I’ve been very critical of the Trump administration and its schizophrenic Second Amendment record. On one hand, we’ve gotten dozens of new rules for the ATF, almost all of which are outstanding for gun owners to some degree or another. We’ve had the Civil Rights division of the DOJ go after state and local governments for unconstitutional gun control laws. The flip side, though, is that they’ve also defended some terrible federal regulations.
It’s enough to give you whiplash, and a lot of Second Amendment advocates are very down on the administration because of it. I know, because I’m one of them.
But some act like Trump is no different than Biden on gun rights, and that’s not remotely accurate.
While writing about the first batch of rule changes from the ATF, Reason’s J.D. Tuccille had some comments at the end that I think we all need to keep in mind.
The Trump administration has a mixed reputation when it comes to gun regulation. Last month, FPC called out federal officials for maintaining restrictive Biden-era rules as to what constitutes a firearm frame or receiver. “In case after case, the Trump Administration has adopted authoritarian, anti-American positions to restrict Second Amendment rights and prosecute those who exercise them,” the FPC warned.
But the Trump administration has also challenged restrictive laws, such as Denver’s ban on some semiautomatic rifles, and the Justice Department foresees the U.S. Supreme Court overturning others. Combined with the ATF rule changes, there are good reasons to believe the current administration is friendlier to self-defense rights than its predecessors.
Even if that “friendlier” stance ultimately means that this White House offers a mixed bag when it comes to rights protected by the Second Amendment, that’s still an improvement over the active hostility to liberty that came before.
Bingo.
I’ve said that the Trump administration is the most pro-gun administration in my lifetime. I’ve also argued against its defense of various gun control laws and regulations in federal court. These are not contradictory.
As Tuccille notes, Trump is friendlier to gun rights than anyone else we’ve seen, not because he’s a Second Amendment absolutist, but because the bar was so damn low.
He’s the most pro-gun president we’ve ever had because everyone else sucked oh-so-much worse than he does.
Trump has done a fair bit for us. This latest batch of new rules seems to contain some really great stuff, including one that will likely make it easier to buy a gun from my wife’s uncle, who lives here in Georgia, but not just down the road a convenient distance. That’s under his watch, and I’m glad to see it.
He’s not as good as we want him to be, though, and I think it’s fair to call him out when he or his administration drops the ball. I can appreciate what he’s done while calling him out when he’s wrong.
But, on the same token, we can’t demand more, then keep complaining when we get it as if nothing happened. Some of us, myself included, need to take a step back and recognize the good, still acknowledge the bad, and do a simple evaluation of whether we’re better off than we were when Trump won in November, 2024.
That’s a firm yes, so keep that in mind going forward, if you will.
Editor’s Note: President Trump and Republicans across the country are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.
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