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April 22, 2025
W.V. Attorney General Leads Coalition Supporting ‘Second Amendment Task Force’
West Virginia’s Attorney General John “JB” McCuskey led a coalition of 26 state attorneys general supporting U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi for the creation of her Second Amendment Enforcement Task Force to examine policies that are hostile to the free exercise of the rights to keep and bear arms.
The view from the Mountain State is that for too long, gun control advocates and their elected allies have waged “lawfare” through the courts against the firearm industry and law-abiding citizens. AG Bondi’s Task Force is an opportunity to turn the tables and put those attacking gun ownership on the defense.
“This Task Force serves as another example of the Trump Administration’s commitment to using all the tools it has available to protect our constitutional liberties,” wrote AG McCuskey. “It will create a critical space for the federal government to devise innovative strategies to use litigation and policy effectively in the fight to protect the Second Amendment. We applaud your choice to create it.”
The names of the other state attorneys general signing on to the letter are familiar to legal watchers and represent over half of the states.
Proof in Action
That spirit is in line with what AG McCuskey told attendees at the 2025 SHOT Show® Attorneys General Forum in Las Vegas. There, the West Virginia attorney general spoke about the executive overreach of the Biden administration, particularly through promulgation of rules through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which AG Bondi recently said are under scrutiny by her task force.
“The federal government has often done this because Congress has refused to act,” AG McCuskey began. “It’s really why, amongst all reasons why it’s so cool to be an attorney general, is that we have sort of become as a group the de facto hedge against what the Congress allows the bureaucracy to do… The bureaucracy fills a void that our Congress does not fill and the most important people in that world now become the attorneys generals because we are the only ones who can swiftly and quickly challenge what the bureaucracy is doing. It should be Congress, but it isn’t. We… get to step in and say, ‘this is well beyond what you get to do Constitutionally and legally,’ and we can wipe those statutes off the books.”
West Virginia has the legislative track record to show they mean what they say. AG McCuskey highlighted efforts by the state legislature in just this year alone to protect the firearm industry against “lawfare” so the industry can continue to provide the means for law-abiding citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Those include bills like the Firearm Industry Nondiscrimination (FIND) Act and the West Virginia Firearm Liability Clarification Act.
“These measures complement our efforts before the Supreme Court,” AG McCuskey noted in his letter. “There, we have defended an originalist understanding of the Second Amendment and pushed back on the Biden administration’s anti-gun oversteps.”
West Virginia’s attorney general led 26 state attorneys general on an amicus brief in a challenge to Washington, D.C.’s Modern Sporting Rifle (MSR) ban and magazine capacity restrictions. AG McCuskey’s letter to AG Bondi expressed the willingness to bring state-level muscle to her federal efforts.
Commitment to Freedom
“We recognize the success of this Task Force will be vital. To that end, we promise to use our own resources to support the Task Force and collaborate with this administration in whatever way possible,” AG McCuskey wrote. “We will stand beside you in Second Amendment litigation. We will provide administrative expertise as you decide how best to reform federal regulations in this area. And State law enforcement officers stand ready to work with the Department of Justice to determine the best way to enforce new and pre-existing laws.”
The letter is a commitment not just to AG Bondi and the Trump administration, but also a reassurance to the voters who elected these attorneys general to their posts.
“The American people need to know their Second Amendment rights will not continue to erode over time,” AG McCuskey added in his letter. “This Task Force is an important leap forward to reverse such a terrible trend. Together, States and the federal government – under the leadership of you and President Trump – will work tirelessly to protect the age-old American liberty to keep and bear arms. After all, ‘the right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic.’”
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Top Cops Speak About State Efforts to Combat ‘Lawfare’ at SHOT Show
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