After promising for years to expand Second Amendment rights, President Donald Trump appears to be making good on his pledges by hiring pro-gun officials and signaling an end to liberal firearms regulations.
The latest indication came on Monday when Attorney General Pam Bondi’s chief of staff said the department was reconsidering past anti-Second Amendment positions, such as restrictions and taxes on “silencers.”
On X this morning, Chad Mizelle wrote, “Protecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens is a high priority for @AGPamBondi. To that end, the Department will be re-evaluating some of its recent litigation positions on Second Amendment issues, including silencers.”
Protecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens is a high priority for @AGPamBondi. To that end, the Department will be re-evaluating some of its recent litigation positions on Second Amendment issues, including silencers.
— Chad Mizelle (@ChadMizelle47) March 24, 2025
The statement followed the ouster and replacement of the pro-regulation counsel of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with Robert Leider, an associate professor at Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University and a Second Amendment legal advocate.
It also came after Justice told a federal judge that it needed time to reevaluate its prior opposition to silencers, or suppressors, being allowed under the Second Amendment.
That appeared to open the door to possible policy changes on several gun accessories, including pistol braces, that ATF has regulated and taxed under the National Firearms Act.
Knox Williams, the president and executive director of the American Suppressor Association, was especially happy with Mizelle’s reference to silencers.
“Attorney General Pam Bondi is delivering on President Trump’s promise to look out for law-abiding gun owners. We are enormously grateful for her leadership in correcting the government’s previous misguided litigation stance on suppressors,” said Williams.
He also told Secrets, “American gun owners who use suppressors to protect their hearing should not have to worry about landing in hot water because of unconstitutional regulations or weaponized bureaucracy. If the administration keeps up this pace, we could see historic progress toward restoring critical Second Amendment protections for firearms and suppressors.”
The hirings and possible policy changes suggest that Trump has finally become a full-fledged supporter of the Second Amendment. In the past, he has been cold to some issues. For example, he backed the ban on bump stocks and even wanted to ban suppressors.
While suppressors do not silence pistols or rifles, they do help to reduce the decibel level so that target shooters and hunters do not suffer hearing loss. They are very popular in Europe, where regulations are lax. In the United States, however, they are highly regulated and taxed, a policy hangover from the days of mob shootings and movie portrayals of the gun accessory being used only as a murder tool.
The moves pleased Second Amendment advocates who have been waiting to see gun policy changes ever since Trump signed an Executive Order in February calling for a review of current gun laws.
The National Rifle Association, for example, said on X that the Justice moves are evidence that “it will be reevaluating its positions on pending 2A litigation to better protect the rights of law-abiding gun owners. Another huge reversal from the previous administration’s attacks on constitutional freedoms!”
The DOJ announces it will be reevaluating its positions on pending 2A litigation to better protect the rights of law-abiding gun owners.
Another huge reversal from the previous administration’s attacks on constitutional freedoms! https://t.co/h1AjLkOEr8
— NRA (@NRA) March 24, 2025
Douglas Hamlin, executive vice president and CEO of the NRA, told Secrets, “The Trump administration is clearly showing its commitment to restoring and furthering the Second Amendment rights of America’s law-abiding gun owners. The NRA applauds this decision and eagerly awaits the Attorney General’s response to the president’s recent Executive Order.”
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Erich Pratt, the senior vice president of Gun Owners of America, told us, “GOA welcomes the news that the Department of Justice is reconsidering its stance on suppressors. Pam Bondi should take swift action to remove the U.S. Attorney who wrongly claimed that the Second Amendment doesn’t protect these essential tools. Furthermore, Congress must eliminate suppressors from the National Firearms Act — then go a step further and repeal the NFA entirely. ‘Shall not be infringed’ means exactly that.”
Patrick Parsons, executive vice president of the American Firearms Association, expressed some skepticism about Bondi’s record and said that Trump should eliminate most regulations. “We’re going to keep it up until the ATF is ABOLISHED,” Parsons told Secrets.
