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ATF UNDER FIRE

01/13/2025 8:57 PM | Anonymous

ATF UNDER FIRE

Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) has introduced a bill to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).  While this is a positive step, it will be a difficult battle. Although Republicans hold the majority in both chambers of Congress, they do not have the supermajority needed in the Senate to pass the bill unless all Republicans vote for the bill and some Democrats suddenly become bipartisan.

However, the bill is a warning to the gun grabbing bureaucrats in the ATF that Congress is watching. It is a good start for those who want to abolish the ATF, even if not successful.

The ATF’s primary purpose is to regulate a constitutionally protected freedom.  Prior to Boebert’s bill being introduced, Representative Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) described the situation perfectly: "The Second Amendment doesn’t need a babysitter. The ATF’s job is redundant, dangerous, and unconstitutional. Let’s eliminate it." 

Representative Boebert reminded everyone of how the ATF has made the streets more dangerous by allowing firearms to flow to Mexican drug cartels through programs like “Fast & Furious.” 

The ATF also has a history of using the rule-making process as an end-around to Congress and it would have been successful if not for the courts:

The ATF attempted to ban bump stocks by modifying the definition of a machine gun, only to have SCOTUS reject their efforts.

After Congress refused to institute universal background checks, the ATF made an “engaged in the business” rule, which made almost everyone selling a firearm a “gun dealer.” This was a backdoor universal background check.  A Texas Federal District Court judge has issued an injunction against this rule, blocking the ATF from enforcing it.

When he ATF attempted to: reclassify pistols with stabilizing devices to be short barreled rifles; gun parts as firearms; and forced reset triggers to be machine guns, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked it.

When Democrats controlled the White House, the ATF became more of a tool of the executive branch to undermine our 2nd Amendment protected freedoms.

In another positive note, ATF Director Steve Dettelbach resigned even before President Trump was able to fire him.  Alan Gottlieb, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, took a shot at Dettelbach when he said in an email to Guns.com. “The country needs someone at the ATF helm who will lead the agency, not weaponize it; someone who not only can define what an ‘assault weapon’ is but also understands what it is not."

A 2nd Amendment Defense Organization, defending the rights of New York State gun owners to keep and bear arms!

PO Box 165
East Aurora, NY 14052

SCOPE is a 501(c)4 non-profit organization.

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