By the end of 2017, President Trump had built up a record as a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights.[1]
Legislation signed, 2017
February 28, 2017—President Trump signed a bill into law (Public Law 115–8)[2] repealing a Social Security Administration rule adding mental disability determinations to the background check registry, subject to a person applying to be removed from the list.[3][4][5] Congress had passed a law requiring federal agencies to search their records for people who were “mentally defective”, and the Social Security Administration had published their method of gathering names on December 16, 2016. The regulation would have added the names of disability beneficiaries who have a mental illness or are not competent to manage their own finances, potentially leading to the removal of Second Amendment rights to many perfectly competent, mentally healthy citizens.[4][6] By signing the resolution of disapproval, as with other CRA acts, the Social Security Administration cannot come up with different criteria for supplying names to the background check registry for 10 years.
Executive actions, 2017
Starting early in his presidency, the Trump Administration undid Obama-era executive branch gun regulations.[7]
August 16, 2017—The Justice Department terminated Operation Choke Point, a program started during the Obama Administration that existed to encourage banks not to do business with “high risk” businesses and that was criticized by conservatives as unfairly targeting gun dealers and other businesses not looked favorably upon by liberals.[8]
Other achievements, 2017
While the following achievements were not official United States government policy actions by the Trump Administration, they were closely related to the Trump Administration and its policies:
As a sign of confidence in the Trump Administration by Second Amendment supporters, several media outlets reported in 2017 that gun sales fell deeply compared to 2016 after trump assumed office.[9] Others, however, noted that background checks for gun purchases increased to record levels in 2017.[10] The number of Americans with concealed carry permits continued to increase.[11] Ultimately, while the number of gun sales in 2017 was significantly lower than in 2016, it still became the second-best year on record for gun sales in the U.S.[12]
April 28, 2017—President Trump became the first president since Ronald Reagan in 1983 to speak at the National Rifle Association’s annual convention.[13]
Unlike left-wing politicians, President Trump did not call for gun control immediately after major shootings such as one at a Texas church in November 2017, noting that stronger gun laws would not stop such shootings,[14] noting that the gunman had mental health problems and that it was not “a guns situation,”[15] and he noted that the shooter was stopped by another person with a gun.[16]
2018
Executive actions, 2018
May 14, 2018—The Trump Administration began the process of loosening regulations for certain small-arms exports and changing the agency giving approval from the State to Commerce Department.[17] It officially published the proposed rule changes on May 24, 2018.[18] In July 2018, President Trump approved the State Department’s proposed implementation plan for the new policy.[19]
July 2018—It was reported that the DOJ had made a settlement with a 3D gun printer a few months prior, ending a lawsuit between the printer and the State Department over making blueprints for 3D-printed guns public.[20] In the settlement, the DOJ admitted that non-automatic firearms up to .50-caliber, including semi-automatic rifles, are not inherently military, and by allowing the release of 3D-printed gun blueprints, it undermined gun-buying regulations.[20]
Other achievements, 2018
While the following achievements were not official United States government policy actions by the Trump Administration, they were closely related to the Trump Administration and its policies:
Gun sales remained strong at the beginning of 2018.[21] After a major gun shooting in Florida, which began another left-wing push for gun control, the number of background checks for gun sales,[22] as well as concealed carry permits, sharply rose.[23] The number of background checks in April 2018 set a new record.[24] In addition, gun manufacturers’ stocks performed well.[25] While gun sales fell in May 2018, they still continued setting record highs,[26] and background checks in June[27] and July[28] reached the second highest levels ever for those individual months. On the other hand, some gun manufacturers reported lower sales because of the Trump Administration’s relatively pro-Second Amendment stance.[29]
May 4, 2018—Both President Trump[30] and Vice President Mike Pence[31] spoke at the National Rifle Association’s annual convention, where they expressed strong support for Second Amendment rights, among other topics.[30][31]