Trump’s New Attorney General Pick Has Mixed Record on Guns

Outdoors of the President himself, few roles within the incoming Trump administration will wield extra potential affect on federal gun coverage than the Lawyer Common. His newest decide has a posh historical past on the difficulty.

Because the chief authorized consultant of the US Authorities and head of the Justice Division, the Lawyer Common (AG) will, amongst different issues, oversee the first regulatory company for the firearms trade and direct how and which federal gun legal guidelines will probably be defended in courtroom.

“President Trump could have an legal professional normal who will cease the weaponization of presidency in opposition to lawful gun possession and who will prioritize conventional legislation enforcement by catching and punishing criminals,” his marketing campaign promised the Nationwide Rifle Affiliation in an October interview.

After initially tapping embattled former Florida Home member Matt Gaetz (R.)—who withdrew from consideration only a few days after being proposed—President-elect Trump named Pam Bondi to switch him. Bondi served two phrases as Lawyer Common of Florida from 2011-2019, the place she championed some stricter gun legal guidelines but in addition often fought in opposition to others.

Right here’s a have a look at Bondi’s monitor file on weapons and gun coverage.

Submit-Parkland Tenure

Maybe most consequently, Bondi was in workplace in Florida within the aftermath of the 2018 Parkland college taking pictures. That incident, the place a gunman claimed the lives of 17 and wounded 17 others, captured nationwide consideration. It spurred many Republican politicians, together with then-President Trump, to contemplate new gun restrictions.

Trump invited Bondi to the White Home per week after the assault as a part of a gathering of native and state officers to debate gun violence and college security. She was the primary to talk and mentioned her workplace was crafting a “gun violence restraining order” designed to take away firearms from people regarded as susceptible to harming themselves or others. She referred to as the state’s current civil dedication legislation, which might accomplish the identical purpose, “weak” and mentioned she directed her workers to craft a model of a so-called pink flag legislation.

“I’ve had my solicitor normal on it for 3 days now engaged on it,” she instructed the President. “We’ve been rewriting it, and we’re going to herald one thing referred to as the gun violence restraining order.”

In an interview with Fox Enterprise a number of days later, Bondi defended the work of then-Governor Rick Scott (R.) and his administration in placing collectively what in the end grew to become a package deal of latest gun-control legal guidelines in Florida. These measures included a bump-stock ban, pink flag legislation, and a measure elevating the minimal age to buy a rifle or shotgun to 21.

“In a time of disaster, it’s about discovering frequent floor, and that’s what Governor Scott’s executed,” she mentioned. “That’s why nothing ever will get executed in Congress, in my view. Individuals are so polarized to at least one aspect or the opposite. We simply skilled a traumatic college taking pictures in Florida, and it’s discovering frequent floor, one thing each side can agree on.”

Relationship with Gun-Rights Teams

Bondi had an up-and-down relationship with gun-rights advocates throughout her time as Florida AG.

The Nationwide Rifle Affiliation (NRA) endorsed Bondi and gave her an “A” ranking when she initially ran for AG in 2010. In 2013, she signed onto the group’s lawsuit difficult the federal legislation setting 21 because the minimal age to buy a handgun from licensed gun sellers.

Nonetheless, Bondi’s relationship with the NRA and different gun-rights teams deteriorated from there largely due to her function in defending the state’s gun legal guidelines. Way back to 2013, the NRA felt compelled to challenge an official assertion to its members reassuring them that Bondi is “a powerful supporter of the Second Modification” after she fought the attraction of a Florida resident convicted of violating the state’s open carry ban.

“Though Lawyer Common Bondi is a fearless defender of our Second Modification rights, she’s additionally the state’s prime lawyer, with a solemn responsibility to symbolize the state in prison appeals,” Marion Hammer, the group’s former President and prime Florida lobbyist, wrote within the assertion.

Different gun-rights teams, like Florida Carry, have been much less forgiving.

“We now have not seen a Florida Lawyer Common take such drastic anti-Second Modification positions since 1987 when Bob Butterworth fought tooth and nail in opposition to hid carry licensing,” Sean Caranna, the group’s govt director, mentioned on the time.

Nonetheless, in later authorized instances, Hammer and the NRA’s relationship with Bondi proved simply as contentious.

In a 2018 lawsuit defending the state’s post-Parkland ban on gun gross sales to adults underneath the age of 21, Bondi fought in opposition to a 19-year-old plaintiff’s request to stay nameless within the go well with. That prompted the NRA to challenge a full-throated rebuke.

“The refusal to assist defend this younger lady is an act of bullying itself,” Hammer mentioned on the time.

Her workplace defended the legislation in courtroom in opposition to the NRA’s problem till she left workplace. Her successor has continued to defend the state’s legislation earlier than the Eleventh Circuit Courtroom of Appeals.

Different Gun Feedback

Bondi hasn’t supported each new gun restriction proposed throughout her time as a public determine. She opposed a semiautomatic weapon ban in Connecticut after the Sandy Hook taking pictures and defended Florida’s controversial “stand your floor” legislation, in response to a 2019 Tampa Bay Occasions article. Though, she additionally argued that cops shouldn’t use stand-your-ground to defend their shootings.

In 2014, Bondi used her discretion as AG to interpret Florida legislation as permitting personal, armed safety officers to work in public colleges regardless of statutory language banning firearms on college property.

“It’s my opinion {that a} college district might train its house rule authority to find out whether or not using armed safety guards could also be ‘in help of an authorised school-sanctioned exercise,’” Bondi wrote in an official opinion.

After leaving workplace, Bondi was an early defender of Kyle Rittenhouse after he fatally shot two individuals and wounded one other in a sequence of violent encounters throughout an August 2020 riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

“Folks have to know on the market that this was a conflict zone,” Bondi instructed Fox Information’ Sean Hannity throughout a September 2020 interview. “You’ve bought a 17-year-old making an attempt to guard his state.”

Rittenhouse was in the end acquitted of any prison wrongdoing in November 2021 following a high-profile trial that rapidly grew to become a trigger célèbre for some conservatives and gun-rights supporters.