A recent video going around social media showing Donald Trump making a big promise to gun owners. But the former and possibly future President has, at best, a checkered record on upholding gun rights. If he’s reelected in November, America’s gun owners need to be much more skeptical of pro-gun promises from Trump and do a far better job of holding his feet to the fire if he finds himself back in the White House.
Let’s start with the video . . .
🚨President Trump: "I will ask Congress to send a bill to my desk delivering national Right-to-Carry reciprocity."#2ndAmendment pic.twitter.com/su8kuwoh1J
— AJ Huber (@Huberton) February 10, 2024
The promise he’s making here is pretty simple: Not only does he say he’ll sign 50-state concealed carry reciprocity into law, but he pledges to push Congress to get a bill to him. He ends his promise with, “You’re gonna have that.”
While I know there’s a portion of the gun rights community that would rather not have the federal government involved in concealed carry other than getting the hell out of the way, things have changed a lot in the last few years. With NYSRPA v. Bruen, every state now ostensibly has “shall issue” permitting.
We know some usual suspect states are fighting tooth-and-nail to screw people at every opportunity who lawfully carry, mostly by designating large swaths of cities as “sensitive places,” effectively banning concealed carry. Another tack some are taking is by limiting permitting to residents only…as in zero reciprocity with permit holders from other states.
Now it’s a matter forcing compliance under NYSRPA v. Bruen. But that’s a long, drawn-out process.
That having been said, there’s a more important problem: the question of whether Trump would actually follow through on his gun rights-related campaign promises.
Ironically enough, Trump’s term was arguably worse for gun rights than Obama’s eight years in office. Not only was no real federal progress made (concealed carry reciprocity, Hearing Protection Act), but Trump voiced support for things like “red flag” laws (“I like taking the guns early.”), assault weapons bans, and even ordered BATFE to ban bump stocks. This set the stage for Biden to use executive power on an all-out war on guns, using Trump’s actions as precedents.
While nothing truly terrible happened under Trump and what did get through is likely to be overturned by the courts, we deserved far better from him. And, to be fair, he appointed the Supreme Court justices who made Bruen the law of the land.
But with all of the people who act like he’s some kind of conservative messiah, surely we should have at least had some pro-gun laws come out of his time in office rather than the setbacks we ended up with.
So, given this track record, I’m very hesitant to trust his promise to work to expand gun rights in a second term. It sounds good and I’d be all for it, but at the same time, I’m not going to assume he’s going to do any of it.
It’s a binary choice, though. Barring Earth-shattering developments, there won’t be any viable actual pro-gun alternatives on the ballot this fall, so most of us are going to end up holding our nose while we punch the chad out or fill in that bubble.
Just be aware that our job won’t be done after voting for him. If he’s elected we’ll have to then switch gears and hold him accountable for the promises he’s making…a one-term lame duck President. We’ll need to keep our eyes on the ball and keep up the pressure to do right by us on gun rights. No one’s saying that will be easy, but it’s the system and the choices we have to work with.
7 Responses
Do politicians: Say what they mean or mean what they say?
Make no mistake, I still support Mr Trump.
Just my thoughts on the Trumpster. I spent 70 yrs in downstate New York. I also spent a couple of decades selling to such characters that occupy the “C” suites of big companies there.
Trump is pure NY. Dan Bongino is spot on in his description of all of us Queens NY born and raised folks. An enormous dose of bluster, verbal pushing and shoving, and lifetime relationships. That is the Donald. He is perfect for what he did. Sell and build million and billion dollar real estate deals. Soooo…. Here it comes…. HE IS NOT A GUN GUY. He has two sons who are !!! Yes he had a NYC permit. When you can hire 1k dollar an hour lawyers you could get one back in the day. So he had one. He also had his own security detail. See recent comments from Sammy the Bull.
Remember I mentioned Trump has this Queens NY relationship thing ? Well, he built one with LaPierre. He trusted this scumbag. Sad because when he needed advice on 2A he went to LaPierre. He got steared wrong. Like on the bumpstocks. But he did also appoint hundreds of right thinking lower court judges besides SCOTUS. That because others guided him on that.
What the 2A community needs to do now (whether SAF or GOA or whoever) they need to build a real relationship with him and his sons. One that Trump can rely on. Once again Don Sr. Is not by nature a gun guy. He really doesn’t know the history and key issues. He has to be guided.
Even if he could sign 50-state reciprocity, the Fascist states will just make the process so onerous you won’t dare carry there.
That’s just a sad fact.
Trump personnel couldn’t care about gun rights. That’s fine, since what he did for the judiciary (primarily the SCotUS) flats blows out any real complaints about him.
I really, really, REALLY hope we can get him in there, because the prospect of watching them lose their collective sh!t for the next 4 years straight will be a joy to behold… 😉
Like every other pDadolitician, pay more attention to what he does instead of what he says. They’ll promise the world and deliver less.
“This set the stage for Biden to…”
There is absolutely ZERO proof of this. Anyone who continues to utter that is operating on emotion over logic. The Puppet Admin now has a very long record of not allowing any “norms” to get in their way of trashing this country. To continue to push this nonsense, at this point in time, is borderline journalistic malpractice. It really shows the author’s bias.
When should we hold Congress responsible? Trump was a newbie. We had a Republican Congress. Why didn’t they deliver these “pro-gun” bills to the president’s desk? To find the answer to that question, you also have to ask why Paul Ryan & Co. said Trump wasn’t getting his wall. They had their priorities. They had the chance to permanently fix immigration. Their priority wasn’t their constituents. It never is. “Republican In Name Only” constitutes about 80% of the party. In other words, they’re the real Republicans. It’s no wonder people don’t like them. Their goal is to get a few wins for their corporate masters, while allowing the Dems to govern in other matters. Does that sound crazy? Check the history of the past two decades, and get back to me. It never ceases to amaze me how many passes people give to Congress.
While we’re holding the Republican Congress accountable, we also need to push for the Hearing Protection Act. That, along with carry reciprocity, should be very easy wins for a Republican Congress and President. If Trump refuses to sign those, then we can complain about him. I guarantee you he would sign those.
Hello guys!
Dan Z,
Will there be a future edit function for comments (please)?