Justice Department opens new office for gun-rights enforcement

The Department of Justice is opening a new office that will focus exclusively on gun ownership rights, bolstering the Trump administration’s effort to appease disgruntled Second Amendment proponents.

The new office, named the Second Amendment Rights Section, will be part of the Civil Rights Division and dedicated to upholding the right to bear arms, according to Harmeet Dillon, who heads the division.

The announcement of the new office came days after angry gun-rights advocates accused the Justice Department of “an open attack on the Second Amendment and the Constitution” for filing a legal brief in support of the National Firearms Act, a 1934 law that regulates firearms deemed “dangerous and unusual,” through tax and registration requirements. Gun advocates said the Justice Department brief argued it had the authority to regulate all firearms.

“This was a massive power grab by the Department of Justice,” said Aidan Johnston, the director of federal affairs for Gun Owners of America, one of the plaintiffs in the case. “They’re basically arguing that the federal government can tax and register any gun under the Constitution. That’s a major loophole to the Second Amendment, and gun owners were rightfully furious.”

The Justice Department brief was filed on behalf of the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The ATF is fighting to throw out a lawsuit filed by the Silencer Shop Foundation, which argues the government can no longer regulate silencers and other firearm equipment because Congress this year zeroed out the National Firearms Act tax.

The Justice Department brief defended the National Firearms Act and its authority to regulate guns, arguing its regulations fit within existing U.S. firearm laws by targeting “particularly dangerous weapons that could be used readily and efficiently by criminals.”

The GOA, which has lobbied to repeal the National Firearms Act, said the brief runs contrary to President Trump’s promise to make Second Amendment rights a priority in his administration.

Mr. Johnston said the new gun rights office is a move to appease critics.

“I think in the wake of that bad PR, you’ve seen the Justice Department try to appear very pro-gun this week,” he said.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to an inquiry for this report.

Mr. Johnston praised the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, which he said has been acting to uphold Second Amendment rights, even before the designation of a special office.

In September, the Civil Rights Division sued the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department for slow-walking thousands of applications for concealed carry permits.

“There are some really huge steps that the DOJ Civil Rights Division has already started to do with this pro-gun stuff, and so I think it’s great that they have this office to really focus on that,” Mr. Johnston said.

Last week, the division filed a brief in the Supreme Court supporting the plaintiffs challenging a Hawaii law banning concealed carry permits.

California, New York, Maryland and New Jersey have similar laws, so a win in Hawaii could expand gun ownership rights throughout the United States.

“As I said soon after taking office, the Second Amendment is not a second-class right. My Justice Department will continue to be the most pro-Second Amendment Justice Department in history,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

Mr. Trump campaigned on upholding the Second Amendment. He promised the National Rifle Association he would get rid of Biden-era gun restrictions and said “no one will lay a finger on your firearms” if he won the presidency a second time.

On Feb. 7, he issued an executive order calling on the Justice Department to propose a “plan of action” to protect Second Amendment rights.

In April, Ms. Bondi established a Second Amendment Enforcement Task Force and proposed a rule that would allow those restricted from owning guns, including some ex-felons, to apply for restoration of their gun rights.

The GOP’s sweeping tax cut bill, signed into law in July, zeroed out the $200 tax imposed under the National Firearms Act for certain weapons, among them suppressors, short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns. Gun lobbying groups sought to have the tax bill repeal the National Firearms Act, but the Senate parliamentarian ruled that a full repeal of the law could not be included in the tax legislation.