On Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to “review” a wide swath of the Biden administration’s actions on gun violence prevention and develop a plan to “protect the Second Amendment rights of all Americans” within 30 days. The directive appears intended to eventually roll back President Joe Biden’s key gun policy initiatives and defang the ATF’s ability to police the firearms industry.
The Attorney General’s review, The Trace’s Chip Brownlee reports, will include assessing documents from the now-defunct White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, ghost gun regulations, the regulation of lawbreaking gun dealers, and a rule meant to reduce the number of guns sold without background checks. Notably, the order also directs Bondi to examine the Justice Department’s stances in Second Amendment litigation, meaning that the government could choose not to defend ongoing challenges to federal laws — like those against ghost gun regulations and age restrictions for handgun purchases.
Gun reform advocates had anticipated that Trump would give his predecessor’s policies short shrift. As Brownlee and The Trace’s Jennifer Mascia reported in November, on the campaign trail, Trump had promised to not only roll back Biden’s gun violence prevention initiatives but also to pursue an agenda full of gun rights priorities.
From The Trace
Trump Moves to Undo Biden’s Gun Policies: The president issued an executive order directing his newly appointed attorney general, Pam Bondi, to review Biden’s efforts to reduce gun violence — and develop a “plan of action.”
How Many Guns Did Americans Buy Last Month?: About 1.3 million guns were sold in January, according to seasonally adjusted estimates.
At the Salon, Philadelphia Women Sound Off on How Safe Their City Feels: Stylists and clients at two beauty salons spoke to a Trace reporter about how the city’s decline in homicides has translated into real life.
Coolers Are Banned Near This Year’s Super Bowl. Guns? They’re OK: New Orleans is part of a growing list of cities hamstrung by state legislatures hostile to gun regulation. Local police and officials have tried to find workarounds to protect citizens.
What to Know Today
The Firearms Policy Coalition only came into existence in 2013, but it’s already established itself as one of the most relentless pro-gun groups in the country. Its strategy is focused on waging campaigns in two distinct arenas: the courts and the internet. [Bloomberg Law]
In a memo issued shortly after her confirmation, new U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the ATF to “shift resources from its Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement Programs” to focus on other areas she outlined as Justice Department priorities, like supporting the Trump administration’s deportation efforts and targeting “transnational organized crime.” That shift apparently does not extend to the ATF’s enforcement of gun laws. [The Reload]
Early on a Sunday morning last month, immigration agents in a suburb of Austin, Texas, took an 18-year-old asylum-seeker with no criminal record into federal custody. The officers told his mother that they had a video in which he appeared with firearms and drugs, she said, but showed her neither the video nor a warrant. His story illustrates how immigrants, regardless of their legal status, are being caught up in the Trump administration’s deportation dragnet. [KUT]
A federal bankruptcy judge rejected a deal that would have allowed a second attempt to put conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s media company, Free Speech Systems, up for auction to help pay the $1.3 billion in damages he owes to the families of Sandy Hook victims. The Infowars host was found liable for defamation in Connecticut and Texas courts for spreading the lie that the 2012 mass shooting never happened. The bankruptcy court decision, praised by Jones on his show, further delays payouts to the families. [NPR]
Terry Sutherland, 58, is legally blind — so when he applied for a license to carry a handgun in his home state of Indiana, he expected that, at some point, he’d at least be tested by shooting a target. He was not. Sutherland, who does not believe all visually impaired people should be barred from gun ownership, now wears his permit on a lanyard to start conversations about gun regulations. [The Washington Post]
In the wake of the worst mass shooting in the country’s history, Sweden announced plans to tighten its gun laws, including by restricting access to semiautomatic weapons and clarifying factors that disqualify someone from getting a weapons permit. Ten people were killed in the shooting at an adult education center last week, and police are investigating if the attack was motivated by hate. [The Guardian]
A Chicago City Council committee is scheduled to vote on a controversial $1.25 million settlement in a civil rights lawsuit by the family of Dexter Reed. Reed was killed when police officers shot at him 96 times in 41 seconds after they stopped him for an alleged seat belt violation, according to an accountability investigation. Reed fired first at the officers, who were part of a plainclothes tactical team in an unmarked SUV. [Block Club Chicago]
Data Point
50 — the number of traffic stops the officers who killed Dexter Reed conducted on Chicago’s West Side in the days and hours leading up to his death. None resulted in citations. [Chicago Sun-Times]
Non Sequitur
HillmanTok, TikTok’s accidental university taught by Black educators, is a hit with students
A network of Black educators, experts and content creators came together to form HillmanTok University, for courses on more than 400 subjects. [NBC]
