Quickly after the Senate confirmed Pam Bondi as Legal professional Normal of america, studies surfaced of inner discussions that the following Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) must be a “nonideological” and “seasoned” “legislation enforcement officer.”1 That may be a mistake.
If the ATF’s abuses of the previous a number of many years have taught us something, it’s that now just isn’t the time for a business-as-usual, “legislation and order” candidate to move the federal authorities’s anti-gun paperwork. On the contrary, President Trump’s historic reelection mandate requires a distinct strategy to legislation enforcement and federal bloat: an ardent constitutionalist who sees the federal authorities as too massive and federal laws as too many.
That’s the reason Gun Homeowners of America applauded the President’s alternative of Kash Patel to move the FBI, and Elon Musk to move the much-needed Division of Authorities Effectivity. Certainly, if President Trump’s eclectic second-term personnel picks have a unifying theme, it’s that they don’t seem to be profession bureaucrats. The identical precept ought to apply to the company tasked with implementing the nation’s far-too-many gun laws.
Chatting with GOA members throughout his 2024 reelection marketing campaign, President Trump promised that he would “at all times defend” the Second Modification.2 Proper now, which means appointing a constitutionalist who will cut back the scale of an ATF run amok, not a profession “legislation and order” official who will proceed to victimize American gun homeowners.
Take into account, for instance, prior ATF Administrators’ concepts of “legislation and order”:
It was not “legislation and order” when federal brokers shot each Randy Weaver and his son Samuel within the again, after which shot Vicki Weaver within the face as she held her new child child – everywhere in the alleged sale of a shotgun whose barrel was a pair inches too quick.3
It was not “legislation and order” when federal brokers torched a Waco, Texas compound to provide “good publicity” prematurely of budgetary hearings, resulting in the deaths of greater than 80 Individuals, together with over 20 kids.4
It was not “legislation and order” when ATF brokers helped site visitors firearms to Mexican drug cartels, resulting in the deaths of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and ICE Particular Agent Jaime Zapata.5
It was not “legislation and order” when ATF brokers shot airport govt Bryan Malinowski within the head throughout a predawn raid of his dwelling, everywhere in the alleged sale of firearms with no authorities permission slip.6
It was not “legislation and order” when DOJ prosecuted Matthew Hoover for the victimless crime of promoting steel playing cards ATF claimed have been “machineguns,” objects which ATF – even after slicing, grinding, bending, and becoming – by no means might get to operate as claimed.7
It was not “legislation and order” when ATF abused mentally handicapped people in gun “stings” in Milwaukee.8
It was not “legislation and order” when ATF victimized septuagenarian Robert Arwady, twice bringing prison expenses towards him and twice having juries vote unanimously to acquit.9
It was not “legislation and order” when ATF (negligently, if not criminally) allowed hundreds of firearms and gun components – together with a heavy machinegun that was by no means recovered – to stroll undetected out of its Martinsburg facility.10
It isn’t “legislation and order” when ATF repeatedly violates quite a few court docket orders, persevering with to implement its vacated “pistol brace” rulemaking.11
It was not “legislation and order” when ATF intentionally defied President Trump’s order to fireplace DEI officers, quietly transferring ATF’s DEI Chief to a different division and altering her title.12
And it isn’t “legislation and order” when ATF brokers secretly monitor the firearm purchases of numerous Individuals “not even suspected of against the law.” This program is ongoing.13
The above examples are just a few of ATF’s rampant malfeasance. There are dozens (if not tons of) extra like them.
In different phrases, any “legislation and order” have to be directed at ATF itself, not at American gun homeowners. True “legislation and order” means essentially remodeling ATF in order that this rogue company by no means repeats its crimes towards Americans. That requires a nomination just like Kash Patel or Elon Musk, and no more of the identical.
To that finish, President Trump should nominate a constitutionalist to ATF who will:
stand as much as ATF’s entrenched, rogue officers;
assist downsize the federal authorities (together with ATF);
unravel Biden’s weaponization of legislation enforcement (particularly ATF);14
cut back ATF’s infringements of constitutional rights; and
return freedom to the arms of the individuals to whom it belongs.
This nation has a generational alternative to course-correct. Appointing an ATF Director who shares the President’s small-government imaginative and prescient is vital to creating positive this chance doesn’t go to waste. In distinction, appointing a “seasoned” “legislation enforcement officer” dangers squandering that historic alternative, and permitting one among Individuals’ most cherished (and very important) constitutional rights to be additional eroded.
And, fairly frankly, it could be refreshing to have an ATF Director who truly likes weapons and embraces the Second Modification group. A candidate who can field-strip a Glock in lower than 10 seconds,15 or articulate the distinction between a bump inventory and an M1616, could also be a very good place to start out.
1 Glenn Thrush, A.T.F. Braces for a Seemingly Rollback of Its Gun-Management Efforts, N.Y. Occasions (Dec. 14, 2024); Langley Outside Academy, BOMBSHELL LEAK: ATF Director Pushing In the direction of Bureaucrat LEO… MAJOR ALERT!!! We Should Act NOW!, YouTube (Feb. 5, 2025).
2 Gun Homeowners of America, Trump Makes a Promise to GOA Members, YouTube (Aug. 21, 2024).
3 Mike Hammond, Invoice Barr Must Reply for His Function in Ruby Ridge, GOA (Jan. 26, 2019).
4 Operation Quick and Livid: The Forgotten Historical past of the ATF’s Infamous Gunwalking Scandal, GOA (Dec. 16, 2020); Survivors of 1993 Waco Siege Describe What Occurred in Fireplace that Ended the 51-day Standoff, ABC Information (Jan. 3, 2018).
5 Operation Quick and Livid, supra; Reviewing ATF’s Failures within the Demise of ICE Agent Jaime Zapata, Home Comm. on Oversight (Mar. 9, 2017).
6 Louis Casiano, Clinton Nationwide Airport Govt Shot by ATF Brokers Throughout Raid at Arkansas House Has Died, Brother Says, Fox Information (Mar. 21, 2024).
7 John Crump, AutoKey Card: Matthew Hoover & Kristopher Justin Ervin Sentenced to five Years in Federal Jail, AmmoLand (Sept. 7, 2023).
8 Eyder Peralta, Report Particulars ATF’s Use of Mentally Disabled in Gun Stings, NPR (Dec. 8, 2013).
9 Rob Olson, Not Responsible on All Counts! How Gun Homeowners of America Trounced the ATF in Court docket, Gun Homeowners (Dec. 11, 2015).
10 Report of Investigation, DOJ OIG (Oct. 28, 2021).
11John Crump, Rogue ATF Bureaucrat Ignores Injunction on Pistol Brace Rule, AmmoLand (Jan. 11, 2025).
12 Wallace White, As Trump Cracks Down on DEI in Washington, Federal Companies Caught Secretly Making an attempt to Hold It Alive, MSN (Jan. 23, 2025).
13 John Crump, FOIA Exhibits the Extent of ATF Monitoring Individuals Via FBI’s NICS System, AmmoLand (Dec. 10, 2024).
14 Breanne Deppisch, Bondi Sworn in as Legal professional Normal with Mission to Finish ‘Weaponization’ of Justice Division, Fox Information (Feb. 5, 2025).
15 Robert McGreevy, ATF ‘Firearms Knowledgeable’ Will get Roasted for Failing at Glock Disassembly … These Are the Individuals Who Regulate Your Weapons, Each day Caller (Mar. 5, 2024).
16 Trevor Schakohl, Biden’s ATF Director Admits He’s Not an Knowledgeable in Firearms, Tobacco, or Explosives, W.J. (Apr. 26, 2023).
About Erich Pratt
Erich Pratt is the Senior Vice President of Gun Homeowners of America, a gun rights group representing greater than two million gun homeowners.
