Pro-gun groups are accusing Attorney General Pam Bondi of building the gun registry Trump supporters long feared Democrats would create.
On November 6, 2020, two pro-gun groups, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) titled Reese v. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms (ATF) & Explosives, challenging a federal law that prohibits federally-licensed firearms dealers from selling handguns to people aged 18 to 20. The ATF is under the purview of Bondi’s U.S. Department of Justice.
As part of his ruling in the case (pdf) on October 7, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Robert required SAF and FPC — the two pro-gun organizations that filed the case — to “provide to Defendants a verified list of their members as of November 6, 2020,” and gave them 21 days to provide the list:
Gun rights advocates see the provision requiring them to turn over a list of their members as an unconstitutional step toward the creation of a national gun owner registry. Gun Owners of America is calling it a “backdoor registry.”
On October 10, 2025, the SAF filed a motion (pdf) asking the court to amend the judgment to make it optional to provide the list.