Emboldened by Republican Donald Trump’s win in the presidential election, gun rights activists are vowing to undo historic gun control programs instituted by the Biden administration.
At the same time, gun control forces are promising to fight “tooth and nail” to keep President Joe Biden’s programs in place.
Trump, the 45th president who is now in line to be the 47th, has assured gun rights organizations such as the National Rifle Association (NRA) that he will defend the Second Amendment.
“Your Second Amendment will always be safe with me as your president,” Trump told NRA members gathered in the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg on Feb. 9.
Randy Kozuch, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, said the association joined other pro-gun groups in getting their members to the polls.
“We are proud to have also helped deliver a pro-gun majority in the U.S. Senate to work with President Trump to defend the right to keep and bear arms,” Kozuch wrote in a statement to The Epoch Times.
Gun rights advocates say they expect Trump to follow through on his pledge. The first step will be to rescind executive orders and administrative rules issued by the previous president and federal agencies.
“We’re going to undo the damage first, then expand gun rights,” Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation, told The Epoch Times.
Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in June 2022. After that, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) ramped up enforcement efforts, redefined what constitutes a “gun dealer,” and adopted a zero-tolerance policy for firearms sellers who don’t follow the law.
In September 2023, Biden opened the first White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. In June, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a surgeon general’s advisory on firearm violence, labeling it an urgent threat to the nation’s health and well-being.
The unprecedented move by the surgeon general would allow the government to spend public health funds to address the issue.
A spokesman stated that the firearms industry will be pushing to reverse these moves.
“The first priority is to end the whole-of-government attack on our industry,” Mark Oliva, managing director of public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, wrote in an email to The Epoch Times.
“There should be no taxpayer-funded bureaucracy to deprive Americans of their constitutionally protected rights.”
Gun control advocates did not respond to emails seeking comment for this story by publication time. However, in online statements and member emails, they committed to continuing their fight.
Leaders of the gun safety groups wrote that this is not the first time they have faced politicians against gun restriction measures.
“The election of Donald Trump is deeply troubling for our safety and freedom from gun violence. And that’s why we will be doubling down on our work and fighting harder than ever,” Kris Brown, president of Brady United, wrote on the group’s webpage.
“The facts remain clear: Americans want a future free from gun violence, and Brady will work to deliver.”
Everytown for Gun Safety, founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, echoed those sentiments on its website.
In addition to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the Biden administration fought to regulate homemade firearms, which it labeled “ghost guns,” because they don’t have a serial number. The administration also supported Extreme Risk Protection Order laws, also called “red flag laws,” meant to disarm people deemed too dangerous or unstable to own a gun.
The head of a constitutional rights group based in Las Vegas said his members are just as committed.
Firearms Policy Coalition President Brandon Combs said that in addition to removing Biden’s gun control laws, Trump will have the opportunity to make appointments that will impact the debate for decades.
“[We] are optimistic about potential near-term opportunities as well as the long-term judicial outlook under President Trump,” Combs told The Epoch Times.
The leader of one gun rights group said he is pleased with the election results but will keep a close eye on Trump.
Dudley Brown, president of the National Association for Gun Rights, views Trump as an improvement over Biden, but he said the 45th president wasn’t as strong on the Second Amendment as he claims.
Brown noted that Trump supported the ban on bump stocks, devices that enable shooters to increase their rate of fire with semiautomatic rifles. Brown said this move “set the table for bans on pistol stabilizing braces.”
Pistol braces were devices meant to help disabled people fire large caliber pistols built on certain semiautomatic rifle platforms. The ATF ruled that the devices converted the pistols into illegal short-barreled rifles.
The courts later overturned that rule and the bump stock ban.
According to Brown, Trump also supported red flag laws and changes to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which he said expanded the list of prohibited persons under the law. Still, Brown said his group would support any efforts to defend the Second Amendment.
“Our job is to defend the Second Amendment no matter who’s in the White House,” he told The Epoch Times.
