Pam Bondi’s DOJ Defends NFA in Continued War On Gun Owners

Pam Bondi’s Department of Injustice (DOJ) just detonated a political and constitutional bombshell.

In a stunning 48-page summary-judgment brief filed in SilencerShop Foundation v. ATF, DOJ is openly asking a federal judge to resurrect the National Firearms Act, preserve the federal gun registry, and declare that suppressors, SBRs, SBSs, and AOWs are not protected by the Second Amendment.

And they want it done with no trial, no discovery, and no further evidence.

Bondi’s DOJ claims:

• A $0 tax is still a “valid tax”
• The NFA’s registry survives even though Congress eliminated the tax
• The Commerce Clause gives DOJ sweeping power to regulate firearms
• The Necessary & Proper Clause authorizes federal gun registration
• SBRs, SBSs, silencers, and AOWs are “dangerous and unusual” and thus NOT protected by the Second Amendment
• The court should immediately grant judgment for DOJ

And it gets worse.

In the same brief, DOJ leaned on FDR-era “Necessary and Proper” and “Commerce Clause” theories to claim the federal government can regulate — and even ban — firearms it deems “particularly dangerous” or “easily concealable.”

In other words, Bondi’s DOJ isn’t just trying to resurrect the NFA — it is laying the legal foundation to prohibit entire categories of common firearms.

And it’s only possible because of one man: John Cornyn.

Cornyn’s Surrender Created This Mess

Let’s call it what it is: John Cornyn folded like a cheap lawn chair during OBBB negotiations.

When the Democrat Senate parliamentarian claimed a full NFA repeal violated the Byrd Rule and tore out the deregulation language — leaving the registry infrastructure in place — Cornyn declared “victory.”

And the establishment gun lobby helped him sell the surrender.

TXGR, NAGR, and GOA warned that gun owners cared far more about full deregulation than a mere $200 tax. But those warnings fell on deaf ears.

Cornyn and his spineless allies effectively handed DOJ a loophole — one that Bondi’s DOJ is driving a tank straight through.

Congress Warned DOJ: The NFA Is Dead — Start Acting Like It

Gun owners have said it for decades. The Supreme Court said it in 1937. Congress reiterated it in July.  But Congressman Andrew Clyde and more than 30 House Republicans put it in black-and-white on November 10th: the NFA is a tax, therefore it is dead.

Clyde’s letter spells out Congress’s intent clearly:

• OBBB Section 70436 sets the NFA making/transfer tax at $0.
• The Supreme Court in Sonzinsky upheld the NFA solely as a tax measure.
• The absence of a tax means there is no constitutional basis for the registry.
• Without the tax, the registry cannot legally stand.
• Without the tax, there can be no fingerprints, no serial number filings, and no federal permission slips.
• Congress killed the NFA’s enforcement mechanism — full stop.

Clyde told DOJ bluntly that the NFA registry on SBRs, SBSs, suppressors, and AOWs is dead, and that DOJ must enforce the law as written.

Bondi’s DOJ responded with open defiance.

DOJ Isn’t Just Targeting the Second Amendment — They’re Targeting the First

As DOJ was filing one brief to resurrect a dead gun registry, they filed another demanding something even more sinister:

The membership lists of gun-rights organizations.

In Firearms Policy Coalition v. Bondi on October 28th, DOJ demanded that gun-rights groups verify their membership or disclose their membership lists outright so DOJ can decide who is “protected” by a court injunction.

This is the exact tactic the Supreme Court has already ruled unconstitutional under the First Amendment.

Even worse, DOJ publicly denied seeking member lists, and Harmeet Dhillon defended DOJ based on those denials — only for DOJ to blindside her with the filing anyway.

This means one of two things: either Bondi is not in control of her own department, or the swamp is going behind her back to carry out anti-gun operations.

This DOJ is not reforming itself. It is not following Congress. It is not respecting the Constitution. It is actively targeting the movement.

Which forces us to ask the question every gun owner is thinking…

Is President Trump Even Aware This Is Happening Inside His DOJ?

If the President is not aware, then someone inside DOJ is deliberately keeping him in the dark. Someone is sabotaging his agenda. Someone is running a shadow DOJ that answers to no one.

If he is aware, then gun owners deserve straight answers as to why this hasn’t been stopped.

Either scenario proves the same chilling truth: in many cases, Bondi’s DOJ is behaving like Garland never left.

We Cannot Count on the Courts

Just days before DOJ launched its twin assault on the Second and First Amendments, Hannah Hill of the National Foundation for Gun Rights issued the most blunt warning the movement has heard in years: “The courts are NOT coming to save you.”

Hill is exactly right.

She explained that judges rule based on ideology. The judiciary is dominated by anti-liberty elites. Most judges do not want to uphold gun rights. The Supreme Court takes only a handful of cases. Lawsuits drag on for years. Bad laws remain in force during the entire fight. And victories are never guaranteed.

Bondi’s DOJ knows this.

That’s why they sprinted to court asking for summary judgment — fast, clean, and without scrutiny.

It is the same playbook leftist bureaucrats have used for decades: delay in court, regulate in the shadows, and outlast the voters.

The courts can delay tyranny, but only gun owners can defeat it.

What Happens Next in the SilencerShop Case

The plaintiffs will soon file their reply citing Congress’s letter, Sonzinsky, and DOJ’s blatant defiance.

The district court will then rule on DOJ’s outrageous request for immediate summary judgment.

The case will almost certainly move to the Fifth Circuit, where Peterson may finally be challenged.

And eventually, the Supreme Court may be forced to confront DOJ’s attempt to resurrect the NFA despite Congress eliminating its legal foundation.

And Here’s What Texas Gun Rights Is Doing Right Now

Texas Gun Rights isn’t sitting around waiting for judges or bureaucrats to suddenly discover the Constitution; we are preparing to file an amicus brief the moment it becomes necessary.

In the meantime, we are backing Congressman Clyde and every member of Congress working to gut what’s left of the NFA, and we are putting President Trump, Attorney General Bondi, and DOJ officials on notice that gun owners are watching.

If this administration does not start acting like it supports the Second Amendment, that failure will reflect very poorly on Republicans seeking office in the midterm elections.

So call the White House at 202-456-1111 and insist that President Trump rein in a DOJ that is actively defending gun registration and resurrecting the NFA.