Weekly Spotlight 5/23/25 – 5/30/25
DOJ’s Reported Shift Could Help Normalize Second Amendment Protections
A recent signal from the U.S. Department of Justice marks a potentially transformative moment for Second Amendment rights. The DOJ’s top civil rights official indicated that the Department is weighing how to prioritize gun rights as part of its broader civil rights mission — a move that could reshape the national conversation around the right to keep and bear arms.
For too long, the Second Amendment has been treated as an outlier — a right often excluded from the protections afforded to others enshrined in the Constitution. Reorienting the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division to treat the Second Amendment with the same seriousness as free speech, religious liberty, or voting rights would send a powerful and long-overdue message: the right to self-defense is a fundamental right.
Millions of Americans — particularly those in underserved or high-crime communities — rely on their Second Amendment rights for their own personal safety. Recognizing these rights akin to civil rights affirms the DOJ’s responsibility to protect all Americans, equally and without prejudice.
The momentum for Second Amendment protections is also growing in Washington. Over the past year, Congress has introduced national concealed carry reciprocity legislation, efforts to dismantle so-called “red flag laws” that bypass due process, and a new Executive Order investigating potential Second Amendment violations under the former Biden-Harris administration.
If the DOJ formalizes this shift, it could be a turning point — one that reinforces the constitutional foundation of the Second Amendment and reflects the priorities of millions of voters who made their voices heard in the last election. It’s time to ensure that the right to keep and bear arms is treated not as a privilege, but as a protected civil right.
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OTHER NEWS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Washington Examiner: DOJ Settles Suits With Gun Parts Maker In Win For Firearms Advocates
The Justice Department ended three high-profile lawsuits involving a gun parts manufacturer in a win for firearms advocates after Attorney General Pam Bondi committed to easing bureaucratic restrictions on Second Amendment rights. The deal marked the first major action from the DOJ’s Second Amendment Enforcement Task Force following President Donald Trump’s February executive order aimed at restoring gun protections. The settlement, announced Friday, halts the federal government’s efforts to regulate and seize “forced-reset triggers” under the National Firearms Act.
Bloomberg Law: Supreme Court Must Solve Split Menacing Second Amendment Rights
The Supreme Court and the Trump administration can—and should—step in to ensure every 18-to-20-year-old’s Second Amendment rights are protected from state laws and misguided judges. It was unfortunate to see the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit err in what should have been a straightforward originalist analysis under N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen. But that’s exactly what happened in NRA v. Bondi. The Bondi case involves a challenge to a Florida gun-control law that raises the minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21. The NRA sued Florida over the age requirement, arguing it violates the Second Amendment rights of young adults to keep and bear arms.
Breitbart: GOP-Led House Enhances National Reciprocity For Retired Officers, Still Nothing For Private Citizens
The Republican-controlled House passed legislation Wednesday to enhance national reciprocity for retired officers but has yet to deliver on national reciprocity for private citizens. The legislation for retired officers, H.R. 2243, passed by a vote of 229 to 193. After passage, Michel & Associates’ Kostas Moros posted to X: “The Founders would be disgusted to see the uninfringeable right to bear arms being so limited for regular citizens, while honored much more fully for police. Nothing against our LEOs, I think the vast majority are just trying to serve their communities as best they can. But we are all ‘the People,’ and cops are not Peopler than the rest of us. Reciprocity should be for ALL.”
Reuters: US Republican Budget Proposal Has Removal Of Gun Silencer Tax In Its Sights
U.S. Republican tax writers pushing through President Donald Trump’s signature tax cut priorities proposed to eliminate a customer tax on firearm silencers, a tax potentially undoing the almost 100-year-old tax. If the bill is passed by Congress and enacted into law, Americans would no longer be charged $200 when purchasing a firearm silencer, also called a suppressor, an add-on feature that reduces the sound of a gunshot. The firearm silencer tweak is only 12 lines in the almost-400-page bill, but represents a potential grassroots win for gun-rights groups that want to deregulate purchases of firearm suppressors, which currently require special approval from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
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