Gun Rights Group to Bondi: Target 2A Violations in 12 Specific States

Six days after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced creation of the Department of Justice “Second Amendment Task Force” to protect Americans’ gun rights, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms sent a letter urging her to immediately focus the task force’s attention on 12 specific states where alleged “egregious violations” are occurring.

Those states are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington. The common denominator in all these states is a Democrat-controlled legislature and governor’s office.

As reported earlier by Ammoland, activists energized by Bondi’s announcement are calling for action in their states, many of which coincidentally happen to be on the above list.

CCRKBA is the first grassroots organization out of the gate offering specific targets for Task Force attention. Each of these states has adopted increasingly restrictive gun control laws and regulations, and not just in recent years, although they appear to have stepped up the pace since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen ruling.

In his letter to Bondi, dated Monday, April 14, CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb writes, “As you may know, the Citizens Committee is one of the nation’s largest grassroots organizations, with affiliate organizations in most states and members and supporters in every state…All of these states have adopted laws in recent years which have essentially relegated Second Amendment rights to the level of government-regulated privileges.”

In a statement announcing the letter, Gottlieb adds, “The time has come to put the anti-rights leadership in these states on notice that their crusade to destroy the individual rights protected by the Second Amendment is finished. On behalf of our members and supporters, we’re hopeful Attorney General Bondi brings the full force of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division against these Draconian gun control laws wherever they have been enacted.

“In our opinion,” the letter adds, “special attention should be paid to Washington, Oregon and California, where lawmakers have been essentially working off an agenda set by the gun prohibition lobby.”

CCRKBA lists “impediments” including permits to purchase firearms, prohibiting firearms carry in large areas, mandatory training and testing, which CCRKBA says “is tantamount to a literacy test.”

While Oregon and Washington have specific right-to-bear-arms tenets in their state constitutions, California does not. And, since CCRKBA is headquartered in the Evergreen State, the Bondi letter can be seen as a direct challenge to the state’s anti-gun Democrat leadership, including Gov. Bob Ferguson and Attorney General Nicholas Brown. Both were endorsed in last fall’s election by the Seattle-based and billionaire-backed Alliance for Gun Responsibility, one of the nation’s best-funded gun prohibition lobbying organizations.

Indeed, one look at the Alliance’s agenda for 2025 and legislation introduced by Democrats shows the “party for gun prohibition’ has followed its orders almost exactly.

As it turns out, one member of Congress—Colorado’s firebrand Rep. Lauren Boebert—is also suggesting that DOJ’s Task Force take a very hard look at her state.

Posting on Facebook last week, Boebert wrote, “The DOJ’s Second Amendment Task Force should begin their first wave of litigation against Governor (Jared) Polis and the state of Colorado for signing into law the unconstitutional SB25-003.

“The Second Amendment is clear: SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED!”

The three-term congresswoman adds, “SB25-003 converts our constitutional rights into a privilege – one that becomes only accessible to those who can afford it.

“For many Coloradans,” she said, “especially low-income citizens who have been terrorized by Tren de Aragua, SB25-003 creates a barrier that puts firearm ownership out of reach and renders them defenseless.

“I am urging the Department of Justice to immediately consider targeting SB25-003.”

According to the Straight Arrow News, Gov. Polis has signed “one of the nation’s most restrictive gun regulation bills into law.” Senate Bill 3 is a gun ban, but only on the future manufacture, sale and purchase of “certain semiautomatic firearms” which use detachable magazines. And, there is a way around it involving a training requirement and possession of a “firearms safety course eligibility card,” reminiscent of the Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) Card in Illinois.”

The Wall Street Journal notes sarcastically about SB3 that Colorado’s “new tack” on gun control is to “make it harder to reload.”

On the flip side, if Bondi’s 2A Task Force takes the suggestions from CCRKBA and Boebert to heart, it will become harder for Democrats in a dozen states to pass and perpetuate restrictive gun control laws, especially with the Justice Department hovering over their shoulders.

RELATED:

• Gun Owners in Embattled States Beg for Bondi’s ‘2A Task Force’ Attention

About Dave Workman

Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.