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Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) welcomed reports that the Trump Administration will establish a dedicated Second Amendment rights section within the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice—an action that directly reflects FPC’s top executive-branch recommendation and a priority first proposed by FPC during the previous Trump Administration. The new office is expected to officially ramp up in early December.
FPC has consistently called for the creation of such a legal arm as part of a broader, long-term strategy to challenge and dismantle unconstitutional state and local restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms. The new section represents a vital infrastructure piece needed to confront what FPC has described as the ‘Axis of Authoritarianism’—governments that continue to defy Supreme Court precedent and block the exercise of fundamental rights.
FPC described the administration’s move as a major step toward properly recognizing the Second Amendment as protecting a real right that warrants the same institutional protection as all other enumerated rights. FPC also emphasized the importance of appointing leadership with deep expertise in original-public-meaning jurisprudence to ensure that the new section’s work remains faithful to the Constitution, as recommended in FPC’s White House briefing.
Said FPC President Brandon Combs about the new DOJ office, “This is a great move by the Trump Administration. Gun owners certainly have something to be thankful for this year.”
FPC urged the Administration to ensure that the new section is fully integrated with the nation’s leading Second Amendment litigation groups and subject-matter experts, maintaining tight alignment with established long-term strategy, legal theory, and ongoing high-impact constitutional cases.
“If this new section is led by genuine Second Amendment litigation experts, faithfully grounded in the original public meaning of the Constitution, and fully coordinated with the groups and firms already driving the long-term strategy, this could be a significant step forward for the fight for liberty and the right to keep and bear arms,” Combs explained. “There is already a strong long-term strategy being implemented across the country, so the DOJ should integrate and partner rather than starting from scratch or going its own way.”
While optimism is high, FPC noted that the DOJ continues—at this moment—to advance harmful and anti-originalist arguments in multiple ongoing cases, including efforts that would narrow or even reverse major Second Amendment victories protecting millions of peaceable Americans. FPC called on the Administration to immediately halt these contradictory litigation positions and begin supporting—rather than opposing—strong constitutional litigation that advances the very rights this new DOJ section is intended to protect.
“One of the new section’s first responsibilities should be to coordinate with litigators and support Supreme Court review in strong cases,” Combs said. “And the DOJ needs to realign its litigation positions to stop undermining the very rights this new office is intended to safeguard. The DOJ must stop encouraging the Court to take up weak or strategically harmful cases and end its active opposition to pro-rights lawsuits already in progress.”
FPC looks forward to working with the Administration to ensure that the new DOJ section is structured for long-term success, led by advocates and experts committed to proper constitutional interpretation, and fully aligned with the strong national strategy to restore the right to keep and bear arms at all levels of government.
About Firearms Policy Coalition
Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) — a 501(c)(4) nonprofit membership organization — exists to create a world of maximal individual liberty, defend constitutional rights, and restore the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. FPC pursues these goals through strategic litigation, legal scholarship, amicus briefing, legislative and regulatory advocacy, grassroots activism, education, and outreach. FPC’s legal arm, FPC Law, is the nation’s leading initiative dedicated to restoring the right to keep and bear arms across the United States. To learn more about FPC’s lawsuits and pro–Second Amendment efforts, sign up for FPC news alerts at firearmspolicy.org and follow FPC on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
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