The silver lining of Donald J. Trump’s re-election as the 47^th President Tuesday is that for the next two, and possibly four years, he will be able to fill federal court vacancies, including any open seats on the U.S. Supreme Court, with Second Amendment-friendly judges and justices.

It was a repudiation of the policies of anti-gun President Joe Biden and his equally anti-gun Vice President Kamala Harris. It was also a triumph over Democrats from the Biden-Harris administration on down who had waged a war against the former president beginning when he first took office in 2017 and have not relented over the past four years in an effort to prevent him from running for another term.

Gun owners should expect the new Trump administration to quickly do a couple of things:

• Abolish the Biden-Harris White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. This blatant creation of an internal administration mini-bureaucracy whose only purpose was to lobby for stricter gun control laws was considered an open declaration of war on the Second Amendment and the nation’s gun owners.
• Fire and replace ATF Director Steve Dettelbach. Install someone in that position who actually does know something about firearms, and who can tell the difference between honest American gun owners and violent criminals who belong in prison.

This person should quickly change policies regarding the regulation of traditional gun shows across the country.

Gun owners are also expecting President Trump to nominate a U.S. attorney general who directs his/her attention to prosecuting and imprisoning genuine violent criminals, rather than adopt and enforce policies designed to make criminals of law-abiding gun owners.

Here are a few suggestions for Republicans in the House and Senate:

• Pass legislation prohibiting waiting periods for anyone with a concealed carry license or permit issued by any state.
• Pass national reciprocity legislation, requiring states which do not already have so-called “constitutional carry” statutes to recognize the carry permits/licenses issued by any other state.
• Pass legislation allowing cross-state purchasing of handguns, with enough financing to improve the FBI’s National Instant Check System (NICS). (After all, an individual who can pass a background check in his/her home state should be able to pass a background check in any state.)
• Pass legislation requiring photo identification for voting. (People must show valid photo ID to open bank accounts, make major purchases, buy firearms and do all sorts of other things. It should be the same for voting in any election.)

It is clear gun owners in critical battleground states turned out to help move the vote for Trump and away from Harris, who could not shake her position on “mandatory buybacks” despite efforts by her campaign to walk it back.

As noted by Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, “In this election, the Democrats shot blanks and the voters buried their gun ban agenda. But I bet they will double down on gun prohibition because they know that it was gun owners that removed them from power and they are gunning to get even. The fight to defend gun rights is not over and every gun owner who helped win this battle must remember that the war on gun rights is ongoing.”

One major disappointment came from the Pacific Northwest, where voters elected vehemently anti-gun Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson as the state’s next governor. He may have an awkward time of things, considering his history of filing lawsuits against the president-elect during his first term.

As noted by Fox News, Ferguson “came to national prominence by repeatedly suing the administration of former President Donald Trump, including bringing the lawsuit that blocked Trump’s initial travel ban on citizens of several majority Muslim nations.”

Ferguson reminded his supporters about his history of litigating against Trump beginning almost immediately after the president took office in 2017.

In his victory speech, Ferguson declared, “I will lead a government that protects our core freedoms.” That may not apply to Article I, Section 24 of the state constitution, which declares “The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired.” Yet Ferguson has lobbied for bans on so-called “assault weapons” and “large-capacity magazines.”

The concern now will be how fast Washington lawmakers move to make the Evergreen State just like New Jersey or California. Watch for an exodus of gun owners to neighboring Idaho, or states where they will be welcome, such as Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona or Texas.

About Dave Workman