On Thursday, Assistant FBI Director Dan Bongino paid a visit to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, where he vowed that a “new era” is underway; one where “Americans will be kept safe and their Constitutional rights will be protected.” 

Bongino’s post on X.com was amplified by the White House X account on Thursday, but got an extra boost today when the White House compared his comments to Biden’s oft-repeated demands for a ban on so-called assault weapons. 

What a difference a new President can make! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Qyw5UCs2mV

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 21, 2025

If we were dealing with President Kamala Harris right now the ATF leadership would look very different than what we see today. Steve Dettelbach would likely still be running the agency instead of Kash Patel, and Pamela Hicks would still the agency’s lead attorney; continuing to rubber-stamp her approval of every rule proposed by the gun control activists who had the president’s ear, no matter how much it overstepped the agency’s authority. 

Instead, Second Amendment scholar and ATF reformer Robert Leider is now the ATF’s assistant director and lead counsel, giving hope to gun owners that the rollback of the Biden-era rules targeting gun owners, gun sellers, and the firearms industry will soon begin in earnest. The fact that the White House press office has now highlighted Trump’s support for the Second Amendment two days in a row is a positive sign that the administration is starting to put Second Amendment issues on the front burner, which is great because there’s still a lot of work to be done. 

Thank you, @POTUS, for defending law-abiding Americans and our Second Amendment freedoms.

— NRA (@NRA) March 21, 2025

Glad to see it! Shall NOT Be Infringed! 👏

— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) March 21, 2025

The change in the narratives is genuinely a great start, but let’s continue to see some action!

– Pass @RepThomasMassie ‘s National Constitutional Carry
– Gut and IMMEDIATELY Abolish the ATF
– Trash the NFA!

— Texas Gun Rights (@TXGunRights) March 21, 2025

I hate to break it to the folks running the Texas Gun Rights X.com account, but Trump can’t do any of those things, except perhaps for “gutting” the ATF. 

Massie’s National Constitutional Carry bill (as well as Sen. John Cornyn’s national right to carry reciprocity bill) have to be adopted by both the House and the Senate; a tall order given the 60 votes necessary to move legislation in the upper chamber. I have no doubt that Trump would sign either bill if they made it to his desk, but the legislative branch has to do the lion’s share of the work before that can happen. 

It would also take an act of Congress to abolish the ATF and “trash” the National Firearms Act, though Trump has redirected at least some ATF agents to work on rounding up and arresting illegal immigrants instead of going after gun owners and the firearms industry. 

What Trump can do is rollback every one of the Biden-era rules put in place by the ATF, along with its “zero tolerance” policy for federally licensed firearm dealers that treats even minor clerical errors as “willful” violations of ATF regulations that are worthy of license revocations. Frankly, I’m disappointed we haven’t already seen action in these areas, but with Attorney General Pam Bondi’s investigation into the policies and practices throughout the federal government impacting our Second Amendment rights now complete and with 2A supporters like Patel and Leider in place at the ATF, we’ll hopefully soon see concrete steps taken to not just protect our right to keep and bear arms, but to restore those aspects of the Second Amendment that have been lost over the years.