Trump Admin Declares Gun Stores and Manufacturers 'Essential Businesses' Nationwide
Department of Homeland Security releases updated guidelines on firearms sales

The Trump Administration has released updated guidelines concerning the coronavirus shutdown restrictions, declaring gun stores and manufacturers "essential businesses" nationwide.
President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released updated guidelines on Saturday.
Firearms manufacturers and retailers are now listed as essential, meaning they are to stay open and operational nationwide during a Chinese virus lockdown.
The updated rules also include exceptions for companies proving supplies for law enforcement and first responders.
Listed as essential under the DHS guidelines are:
- Workers supporting the manufacturing of safety equipment and uniforms for law enforcement, public safety personnel, and first responders.
- Workers supporting the operation of firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges.

The Second Amendment Foundation’s Alan Gottlieb commented on the DHS declaration, saying, “Every freedom-loving American owes President Trump and his administration a very big thank you for protecting our Second Amendment Rights.
"This is another Trump promise made and promise kept.”
The DHS declaration comes just days after Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy laughed in the face of a man who expressed concern about citizens' 2A rights.
The statewide shutdown in New Jersey had put an end to gun sales, thereby eliminating the ability to get a firearm for self-defense.
Breitbart News reported the concerned man asked Murphy:
“Your executive actions closed down gun stores, saying they’re ‘non-essential.’
"The poorest minorities living in the most dangerous cities with the highest crime rates now have absolutely no way of buying a firearm.
"I’ve lived in Newark, so I understand this first hand.”
He then asked, “If less guns reduce crime, will you give up your personal bodyguards?”

Murphy responded by intimating that he and the citizen had a philosophical difference in the role guns play.
The governor said he believes “a safer society has fewer guns, not more guns.
"And the guns that do exist are in the hands of the right people — particularly trained members of law enforcement.”
The governor then giggled.
He referenced an armed law enforcement member next to him, and said, “It is what it is.”