Earlier this month the Department of Justice announced the creation of a Second Amendment Enforcement Task Force to protect American citizens' constitutional right to possess firearms.
"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," the DOJ announced in a statement. "It is the policy of this Department of Justice to use its full might to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens."
Attorney General Pam Bondi noted in a separate statement what she believed was a huge contributor to the degradation of Second Amendment rights.
"The prior administration placed an undue burden on gun owners and vendors by targeting law-abiding citizens exercising their 2nd Amendment rights," she said. The Department of Justice's new 2nd Amendment Task Force will combine department-wide policy and litigation resources to advance President Trump's pro-gun agenda and protect gun owners from overreach."
The National Rifle Association commended the task force and said they anticipated positive results in the coming months.
"NRA looks forward to monitoring and reporting on these anticipated positive developments from Attorney General Bondi's DOJ and the newly formed Second Amendment Task Force," the NRA's statement said. "The Biden-Harris Administration's anti-gun legacy will no doubt keep the Task Force busy."
Cam Edwards, an editor at Bearing Arms, a popular Second Amendment news and opinion site, believed the task force "could be a big deal for gun owners" despite the fact that "there weren't a lot of specifics to go along with the initial reporting."
"Based on Bondi's memo, this task force doesn't look like just a bone thrown by the administration to gun owners, but a substantive step towards using the power of the DOJ to bring anti-gun jurisdictions to heel and to assist 2A groups in courtrooms across the country," said Edwards, who's also a frequent Newsmax TV contributor.
He added that the task force appeared to be "an approach that we've never seen before from a Republican administration, but one that would be very welcome for those of us working towards a robust right to keep and bear arms."
Other Second Amendment organizations applauded the task force's creation. The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), however, took it a step further.
They gave the task force its initial marching orders.
"As you may know, the Citizens Committee is one of the nation's largest grassroots organizations, with affiliate organizations in most states and members and supporters in every state," wrote Alan Gottlieb, CCRKBA's chairman.
Gottlieb then listed what Cam Edwards called the "Dirty Dozen" of states to investigate.
"I would like to suggest that among the Task Force's priorities might be to examine the patterns of egregious Second Amendment violations in the states of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington."
He explained that "All of these states have adopted laws in recent years which have essentially relegated Second Amendment rights to the level of government-regulated privileges."
CCRKBA followed that up this week with an online petition directed at Bondi, calling for the task force to take immediate action.
On a personal note, the Justice Department could also start filing amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs in support of any Second Amendment cases that may come before the U.S. Supreme Court. There are two in particular that the court has yet to act on. They are:
- Snope v. Brown: which asks whether the Constitution permits the state of Maryland to ban so-called "assault rifles," semiautomatic rifles that are in common use for lawful purposes; and,
- Ocean State Tactical, LLC v. Rhode Island: which asks whether a retrospective and confiscatory ban on the possession of so-called "high capacity" gun magazines that are also in common use violates the Second Amendment.
These two cases have been sitting in the Supreme Court for months. While they haven't agreed to hear the cases, they haven't declined them either.
Perhaps an amicus brief from the Justice Department would be just the ticket to get the ball rolling.
Jacob Creech, who writes under the handle "Clandestine" asked, "Do you all realize how good we have it?" and added a long list of Trump administration accomplishments — before even Trump's first 100 days.
"Just because certain things haven't happened yet, doesn't mean they are not being worked on," he concluded. "It's a marathon, not a sprint. Embrace the process."
It's coming. Merely establishing the task force is a positive first step and another promise kept. The results will come in time.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and is a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He's also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and a Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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