Patrick G. Eddington
Late on Friday, February 7, President Trump issued an executive order titled Protecting Second Amendment Rights. The order directs newly confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi to
…examine all orders, regulations, guidance, plans, international agreements, and other actions of executive departments and agencies (agencies) to assess any ongoing infringements of the Second Amendment rights of our citizens, and present a proposed plan of action to the President, through the Domestic Policy Advisor, to protect the Second Amendment rights of all Americans.
The core language of the order is aimed squarely at Biden-era policies, specifically reviews of presidential and agency actions spanning January 2021 through January 2025. However, Section 2 (v) directly addresses past, and by extension potential future, executive branch positions in court cases involving gun rights:
The positions taken by the United States in any and all ongoing and potential litigation that affects or could affect the ability of Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights…
Thus far this term, the Supreme Court has declined to take up cases involving state-level bans in Maryland and Illinois on so-called “assault weapons,” a pejorative, inaccurate term used by anti-Second Amendment activists to equate semi-automatic modern sporting rifles with fully automatic military and law enforcement rifles like the M4 Carbine or it’s replacement and the Army’s new battle rifle, the Sig Sauer XM5.
The one major case currently before the high court involves Mexican government allegations of gun trafficking by American gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson to drug cartels in Mexico. That case is scheduled for oral arguments on March 4. Whether Trump’s order will now prompt administration action in connection with that case remains to be seen.
Not included in Trump’s order was any language directing Bondi to conduct a review of existing federal laws affecting Second Amendment rights, a curious omission given the otherwise sweeping nature of the order.