Attorney Genera Pam Bondi is on a frantic charm offensive aimed at winning over gun rights activists — and the timing couldn’t be more desperate. Her Justice Department, still under fire for botching the release of Jeffrey Epstein files, now plans to loosen ATF regulations in a bid to placate the Second Amendment faithful.
Sources say Bondi’s DOJ is considering changes that would ease restrictions on private gun sales, simplify shipping, and alter purchase forms to list applicants’ biological sex at birth, a move designed to appeal to die-hard gun owners. Officials hoped to announce these shifts at the National Shooting Sports Foundation trade show in Las Vegas, where Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is scheduled to speak. But insiders told reporters the plans are still being finalized.
The effort comes amid mounting criticism over the department’s handling of the Epstein files. After legally mandated deadlines passed — Dec. 19, 2025, for remaining documents, and Jan. 3, 2026, for a justification of redactions — DOJ has released less than 1 percent of the files, igniting bipartisan outrage and prompting congressional intervention requests.
Bondi herself is a fraught figure for gun rights advocates. During her tenure as Florida attorney general, she supported additional gun control measures after the Parkland shooting, leaving her credibility with some Second Amendment campaigners under scrutiny. Trump, however, has signaled alignment with gun advocates by appointing prominent supporters to senior posts and reducing ATF firearms inspectors.
A DOJ spokesperson framed the changes as a victory lap. “The Biden Administration waged war against the Second Amendment, but that era has come to an end under Attorney General Bondi, who has led the Justice Department’s effort to protect the Second Amendment through litigation, civil rights enforcement, regulatory reform, and by ending abusive enforcement practices,” the statement read.
Critics see a clear political calculus: Bondi is trying to prove loyalty to MAGA voters while DOJ faces legal heat over Epstein-related transparency failures, a two-front scramble that could make or break her conservative bona fides. One insider told The Daily Beast, “She’s desperate to show she’s pro-gun, but the Epstein mess keeps dragging her credibility through the mud.”
