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WASHINGTON (CN) — President Donald Trump on Friday issued an executive order demanding a whole-of-government review of federal firearms regulations, a move which appeared aimed at papering over gun safety policies inked by the Joe Biden administration.
But the Trump White House’s decree went further than simply undoing Biden’s legacy — its broad mandate invites the possibility of an even more expansive relaxation of federal gun rules.
The executive order, issued Friday evening and entitled “Protecting Second Amendment Rights,” directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to examine a cornucopia of federal orders, regulations, guidance and international agreements to determine whether there are any “ongoing infringements” of constitutional gun rights.
Among the areas subject to review are all presidential and agency actions implemented from January 2021 to January 2025 — spanning the breadth of the Biden administration. The White House instructed the Justice Department to locate actions that “purport to promote safety but may have impinged on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.”
Biden issued several executive actions during his term aimed at tackling gun violence. Most recently, the former president in September signed a tranche of orders aimed at addressing emerging firearms technology and improving the response to active shooters in schools. Biden in March 2023 signed a separate executive order hiking background check requirements for gun purchases and promoting secure firearms storage.
The former president in 2022 also signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a bill which further extended background checks, funded state gun control programs and took steps to close the so-called “gun show loophole” and “boyfriend loophole” for purchasing firearms.
Under the Biden administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms further clamped down on the proliferation of certain firearms accessories during the Biden presidency. The agency issued regulations banning the use of pistol braces and bump stocks — though the Supreme Court in June struck down the ATF’s bump stock ban.
The high court is also weighing yet another Biden-era regulation which took aim at unserialized firearms, or “ghost guns.”
All these orders and regulations appear to be ripe for review under Trump’s Friday executive order, which specifically denotes ATF and Justice Department rules as targets. It also requires the attorney general to take a look at reports and documents released by the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, established by the Biden administration in 2023.
But the order’s mandate goes even beyond actions taken by Biden and his agencies, requiring the Justice Department to review the positions taken by the U.S. government in “any and all ongoing and potential litigation” dealing with gun rights — opening the door for the scuttling of the firearms cases currently before the Supreme Court.
The measure also orders the review of federal agency classifications for firearms and ammunition, as well as the processing of new applications to manufacture, transfer and export guns.
The executive order gives the attorney general 30 days, or until March 7, to complete the required review.
The White House posed the Second Amendment as “foundational” to the protections of Americans’ other constitutional rights, adding that gun rights have “preserved the right of the American people to protect ourselves, our families and our freedom.”
Gun rights advocates hailed the Trump administration’s move to roll back federal firearms regulations. In a statement Friday, leaders from the National Rifle Association called the executive order a “monumental win” and framed it as a clear statement from the White House that he is following through on his campaign promises.
“After a long four years, law-abiding gun owners no longer have to worry about being the target of an anti-gun radical administration,” said John Commerford, executive director of the NRA’s legislative advocacy wing. “NRA looks forward to the advances and restoration of our rights that will come from President Trump’s respect for the Constitution.”
NRA president and CEO Doug Hamlin said the president was “proving worthy” of the votes and confidence placed in him by proponents of gun rights.
But gun control groups argued that regulations implemented under the Biden administration were respectful of the Second Amendment and should not be subject to review or repeal under Trump’s executive order.
“Let’s be clear: The bipartisan, life-saving and extremely popular progress on gun safety made under the leadership of the Biden administration is consistent with the Second Amendment, which is why 15 Senate Republicans supported the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act,” wrote Everytown for Gun Safety in a post on X.
Moms Demand Action, another gun control advocacy organization, said that its advocates were prepared to do “everything we can” to shield advancements made under the Biden White House.
“We fought tirelessly for nearly a decade for progress at the federal level on gun safety, and we won,” the group wrote.
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