The gun control debate is still as hot as a pistol as Donald Trump gets ready for his second term in office. After a first term where Trump ruffled some feathers of gun owners with his ban on bump stocks, he returns to the White House with lofty goals and an aim to protect the Second Amendment rights of Americans.

On the table this time is Constitutional Carry, which has been introduced by Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie. It has been an idea that has spread so far across 27 states already, with Texas being one of them. In Trump's second term, the idea of national constitutional carry is closer to reality than it has been for some time.

Chris McNutt of Texas Gun Rights says after surrounding himself with bad eggs the first time, Trump has the team in place to make things happen. He also has a better perspective than he did eight years ago.

"The battle lines are clearly drawn now, where he understands where gun owners stand on many issues that he did not understand the first time," he says.

Constitutional carry would allow citizens who are not prohibited from gun ownership to carry without any vetting or permits. In other words, it is basic American freedoms and the right to responsibly bear arms without the government poking around in your business.

But there will always be some kind of roadblock for getting us to that point. One of those is the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agency (ATF), which has slowly become an agency that is the punchline of jokes. Not long ago, the head of the ATF, Director Steven Dettelbach, was giving a demonstration of field stripping a Glock handgun and could not do it. The head of a firearm agency could not competently field strip a Glock.

It has become embarrassing, and McNutt says any change is going to start with changing the agency.

"We actually want to abolish the ATF, but we know that is going to be a long fight," he says. "But we can start with appointing a much stronger ATF director, and one that can field strip a handgun."

Another roadblock, as it usually is, will likely be lawfare by Democrats. They will attempt to jam up any forward progression with multiple lawsuits. Because that is simply what they do.

But even that will not impede Trump this time, because of new rules.

"Back in 2022 we had the Bruen decision, which is a de-facto sledgehammer for lawsuits moving forward," says McNutt. "It basically says any gun regulations have to point to the history of the Second Amendment to justify any of these bans...and a lot of these, you cannot prove there is any historical context for regulation."

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