By Holmes Lybrand, Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN
(CNN) — Days after a gunman charged security at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner in what investigators say was an attempt to kill President Donald Trump with legally-owned firearms, his Justice Department is further rolling back gun control measures.
“We’re repealing rules that went beyond what the law allows,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Wednesday at a press conference. “We are cutting unnecessary red tape, and we are replacing confusion with clear, straightforward language so that everyday Americans don’t need a law degree just to understand their rights.”
The administration is proposing 34 new rules — marking the largest amount the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has issued “in the last 15 years combined,” Blanche said, adding that “nothing we are doing today weakens law enforcement.”
According to Blanche and the newly confirmed ATF Director Robert Cekada, the new rules will help gun sellers more easily abide by the law, including by adopting a more narrow definition of who must be a licensed seller.
Cekada, who was confirmed by the Senate Wednesday, also said the ATF would formally rescind a 2023 rule that restricted pistol braces. That rule was struck down in federal court.
A pistol brace, commonly used as an attachment for certain pistols, allow the user to hold the firearm against their shoulder while firing — similar to how long guns like shotguns and rifles are fired.
The Biden administration argued that the pistol brace converted the pistol into a barreled rifle, which can be more heavily regulated in the US.
When asked by CNN if the Justice Department would stop efforts to take gun rights away from non-violent offenders, including for marijuana and drug convictions, Blanche said “of course we are.”
“It’s not possible for us to just unwind” everything in one day, Blanche said. “But it’s also not as clunky as taking forever.”
Gun industry leaders stood behind Blanche as he spoke.
The administration has long been looking for ways to review current gun control laws.
Weeks after entering his second term, Trump signed an executive order requiring the Justice Department to review any regulations or “actions by the Biden Administration regarding firearms” and “to eliminate all infringements on Americans’ Second Amendment rights.”
In the executive order, Trump alleged the Biden administration went after people who sell firearms as part of their livelihood, known as federal firearms licensees, which Trump said “led to a nearly six-fold increase in enforcement actions against” those sellers.
President Joe Biden’s “zero-tolerance” policy for FFLs was meant to revoke licenses from sellers who failed to conduct background checks, sold firearms to an unlawful buyer, and other violations of the law.
“Firearms manufacturers have been de-banked or denied services simply because they make guns — which allow Americans to exercise a constitutional right,” Trump’s executive order from February last year said.
On Saturday, Trump himself was a target of a gunman, investigators say.
Cole Tomas Allen was arrested after rushing through security at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, DC, armed with guns. He allegedly sent a note to his family sharing anti-Trump sentiment around the time of the attack.
“Let me reiterate that the Second Amendment will never be treated as a second-class right in the Trump administration,” Blanche said.
This story was updated with additional information from the press conference.
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