Bondi Announces Second Amendment Task Force at DOJ

Attorney General Pam Bondi is taking another step towards using the power of the Justice Department to safeguard our Second Amendment rights. In a memo released to DOJ staff on Tuesday, Bondi announced the creation of a Second Amendment Task Force, though details on the scope of its responsibilities and its makeup are still a bit fuzzy at the moment. 

“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. No more,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote to DOJ staff. “It is the policy of this Department of Justice to use its full might to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.”

That seems to be the only part of the memo cited by those who’ve seen it, so it doesn’t appear that Bondi’s announcement came with any particulars about when the 2A task force will begin its work and what its first target will be. The DOJ Civil Rights Division has already launched an investigation into the policies and practices of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department when it comes to issuing concealed carry permits, and presumably the task force won’t duplicate those efforts, but there are plenty of other places for the DOJ to start digging. 

New York City’s delays in processing permits appear to be just as bad as what residents of Los Angeles County are having to deal with, and the NYPD is already the subject of multiple lawsuits challenging the wait times, which would give the task force a head start on its investigation. 

Then there are those jurisdictions that are forcing gun owners to pay through the nose to exercise their right to carry. In some California communities it costs more than $1,000 to obtain a carry permit, and one that’s only valid for two years. 

The task force could also cast a critical eye on the numerous “sensitive places” that have been imposed since the Bruen decision came down, including those states that have tried to implement what’s sometimes referred to as the “vampire rule”; making all private property off-limits to lawful carry unless signage to the contrary is conspicuously posted. In the vast majority of states the status quo is the exact opposite, with private property open to concealed carry unless the property owner explicitly chooses to prohibit the practice. 

Beyond actively investigating abuses of our right to keep and bear arms, the DOJ task force could also lend a hand to groups like the NRA, SAF, FPC, and GOA that are involved in dozens of lawsuits across the country by providing amicus briefs in support of their litigation. In fact, with Everytown for Gun Safety trying to raise an army of anti-gun attorneys general, harnessing the power and the authority of the DOJ to buttress the arguments of 2A advocates would be hugely helpful in the months ahead. 

Of course, without details on the size of the task force and the scope of its mission, it’s impossible to predict what its first targets might be and what specific steps Bondi is prepared to take to ensure that the Second Amendment isn’t treated as a second-class right. Hopefully those specifics will soon be released by the attorney general or her deputies, but this is definitely another step in the right direction from the Trump administration.