In an unprecedented move, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) launched a dedicated Second Amendment Task Force—marking a historic shift in how the federal government approaches Second Amendment-protected rights.
Quietly detailed in an early April memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi, the initiative notably includes a representative from the Civil Rights Division, signaling a broader recognition of the right to keep and bear arms as not just a policy issue, but as a core civil right. Traditionally, the Civil Rights Division has focused on safeguarding freedoms related to voting, housing and employment; this marks the first time the Second Amendment is being elevated to that same level of federal oversight, placing it alongside the First and Fourteenth Amendments in priority.
According to the DOJ’s official announcement, the Second Amendment Task Force will use the “full might” of the department to uphold the right to keep and bear arms.
Bondi will chair the special unit, with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche serving as vice chair. The unit will collaborate with personnel from the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Criminal Division and with key offices within the DOJ, including the associate attorney general, the solicitor general, the Civil Division and the Civil Rights Division.
“The prior administration placed an undue burden on gun owners and vendors by targeting law-abiding citizens exercising their 2nd Amendment rights,” said Bondi. “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.”
For a community that has long viewed federal institutions as skeptical—if not outright hostile—to individual gun ownership, the DOJ’s new stance is a significant turning point. It is, of course, not an endorsement of any group or lifestyle, but it is a recognition that the Second Amendment protects a civil right.
From the beginning, the Second Amendment has been a fundamental civil right, rooted in the belief that individuals have the inherent authority to protect themselves, their families and their property. Historically, it was also a safeguard against tyranny, with its protections extending particularly to marginalized groups—such as newly freed blacks after the Civil War—who relied on the right to bear arms as a means of self-defense and equal protection under the law.
Many pro-freedom elected officials have voiced support for the Second Amendment Task Force; in fact, a public letter from a coalition of 26 attorneys general who all support the Second Amendment Task Force was sent to Bondi. The letter called this task force a “critical space for the federal government to devise innovative strategies to use litigation and police effectively in the fight to protect the Second Amendment.”
Shortly before the Second Amendment Task Force was announced, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division launched an investigation into allegations that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is violating the right to bear arms recently reaffirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Several concealed-carry applicants who met California’s licensing requirements reported delays of 18 months or more in Los Angeles, with little transparency or explanation—effectively denying their right to carry. The DOJ’s inquiry appears to be focused on the bureaucratic delays themselves and whether these policies amount to de facto denials of a constitutional right.
Beyond Los Angeles, the task force may also turn its attention to Colorado. Recently, the Centennial State passed new laws limiting concealed carry in so-called “sensitive places,” such as libraries, parks and public transportation and also passed gun bans and many other new restrictions. These laws have prompted outrage from Second Amendment advocates, as the “sensitive-places” restrictions effectively make it impossible for permit holders to go about daily life while both remaining in compliance with the law and ensuring their ability to defend themselves from violent criminals.
Some Republican members of the Colorado House of Representatives have subsequently called on the DOJ’s Second Amendment Task Force to examine whether the law is a targeted infringement that violates the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent guidance in Bruen (2022), which emphasized a historical-tradition test for gun regulations. As this was going to print, the DOJ had made no public commitment about investigating Colorado’s laws. Yet the Second Amendment Task Force’s existence means that states should be prepared to be held accountable for laws, policies and practices that violate the Second Amendment.
It’s too early to predict how far the DOJ’s Second Amendment Task Force will go. The announcement itself doesn’t radically reshape gun law in America. For the first time in modern memory, however, the federal government is signaling that it may no longer be in the business of just regulating guns—it may also start protecting the rights of gun owners. The establishment of the Second Amendment Task Force and the involvement of the Civil Rights Division sends a clear message: Gun rights, like voting rights, cannot be selectively obstructed.
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