The federal judge who initially sought lists of members of two gun rights organizations as part of an Oct. 7 order in the case of Reese v. ATF has vacated that order in response to a joint motion filed by attorneys representing the Second Amendment Foundation and the Department of Justice, which sought the change.
In that joint motion, which may be read here, it is explicitly noted, “The Government, as a general policy, does not compel disclosure of the identity of members of private organizations, and the Government did not seek to do so here.” (Emphasis added)
This notation tends to refute assertions made in recent days by critics of Attorney General Pamela Bondi which suggested she should be fired because of the judge’s initial order, for which she was not responsible, as the facts of this unfolding controversy appear to confirm.
Bill Sack, SAF director of Legal Operations, confirmed to Ammoland via telephone that the government did not ask for the membership lists. What apparently happened was essentially a misunderstanding by District Court Judge Robert Summerhays, which he immediately corrected by vacating his Oct. 7 order after receiving the joint SAF/DOJ motion last Friday.
SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut, also via telephone, confirmed Sack’s account. Ammoland reached out to the Justice Department, which did not immediately return our call.
In a statement released by SAF, Sack assured, “We had no intention of releasing any private membership data and were prepared to take all necessary steps to ensure our member list was not disclosed to the government. Luckily, the court responded to our joint motion promptly and vacated its original order. With that order vacated and a phone conference forthcoming as to the proper scope of relief, it appears we will have more updates on the Reese order in the near future.”
Update on @JusticeDept’s Second Amendment work, including recent court filings and initiatives to expand gun-owners’ rights nationally under @AGPamBondi’s leadership. Stay tuned— even more to come!!! #2A pic.twitter.com/7meoODjcv4
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) October 14, 2025
The court case around which this controversy is swirling deals with a challenge by SAF, the Louisiana Shooting Association and Firearms Policy Coalition of the prohibition on handgun sales to young adults in the 18-20-year age group.
In his new order, Judge Summerhays—a Donald Trump appointee—notes, “The Court will set a telephone conference at its earliest opportunity to: (1) set a hearing on the Motion to Alter or Amend Judgment, and (2) set a briefing schedule, if necessary. THUS DONE in Chambers on this 10th day of October, 2025.”
What started this flap? It was this language in Judge Summerhays’s initial Oct. 7 order: “Within twenty-one (21) days of issuance of this Judgment, those Plaintiffs identified at paragraph 2(b) shall provide to Defendants a verified list of their members as of November 6, 2020.” As noted above, the Justice Department did not ask for this information.
The joint motion which resulted in Judge Summerhays’ reversal was signed by three Justice Department officials, plus all of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs.
Ammoland News initially reported on the Oct. 7 Summerhays order here.
The joint motion language notes, “The Parties hereby jointly move to amend this Court’s Judgment, Doc. 82 (Oct. 7, 2025) in the following respects. To add the following underlined and bolded language to paragraph 2(b): “and (b) individuals and federally licensed firearms importers, manufacturers, dealers or collectors who were members of Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc., Second Amendment Foundation, or Louisiana Shooting Association at the time the action was filed on November 6, 2020 and who are identified by Plaintiffs pursuant to paragraph 5.” And to alter the language of paragraph 5 to replace “shall provide” with “may provide.” Given the urgency of the issues raised by the Court’s Judgment, the Parties respectfully request a ruling on this motion on or before October 14, 2025.”
Since her appointment as U.S. Attorney General, Bondi has been targeted by critics for a variety of reasons, while she has also been praised for actions including the DOJ lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for its foot-dragging on issuing handgun carry permits.
Major Gun Rights Group Calls for Pam Bondi’s Immediate Termination as Attorney General
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.
NAGR owes Bondi an apology. Even more, they owe one to their members.
I really don’t see that Trump is actually a fan of 2A. Trump is a salesman first, and proclaiming to be a proponent of the Second Amendment garnered many backers, possibly enough to get him elected. I’m the first to admit that in the previous three presidential elections I voted AGAINST the Socialist candidates by pulling the lever under Trump’s name. I haven’t seen a presidential candidate to vote FOR since Barry Goldwater, and since then I’ve been selecting “the lesser of two evils.” Trump has, in my opinion, proved to be slightly “right” of average, but far to the… Read more »
I’m no fan of Pam Bondi, but before I will call for her resignation, I want to know who will replace her. She may not be a strong 2A proponent, but neither is she Janet Reno.
Thank you Dave for this important article and especially linking Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon’s video into the body of the article. I think your work goes a long way in reducing the temperature of dissent with many of us dedicated Second Amendment advocates with the current administration. I truly admire Mrs. Dhillon and the positives she brings to the DOJ. The video, which she didn’t have to do is great, and as a member of the first class of the 18 year old voters, I have watched politics a long time and I cannot remember any attorney from the… Read more »
I listened to Dhillon’s video. She is good. However, the crimes committed against the 2nd Amendment have been horrendous. I do not see the DOJ’s desire to gently work our way out of this mess created by anti-constitutionalists as needed. We have no guarantee that in 3 more years all of this will not turn around. We need to go full-auto, large bore, HEIAP ammunition, and get this done.
HLB
Off topic: Cheeseman case just started. Judge Mascott is on the court!!!f Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv7Q2UgFAcY
You all should apologized to Pam…..?
Caution: Fear of monsters attracts monsters. Republican voters have been burnt by their own elected political representatives so many times it is beyond any easy counting, as it would take a nationwide review of all local and state level republicans who turned out to be RINO’s and turncoats over the course of the last ten decades or so. The examples are seemingly endless. Like an often beaten and abused woman, dog, or unfairly treated stepchild, this leads to a certain quickness to ASSUME that we are being betrayed once again as this has been such a very common occurrence on… Read more »
This problem was bound to come up, and will probably come up again. Now that lower courts are not supposed to issue sweeping national rulings, we will be seeing more and more rulings that apply specifically to the parties involved in the suit. Those parties would be the named parties bringing the suit and the members of the organizations bringing the suit. For example if SAF, FPC, and Johnny Jones bring a suit against the government about some infringement and get an injunction, that injunction would probably cover Johnny Jones and the members of SAF and FPC, but not anyone… Read more »
I’m thinking that someone speak with forked, LYING TONGUE. They did want the list but didn’t want to have it known they were being completely tyrannical.