# Acting U.S. Attorney General Talks 2A Changes, DOJ Plans | Gun Talk

An episode of [Gun Talk](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/190516844), 21 Apr 2026, 8:37.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/71533343/gtih_toddblanche_0426_final.mp3

“My mom, for the first time, just told me she has a concealed carry permit! That’s okay, I love it!” ~ Todd Blanche, Acting U.S. Attorney General At the 2026 NRA Annual Meetings, Gun Talk’s Tom Gresham is joined by Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche to discuss major developments affecting the Second Amendment—and what gun owners can expect next. Blanche shares insight into sweeping regulatory changes currently in the works at the Department of Justice, aimed at restoring Second Amendment rights and rolling back burdensome restrictions on gun owners, manufacturers, and FFLs. He also discusses ongoing legal battles, potential Supreme Court implications, and the administration’s long-term strategy to create lasting change. From regulatory reform to defending gun rights nationwide, this conversation offers a rare inside look at what’s happening behind the scenes in Washington—and what it means for the firearms community. • DOJ regulatory overhaul underway • Potential major changes for FFLs • Supreme Court battles impacting gun laws • Long-term vision for Second Amendment protections For more content from Gun Talk Media, visit guntalk.com or subscribe on YouTube, Rumble, Facebook, Instagram, and X. Catch First Person Defender on the new Official FPD YouTube channel. Watch Gun Talk Nation on its new YouTube channel. Catch Gun Talk Hunt on the new dedicated YouTube Channel. Listen to all Gun Talk Podcasts with Spreaker, iHeart, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find podcasts. Copyright ©2026 Freefire Media, LLC Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gun-talk--6185159/support.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: All right, it's a real treat. Right now, we're at
[0:02] Speaker 1: the course of the RI annual meetings in Houston, and
[0:05] Speaker 1: I'm believable to us. I'm so glad I Todd Blanche
[0:08] Speaker 1: is here. He is the acting US Attorney General. Now
[0:12] Speaker 1: that Pam Body is out, you're feeling that slot now,
[0:15] Speaker 1: I am maybe permanently. We don't know, We do not know, Okay,
[0:20] Speaker 1: I should say, with Donald Trump in charge, you never know.
[0:23] Speaker 1: That's right, That's right. That's why we love them, all right,
[0:25] Speaker 1: So tell everybody a little bit about your background.
[0:28] Speaker 2: So I'm from Colorado originally, I lived in New York
[0:32] Speaker 2: for a long time. My family, my wife's family, has
[0:36] Speaker 2: been in the gun manufacturing business for forty years. The
[0:39] Speaker 2: manufacturer magazines a check make in Checkmate Industries. So my
[0:44] Speaker 2: father in law started it in nineteen sixty eight sixty nine.
[0:49] Speaker 2: And so I've been part of this fight, struggle, everything
[0:54] Speaker 2: that we've that we've been going through as a nation
[0:57] Speaker 2: for really for forty years.
[1:00] Speaker 1: You're part of the gun industry, I am, yes. Okay,
[1:03] Speaker 1: but now you're in charge of the US Department of Justice.
[1:06] Speaker 1: I am yes. So how do you put those together?
[1:09] Speaker 1: I know people are saying, well, why can't you fix
[1:10] Speaker 1: everything by the end of work today? So, look, it
[1:14] Speaker 1: takes a while.
[1:15] Speaker 2: It's a great question. So the important thing for everybody
[1:18] Speaker 2: to realize is that the way this country works is
[1:21] Speaker 2: regulations are put in place and it takes time to
[1:25] Speaker 2: unwind them. And that's a bad fact, but it's true.
[1:28] Speaker 2: And so what we're doing and what President Trump did
[1:31] Speaker 2: on January twentieth, he issued in executive order and it
[1:33] Speaker 2: said very simply, we are going to restore Second Amendment rights. Okay,
[1:38] Speaker 2: so easy, let's do it. And here we and but
[1:41] Speaker 2: let me tell you what we have done. At the
[1:42] Speaker 2: Department of Justice. We hired a law professor who clerk
[1:47] Speaker 2: for Justice, Clarence Thomas, one of the best Second Amendment
[1:50] Speaker 2: justices we've ever had. He is really the only Second
[1:54] Speaker 2: Amendment law professor I think out there. He's a genius.
[1:57] Speaker 2: We hired him and we said, okay, we want you
[2:00] Speaker 2: to go and rework every single regulation consistent with this
[2:04] Speaker 2: President's directive. And and that takes a lot of time.
[2:07] Speaker 2: But I will tell you, and I'm going to say
[2:09] Speaker 2: it tonight when when I when I get a chance
[2:11] Speaker 2: to speak to a lot of other members that we
[2:13] Speaker 2: are days away from releasing that they have been approved
[2:17] Speaker 2: by the president on down and what.
[2:19] Speaker 1: It's going to change releasing what what are you raising?
[2:22] Speaker 2: All the new changes to the regulations. So so, for
[2:25] Speaker 2: example of f fl's will, will will scream and kick
[2:29] Speaker 2: correctly that the regulations that are in place that make
[2:32] Speaker 2: it impossible do their jobs everything from from you know
[2:35] Speaker 2: there there's certain signature requirements. Right, you cannot sell a
[2:38] Speaker 2: firearmy listor in person with the person. Why is that?
[2:41] Speaker 2: We have all kinds of ways to do things. You
[2:44] Speaker 2: can get something notarized over the computernically, electronically, you can
[2:47] Speaker 2: file your taxes electronically. How come I cannot sell a
[2:50] Speaker 2: gun to you without violating some some regulation that should
[2:54] Speaker 2: not exist. So so that's one example. Some of the
[2:57] Speaker 2: other examples that are more meaningful that that we'll keep
[3:01] Speaker 2: for the next week. But I think that any gun owner,
[3:05] Speaker 2: anybody who's in the industry, whether you're a manufacturer, whether
[3:08] Speaker 2: you're a resailer, they're going to be to realize that
[3:11] Speaker 2: this administration is going to do more to restore rights
[3:16] Speaker 2: to where they belong than any administration in history.
[3:20] Speaker 1: I don't have to tell you a lot of people
[3:22] Speaker 1: on the gun in the gun family, in the gun
[3:24] Speaker 1: culture have been frustrated. They've thought, you know, why can't
[3:28] Speaker 1: we move faster? At the same time, having I've been
[3:33] Speaker 1: in DC, worked in DC, things move so slowly in
[3:37] Speaker 1: a certain way, you're actually moving at warp speed right now, Yeah,
[3:41] Speaker 1: because you want to do it right.
[3:42] Speaker 2: So what we've done, going back to Reagan administration is
[3:46] Speaker 2: the gun industry takes two steps forward and then a
[3:49] Speaker 2: Democrat comes in and takes us eight steps back. And
[3:52] Speaker 2: then we come in and we go two step forward,
[3:54] Speaker 2: and then the next administration comes in. So we're not
[3:57] Speaker 2: gonna do that. We're not gonna take two steps forward.
[3:59] Speaker 2: We're going to We're gonna go forward a mile. And
[4:02] Speaker 2: that means doing it right. So that means making sure
[4:05] Speaker 2: that we're gonna get sued. We're gonna get sued the
[4:07] Speaker 2: day after we release these rags, right, and we don't care.
[4:11] Speaker 2: That's what we expect. But what we want to do
[4:12] Speaker 2: is be in a position to be able to defend
[4:14] Speaker 2: those lawsuits and win because we're doing it the right way.
[4:17] Speaker 2: The other thing I'll say is we have been doing
[4:19] Speaker 2: a lot, so whether it's it's joining lawsuits, when states
[4:23] Speaker 2: are trying to mess with your Second Amendment rights. You know,
[4:26] Speaker 2: you had administrations, even Republican administrations, that just stood on
[4:29] Speaker 2: the sidelines. We are not standing on the Sidelince her,
[4:31] Speaker 2: Meet Dylan of our civil rights group. She is filing
[4:34] Speaker 2: lawsuits left and right to defend the Second ammbals. She's awesome.
[4:37] Speaker 2: Look what we just are getting front of the Supreme
[4:39] Speaker 2: Court a law in Hawaii that basically removes any gun
[4:42] Speaker 2: owner's right to conceal and carry. If we win that,
[4:45] Speaker 2: that not only affects Hawaii, it affects California, all all
[4:50] Speaker 2: the states that passed similar laws.
[4:51] Speaker 1: Hey, we're gonna win that one.
[4:52] Speaker 2: Amen.
[4:53] Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean all right. So as you look at
[4:56] Speaker 1: the Supreme Court now we're trying to get through to
[4:58] Speaker 1: take a few more cases. We'd love for them at
[4:59] Speaker 1: some point point to take a so called assault weapon
[5:02] Speaker 1: at least to send me automatic ban if we can
[5:04] Speaker 1: get that done, because under Heller and Bruin it says
[5:07] Speaker 1: you cannot ban these guns. Right, But the states keep
[5:10] Speaker 1: doing that.
[5:10] Speaker 2: They keep on doing it, and until there's enough lawsuits
[5:13] Speaker 2: that they lose, they're not going to start AR fifteen.
[5:16] Speaker 2: Is that that's the best example, that is putting aside
[5:19] Speaker 2: what it was thirty years ago. That is a sporting rifle.
[5:22] Speaker 2: That is a rifle that Americans that they have every
[5:24] Speaker 2: right to own like any other firearm.
[5:26] Speaker 1: And it doesn't have to be a sporting rifle to
[5:28] Speaker 1: fall under the Second Amendment. That doesn't matter.
[5:31] Speaker 2: But there's other rigs that that restrict it because it's
[5:33] Speaker 2: not labeled as a sporting rival So we got we
[5:36] Speaker 2: got to fix those rigs as well. And so it's
[5:39] Speaker 2: it's something that that is going to be a sea change.
[5:44] Speaker 2: I think as far as DJ is concerned in Second
[5:47] Speaker 2: Amendment protections, to what extent have you.
[5:50] Speaker 1: Gotten reluctance resistance within DJ to advance in the Second Amendment?
[5:57] Speaker 2: None? And I'm going to say what I mean by that.
[6:00] Speaker 2: You have a president who champions the Second Amendment. His
[6:03] Speaker 2: sons are better shots than any of us.
[6:06] Speaker 1: Yeah, they're serious, right people.
[6:07] Speaker 2: He got the White House Counsel Dave Warranton, who is
[6:10] Speaker 2: the biggest second proponent you've ever seen. Okay, you have me,
[6:13] Speaker 2: you have Harmeat Dylon, you have Rob Sakata, our new
[6:17] Speaker 2: hope hopefully soon to be confirmed atf director. He owns
[6:20] Speaker 2: more guns than probably most people in this convention center.
[6:23] Speaker 2: And that's saying a lot. But I'll stand by and
[6:26] Speaker 2: then you, like I said, you have this. You have
[6:27] Speaker 2: a general counsel of HF who's a Clarence Thomas Clerk
[6:31] Speaker 2: who is devoted to Second Amendment. So this, this has
[6:35] Speaker 2: never happened before. And we are running on all cylinders.
[6:38] Speaker 2: It took a while because we're you know, we're a
[6:40] Speaker 2: year in, but you know, it takes a while to
[6:42] Speaker 2: get started and we're working.
[6:44] Speaker 1: So all right, You're walking around the four here at
[6:46] Speaker 1: the NRA, You're seeing all these people, and I know
[6:50] Speaker 1: you've got security. I had this funny thought. I thought, well,
[6:52] Speaker 1: you know, and you know a lot of people here
[6:55] Speaker 1: walking around carrying guns, but it's the friendliest bunch of
[6:58] Speaker 1: people you'll ever run into. And where you go.
[7:01] Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. I was just with my parents. My mom
[7:05] Speaker 2: just told me for the first time, she has a
[7:06] Speaker 2: concealed carry permit. Oh you know, that's okay.
[7:10] Speaker 1: I love it. I love it. Bill, That's right.
[7:12] Speaker 2: And that's the beauty of That's the what Americans, Americans
[7:16] Speaker 2: know but sometimes Washington forgets, is that that's what gunnarship
[7:20] Speaker 2: is about in this country. And that's why it works
[7:22] Speaker 2: and and that's why. That's what President Trump has said
[7:25] Speaker 2: for fifteen years. And that's a New Yorker saying that.
[7:29] Speaker 2: So you know, it's it's it's the way it's gonna be.
[7:31] Speaker 1: All right, So what your wish list. You're in a
[7:33] Speaker 1: great position right now. You said, Okay, this is what
[7:35] Speaker 1: I would love for us to be able to accomplish
[7:37] Speaker 1: over the next year or two.
[7:39] Speaker 2: I want to I want change that lasts beyond this administration.
[7:42] Speaker 2: I don't want to. We're working with ATF every day.
[7:45] Speaker 2: They are no longer going after FFLs, they are no
[7:48] Speaker 2: longer there's no longer a zero tolerance policy where if
[7:51] Speaker 2: you do not cross the tea or dot and I,
[7:52] Speaker 2: We're gonna shut you down.
[7:54] Speaker 1: However, that only helps for a couple of years.
[7:57] Speaker 2: So so what my goal is to is to work
[7:59] Speaker 2: to put regulations and do and change the Department of
[8:03] Speaker 2: Justice approach so that no matter what happens in three years,
[8:07] Speaker 2: it's going to stay longer than.
[8:09] Speaker 1: It's not just changing policy, because policy can be changed,
[8:12] Speaker 1: you're actually going to change the regulations and regulations resources.
[8:15] Speaker 2: So instead of hiring a bunch of guys to go
[8:17] Speaker 2: civil guys to go look at FFLs. We should be
[8:20] Speaker 2: hiring specialations to go arrest robbers, right, that's what we
[8:23] Speaker 2: should be spending our money on. So that then that's
[8:25] Speaker 2: what we're doing.
[8:26] Speaker 1: There you go, bod Butch, thank you so much, not
[8:28] Speaker 1: just for doing the interview, thank you for what you're doing.
[8:30] Speaker 2: Thank you, Harrie is great doing it anytime.
[8:32] Speaker 1: Appreciate this very much. Return you to the NRA Annual
[8:35] Speaker 1: Meetings

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