U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche joined Breitbart News on the floor of SHOT Show Tuesday for an exclusive look at how the Department of Justice under President Trump is actively fighting to dismantle restrictive gun laws across the country. At the very moment of the interview, Blanche noted, DOJ lawyers were before the Supreme Court arguing against Hawaii’s concealed carry restrictions.
Blanche criticized Hawaii for what he described as a deliberate attempt to undermine the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen ruling, which reaffirmed the constitutional right to carry firearms. “They passed a law that was so restrictive — if you have a right to bear arms, a right to carry a firearm — in Hawaii, you really can’t do it,” Blanche said. “It’s very rare that the DOJ inserts themselves in a case, and we did that there.”
He pointed out how aggressively the political left works to suppress the Second Amendment. “They’re crafty, and they’re creative, and they’re violating the Second Amendment,” he said, emphasizing the need for vigilance in protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens.
When asked about easing regulations to make it easier for private gun sales between lawful citizens, Blanche confirmed it’s a priority. “We are very close to releasing updated regulations… How can we make sure guns stay in the hands of people allowed to have them? But also make sure that the people allowed to have them can sell them to each other… and not worry about ATF coming after them for a minor infraction,” he said.
Blanche added that the DOJ’s strategy includes both dismantling burdensome regulations and reshaping the ATF, aligning the agency with the administration’s Second Amendment agenda. “You’ll see a whole ton of regulations rolled back or adjusted consistent with Trump’s priorities,” he said.
The Deputy Attorney General made it clear that the Trump administration intends to reassert constitutional protections for gun owners nationwide. “The Second Amendment has been treated like a step-child, attacked, questioned… President Trump will not stand for that,” he said. “If you want to own a firearm, if you want to buy a firearm, if you want to carry a firearm, you have a Second Amendment right to do so—limited only by certain fringe issues, period.”
