The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday created a Second Amendment Task Force to advance President Trump’s agenda on gun legislation while easing regulation on ownership laws.
“The Task Force is principally charged with developing and executing strategies to use litigation and policy to advance, protect, and promote compliance with the Second Amendment,,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in the memo establishing the task force.
Bondi is set to serve as chair of the special unit while Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was appointed to serve as vice chair.
The two will work alongside staff from the FBI, the Criminal Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosive and the Offices of the Associate Attorney General, Solicitor General, Civil Division and Civil Rights Division in DOJ.
“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. It is the policy of this Department of Justice to use its full might to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens,” the memo reads.
The move comes weeks after the DOJ published an interim rule seeking to create a process for those with criminal convictions to restore their gun rights.
In early March, DOJ officials terminated pardon attorney Liz Oyer after she was pressured to add actor Mel Gibson, who was recently named as a special ambassador to Hollywood by Trump, to a list of those recommended for restoration of gun rights.
Gibson lost his right to own a gun after being convicted on misdemeanor domestic violence charges in 2011.
“Decisions are being made based on relationships and loyalty, not based on facts or expertise or sound analysis, which is very alarming given that what is at stake is our public safety,” Oyer said in a statement about internal operations.
