Executive Order Protecting Second Amendment Rights: The Current State of Gun Regulations Tagline
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On May 24, 2022, as I welcomed the morning of my sweet sixteenth birthday, the students of Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas were under lockdown for one of the deadliest school shootings in history. For me, May 24th marks a celebration of my life. For the thousands of people residing in Uvalde, May 24th is haunted as a day of mourning for the 19 students and 2 teachers who were fatally shot and 17 others who were left injured. This is the brutal reality of the Second Amendment in the modern context.
There have been 15.5 times more school shootings in the United States in 2022 than 1970. The exponential increase in gun violence within schools only continues to raise concerns from students and parents. When asked why the United States has more mass shootings than many other countries, 54% of parents polled across the country answered, “It has more availability of guns.” Many legislators have attempted to re-evaluate the integrity of the Second Amendment by establishing concealed carry permits and assault weapon bans.
There is no national standard in the United States for concealed carry permits; instead, each state has the freedom to establish its own firearm regulation. As of 2024, 26 of 50 states allow concealed carrying of firearms without permits, provided that the individual meets requirements set by the state. With the differences in gun policies, state laws often come into conflict in regards to interstate firearm regulations and relationships. For example, law-abiding gun owners might be able to legally carry concealed firearms in certain states but not after traveling across state lines. States such as Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, Illinois, Washington D.C., Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island have not established any reciprocity agreements while others have varying degrees of restrictions. Additionally, states such as Alabama, Oregon, and Utah permit license holders to conceal carry guns in public school grounds, in contrast to California which has passed a Gun-Free School Zone Act to prohibit guns within 1,000 feet of school grounds. Legal differences such as these have sparked significant conflict on gun restrictions from various perspectives across states.
It must be acknowledged that concealed carrying is an inherent risk to the safety of those around an individual who are unaware of the immediate presence of a firearm. According to data collected from 1959 to 2016, concealed carry laws reflect a significant increase in murder and manslaughter (6 percent), robbery (11 percent), and aggravated assault (6 percent). This correlation displays the consequences of placing naive trust in the hands of gun owners who are vulnerable to impulsive decisions. Reciprocity between states could promote violent firearm activity with the fluidity of guns crossing state lines. What should be demanded is transparency and stricter regulations on gun holders.
Members of organizations such as the National Rifle Association and the Congressional Sportsmens’ Federation continue to assert the merit of the Second Amendment. To gun owners, concealed carry reciprocity would create a more uniform standard for concealed carry permits, ensuring that Second Amendment rights are upheld regardless of the state in which a person resides. They argue national reciprocity is necessary to protect the rights of law-abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons across state lines.
Prior to his political career, President Trump had expressed support for gun regulation, writing in his 2000 book The America We Deserve, “I support the ban on assault weapons and I support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun.” However, this executive order demonstrates a clear contradiction of character. President Trump would not be personally affected by his own executive order. Despite his anti-regulatory stance on gun control, Trump cannot own any firearms or ammunition as he is a convicted felon.
On February 7, the Trump Administration issued the Executive Order “Protecting Second Amendment Rights,” which directs the Attorney General to examine all federal orders and regulations “to assess any ongoing infringements of the Second Amendment rights of our citizens” and “to protect the Second Amendment rights of all Americans.”
The Executive Order leaves much of the responsibility in the hands of the Attorney General. After conducting a review of all presidential and agency actions from 2021 to 2025, the Attorney General must submit a proposed plan of action to the President. Despite the vague language of the act, the executive order marks a swing towards anti-regulatory gun policies. In the 117th Congress, there were at least 110 congressional gun owners, 77% of which are Republican. With the current Republican majority in both the Senate and House of Representatives, Americans can expect increased support in bills such as the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act which proposes flexibility in interstate concealed carry regulations. By eliminating inconsistencies between states with different concealed carry regulations, this bill would increase the traffic of guns across states as well as the presence of armed individuals.
Earlier this week, just 55 miles away, students of Harvard University were ordered to shelter in place after gunshots were heard from Harvard Square. MBTA Transit Police superintendent Richard Sullivan reported to The Harvard Crimson that there were no victims and the suspect ultimately fled the station. However, we cannot wait for tragedy to inspire us into action. It must be a priority to protect American students to protect the American future.
Jamie Jaehee Jung is a freshman at Brown University concentrating in International and Public Affairs and Computer Science. She is a blog writer for the Brown Undergraduate Law Review and can be contacted at jaehee_jung@brown.edu
Simon Juknelis is a first-year concentrating in computer science and history. He is an editor for the Brown Undergraduate Law Review and can be reached at simonas_juknelis@brown.edu.