split as it is, there is no expectation that new gun laws will emerge anytime soon. The central uncertainty is how courts will interpret these changes. The Supreme Court has very conservative justices that have viewed gun laws with great suspicion, but also a court that has ruled that administrative rulemaking has gone too far, meaning the legal outcome remains unpredictable.