By Chris McNutt
Washington’s swamp may have changed faces, but it hasn’t changed its stripes.
Just weeks after the Department of Justice and Attorney Harmeet Dhillon publicly dismissed reports that the government was demanding membership lists from gun-rights groups, the DOJ has done exactly that.
In a new court filing dated October 28, 2025, the DOJ—under Attorney General Pam Bondi—asked a federal judge in Firearms Policy Coalition v. Bondi to force pro-gun organizations to verify or disclose their members’ names so it can decide who is “protected” under an injunction against the Post Office gun ban.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve seen this play before: bureaucrats pretending they need “clarity” while they pry into the private associations of law-abiding Americans.
The Department’s motion claims it simply wants to avoid “confusion” about who’s covered by the injunction.
But in practice, the request amounts to a government registry of gun-rights activists—something the Supreme Court has already said violates the First Amendment’s protection of associational privacy.
And here’s the kicker: the DOJ made this filing after Dhillon, in good faith, went on record defending the Department and debunking earlier reports that it sought membership lists.
It’s entirely possible she wasn’t told this was coming, but that only makes things worse.
Because if even the DOJ’s own top lawyers don’t know what their subordinates are doing, it shows just how deeply entrenched the anti-gun bureaucracy really is—and how determined it is to outlast any administration that tries to reform it.
The anti-gun machine inside Washington keeps churning no matter who sits in the White House…
For decades, gun owners have been promised that “the right people” in charge would fix the problem.
But every time we get close to victory, unelected bureaucrats inside the DOJ and ATF throw sand in the gears—weaponizing procedure, redefining words, and now demanding private member information to chill political dissent.
At Texas Gun Rights, we’re not fooled.
We exist to defend the Second Amendment—and the gun owners who exercise it—not to protect politicians or curry favor with bureaucrats.
That’s why we’re standing shoulder-to-shoulder with every organization fighting back against these disclosure demands.
Because if the government can compel a list of members from a gun-rights group today, what’s to stop it from demanding the same from a church, a parents’ association, or a political movement tomorrow?
Gun owners have a narrow window of opportunity while a friendly president is still in the White House. We must rein in the bureaucracy now, while there’s still political will to do it.
Congress needs to cut off funding for any DOJ or ATF program that targets advocacy groups, and gun owners must stay engaged, loud, and unrelenting.
Because the next administration might not be friendly—and by then, the list will already exist.
Freedom isn’t preserved by trusting politicians. It’s preserved by the courage of ordinary citizens who refuse to bow.
And as long as the Deep State keeps testing our resolve, Texas Gun Rights will keep fighting—without compromise.
