ATF is dying a slow death.
Even those on the inside know it to be true. pic.twitter.com/xdi5hfFFtn
— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) May 18, 2025
Category: Bureaucraps
oday, in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order Protecting Second Amendment Rights, as well as the Attorney General’s Second Amendment Enforcement Task Force, the Department of Justice announced the settlement of litigation between the federal government and Rare Breed Triggers.
“This Department of Justice believes that the 2nd Amendment is not a second-class right,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “And we are glad to end a needless cycle of litigation with a settlement that will enhance public safety.”
In June 2024, in Cargill v. Garland, the Supreme Court held that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) exceeded its statutory authority by issuing a rule classifying a bump stock as a “machinegun.” In July 2024, the Northern District of Texas applied Cargill v. Garland to a device called a “forced-reset trigger” (FRT) and concluded that FRTs also cannot be classified as a “machinegun.”
The Department’s agreement with Rare Breed Triggers avoids the need for continued appeals in United States v. Rare Breed Triggers and continued litigation in other, related cases concerning the same issue. The settlement includes agreed-upon conditions that significantly advance public safety with respect to FRTs, including that Rare Breed will not develop or design FRTs for use in any pistol and will enforce its patents to prevent infringement that could threaten public safety. Rare Breed also agrees to promote the safe and responsible use of its products.
The cases that will be resolved under the settlement agreement are:
- NAGR v. Garland, 23-cv-830-O (N.D. Tex.), on appeal 24-10707 (5th Cir.).
- United States v. Rare Breed Triggers LLC, No. 23-cv-369 (E.D.N.Y), on appeal 23-7276 (2d Cir.).
- United States v. Miscellaneous Firearms and Related Parts and Equipment Listed in Exhibit A, 23-cv-17 (D. Utah).
Updated May 16, 2025
Gun owners secure historic settlement with DOJ, ATF over Forced Reset Triggers
The Trump administration will also return all FRT devices that were seized by the Biden administration, if individual owners request the returns by September 30, 2025. Instructions for filing the requests will be posted on the ATF’s website.
Two gun rights groups on Friday signed a historic settlement with the Justice Department (DOJ) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), over a series of lawsuits regarding Forced Reset Trigger (FRT) devices.
The settlement comes under a new presidential administration, which agreed to drop three pending lawsuits filed under the Biden administration and not prosecute owners of FRTs if the devices meet a legal definition upheld in a summary judgment last year.
The Trump administration will also return all FRT devices that were seized by the Biden administration, if individual owners request the returns by September 30, 2025. Instructions for filing the requests will be posted on the ATF’s website.
The agreement was made by the ATF, DOJ, National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) and Texas Gun Rights (TXGR).
“This is one of the most stunning victories in the history of the gun rights movement. We didn’t just beat the ATF — we put them in a submission hold, and they tapped out,” NAGR President Dudley Brown said in a news release. “This decision marks a new era of holding the DOJ and ATF accountable when they trample the rights of law-abiding gun owners. We made them give back what they took, and that’s a precedent they’ll never forget.”
Trump admin reverses Biden’s gas stove ban, take aim at climate-inspired start-stop car tech
The Trump administration has slashed regulations concerning standards over the width of shower heads, bans on a swath of gas stoves, as well as other regulations for standards ruling over other household appliances that were imposed by the Department of Energy. This also comes as EPA head Lee Zeldin is taking aim at start-stop technology in cars, or the system that automatically turns off a car when it is stopped at a light to save gas.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, the Energy Department took sweeping actions on Monday to slash dozens of regulations for household appliances from dishwashers to dryers that were issued under former President Joe Biden. The regulations included restricted sales on certain types of gas stoves, faucets, shower heads, and microwaves.
“It should not be the government’s place to decide what kind of appliances you or your restaurants or your businesses can buy,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright commented about the regulations. “Everybody wants clean air and wants to lower their energy costs and run their factories good as they can. The big hand of government doesn’t actually help that process at all.”
“We will look for every way we can to protect freedom of the American worker and pursue President Trump’s agenda, get rid of the nonsense, bring back common sense, make life more affordable, and opportunities greater,” Wright added.
Senators Grassley, Ernst on Warpath v. ATF in Letter to Bondi
Alleging a pattern of “gross and substantial waste, fraud and abuse, as well as potentially criminal false certification of government records and whistleblower retaliation” involving two senior officials at the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst want Attorney General Pamela Bondi to take “immediate corrective action.”
In a letter to Bondi, Acting ATF Director Daniel Driscoll and Assistant Attorney General Jolene Ann Lauria, who heads the Justice Department’s Administration Justice Management Division, Grassley and Ernst assert their previous efforts during the Biden administration went essentially unanswered.
“The Biden administration’s ATF illegally lined employees’ pockets with tens-of-millions of taxpayer dollars,” Grassley said in a joint statement. “These Washington bureaucrats must answer for their misconduct, and if heads don’t roll, nothing will change. Without the continued persistence of brave whistleblowers, ATF’s illegal scheme would’ve likely continued. As always, sunshine is the best disinfectant. Attorney General Pam Bondi should take strong action to hold these Biden-era pencil pushers accountable and end the fraudulent waste at ATF.”
According to their May 9 letter to Bondi, both GOP senators recall their request for the ATF Internal Affairs Division (IAD) report and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Human Capital Management Evaluation (HCME) audit report, following allegations about ATF’s “illegal scheme to misclassify human resources (HR) and other administrative positions as law enforcement, which was substantiated by the Office of Special Counsel.”
In our previous letters, we requested the agencies provide us with the ATF Internal Affairs Division (IAD) report and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Human Capital Management Evaluation (HCME) audit report.
“The IAD report was completed on January 5, 2024,” the Grassley-Ernst letter notes, “and it highlights considerable evidence of gross waste, fraud, and abuse; substantial misconduct and mismanagement; abuse of power; and potential criminal misconduct…”
The ATF has been under intense criticism for many years, especially for activities during the past four years under the Biden administration’s “zero tolerance” policy against firearms retailers. Even small paperwork errors were targeted, critics have asserted. It was part of the Biden administration’s alleged “weaponization” of federal agencies against gun dealers and gun owners.
As evidence of how bad feelings on Capitol Hill have been running against the ATF, in January Republican Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert and Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri, introduced H.R. 129, known as the “Abolish the ATF Act.” The legislation is co-sponsored by Reps. Andy Biggs (AZ-05), Mike Collins (GA-10), Bob Onder (MO-03), Andy Ogles (TN-05), Mary Miller (IL-15), Keith Self (TX-03), and Paul Gosar (AZ-09). It was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.
Grassley and Ernst asked Bondi for a response by May 23 to include “the strategy the Justice Department will take in addressing the issues raised in this letter, as well as answers to our January 30, 2024 and September 23, 2024 letters.”
Really?
DOJ to Illinois Gun Owners: Write Your Democrat Legislators to Repeal Infringements
“We recently received your March 27, 2025, message to the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding firearm laws and Second Amendment rights,” a reply letter from Hadiza L. Buge, Acting Assistant Deputy Director, Public and Governmental Affairs, to an activist who had filed a civil rights complaint against the state of Illinois’ requirement to obtain a Firearm Owner’s Identification card (FOID) as a prior restraint and precondition to buying a gun. “DOJ forwarded your inquiry to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for response.”
In early April, this column reported on that complaint, filed by a citizen who is being left unnamed here because he is intentionally known on social media only by a screen name to protect his privacy and employability.
It was actually his second attempt to hold Attorney General Pam Bondi to her word (Justice punted on his first complaint, asking it to investigate an anti-gun judge’s political and financial conflicts of interest), given in a press release announcing a Second Amendment Pattern-or-Practice Investigation into Los Angeles County concealed handgun license application delays, that:
“This Department of Justice will not stand idly by while States and localities infringe on the Second Amendment rights of ordinary, law-abiding Americans. The Second Amendment is not a second-class right, and under my watch, the Department will actively enforce the Second Amendment just like it actively enforces other fundamental constitutional rights.”
Points brought to the DOJ’s attention in the FOID complaint:
- The reason for the law was to dissuade minorities (specifically African Americans during a time of racial riots/unrest and distrust amongst racial groups and law enforcement) from seeking police permission to legally own firearms.
- Funding for FOID cards and carry licenses is used now as a “piggy bank” by the IL General Assembly to fund other projects, leading to delays in processing (with a documented case of a 20-month wait).
- A woman with no criminal record was charged with a crime for possessing a single-shot rifle in her home without a FOID.
“ATF is a law enforcement agency within the DOJ dedicated to reducing violent crime and protecting the public. ATF’s mission focuses on administering Federal criminal laws and regulating the firearms and explosives industries,” Buge’s response continued. “In support of this mission, ATF implements policy and regulations to enforce laws created by Congress. As such, we encourage you to reach out to your State congressional delegation with your recommendations regarding firearm laws. We hope this information proves helpful to you.”
Right. In Illinois. How helpful.
Translation: ATF only deals with federal issues, and your state complaint is outside of its jurisdiction, so DOJ forwarding it to them can’t go anywhere. If you want relief, contact your state representatives, the Democrat ones who are passing citizen disarmament edicts, and ask them not to. We’re washing our hands of it.
Something for them to think about as they ‘weigh’: ACTA NON VERBA
Trump’s DOJ Weighs Gun Rights as a Focus for Civil Rights Division
The US Justice Department’s top civil rights official said the division is considering making gun rights a formal priority, in a significant shift from its traditional focus.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in an interview with Bloomberg that the department is reviewing whether certain state and local gun control measures infringe on citizens’ rights.
“The Second Amendment is one of the constitutional rights we are committed to defending,” Dhillon said. “We’re adding that to our analysis where states are violating constitutional rights.”
She declined to name specific jurisdictions under review but added, “I think it’s all pretty obvious where people’s rights are being violated.”
Cities including New York have maintained some of the nation’s strictest gun-permitting laws, despite a Supreme Court decision striking down the state’s “proper cause” requirement in 2022. That rule required gun permit applicants to show special justification for self-protection, which the court ruled unconstitutional.
The consideration of gun rights as a new priority for the Civil Rights Division is already reflected in an investigation launched in March. The government is looking into the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department over delays in issuing concealed-carry permits. The US says the inquiry will examine whether the delays constitute a pattern of Second Amendment violations.
The Sheriff’s Department said in a statement in March that it is “committed” to processing the applications “in compliance with state and local laws to promote responsible gun ownership.”
Historically, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has prioritized voting rights enforcement, housing and employment discrimination cases and police oversight. Notable actions include consent decrees targeting major city police departments and enforcement of federal voting protections. Expanding the division’s mandate to cover gun rights would be a major change.
Since Dhillon took office this year, the Justice Department has made campus antisemitism, religious expression and banning transgender women in women’s sports central priorities, reflecting goals of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Trump Calls For Big Cuts to ATF Budget, Citing Attacks on Second Amendment
President Donald Trump’s discretionary budget request for fiscal year 2026 has officially been released by the White House, and while he’s not proposing the ATF be totally defunded, he is demanding a major reduction in spending for the agency.
Under the budget proposal released today, the ATF would receive $468 million less than this year’s budget of roughly $1.62 billion, and the administration is citing the Biden administration’s weaponization of the agency as the rationale for the cuts.
The Budget bolsters the Second Amendment by cutting funding for ATF offices that have criminalized law-abiding gun ownership through regulatory fiat.
The previous administration used the ATF to attack gun-owning Americans and undermine the Second Amendment by requiring near universal background checks; subjecting otherwise lawful gun owners to up to 10 years in prison for failing to register pistol braces that make it possible for disabled veterans to use firearms; the imposition of excessive restrictions on homemade firearms; and the revocation of Federal Firearms Licenses, which shut down small businesses across the Nation.
The Budget re-prioritizes resources toward illegal firearms traffickers fueling violent crime and crime gun tracing that State and local law enforcement need to track down dangerous criminals, such as MS-13 gang members.
With proposed cuts to the FBI and DEA as well, expect Democrats claim that it’s Trump who’s interested in defunding the police, and for gun control groups to raise hell in particular about the ATF’s budget, which they’ll portray as a gift to the firearms industry and its CEOs (Giffords, in particular, has been doing a lot of targeted messaging about gun company CEOs ever since the CEO of United Healthcare was assassinated on a New York street last December).
In fact, unnamed sources are already complaining to the press about what Trump’s proposed budget would mean. From Reuters:
This is another one of Trump’s, or his ‘advisors’ goofs. Taking a Republican out of the House, requiring a special election to replace him. Now, while both he and Matt Gaetz were replaced with other Republicans, any election always has a certain amount of risk involved, and if the demoncraps retake the House in 27, the only thing we’ll see is a continual series of impeachments of Trump, simply out of hate.
BREAKING: Waltz Out at the White House
Three weeks after inadvertently adding Atlantic reporter and long time Trump foe Jeffery Goldberg to a Signal group chat, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and his deputy Alex Wong have reportedly been ousted from the administration. Others in the chat included Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and more.
Mike Waltz is out as National Security Adviser pic.twitter.com/NBj3tft2vU
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) May 1, 2025
The Atlantic published details of the chat, which included sensitive discussions about bombing Iranian backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Waltz admitted to accidentally adding Goldberg but maintained he didn’t know how the number ended up in his contact list.
“The world found out shortly before 2 p.m. eastern time on March 15 that the United States was bombing Houthi targets across Yemen,” Goldberg detailed. “I, however, knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming. The reason I knew this is that Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, had texted me the war plan at 11:44 a.m. The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing.”
President Donald Trump continues to stand by Secretary of Defense Hegseth and others who were in the discussion. Signal is a legal and approved way for government officials to communicate so long as the information shared is unclassified.
On Thursday morning, Waltz was still at the White House discussing the newly inked economic deal with Ukraine.
nics_alert_memo_04242025_508c_0ATF is instituting new measures to protect gun-owner privacy and to prevent the misuse of a law enforcement tool. Senior-leadership approval is required for all requests to receive information from the NICS alert to investigate firearms trafficking. https://t.co/TWiD00lbZp #ATF pic.twitter.com/zwjeMjYHA0
— ATF HQ (@ATFHQ) April 25, 2025
No why do I not trust this to be really happening?
ATF Changes Policy On NICS “Pre-Crime” Monitoring
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has changed its policy on monitoring the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
AmmoLand News first reported the ATF using a NICS monitoring system in 2021 after learning about the system through an inside source. The ATF would use NICS to monitor Americans buying guns. Data in NICS is supposed to be deleted within 24 hours, but the ATF requested that all data be saved for 30, 60, 90, or 180 days. The targets being monitored were not being charged with any crime. The ATF was tracking people who they felt “might” commit a crime in the future or associated with the “wrong” people.
The monitoring outraged many in the gun community who felt that the ATF and FBI were creating a “pre-crime” program. Gun Owners of America (GOA) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to show the use of the system. It turned out that the system was in widespread use and not only for those who “might” commit a federal crime. The ATF was monitoring people who might break California state law by purchasing a long gun that wasn’t legal within the Golden State.
The new policy should prevent some of those violations. Any new monitoring must be approved by the ATF Special Agents in Charge (SACs) and the Deputy Assistant Director (DAD). This change prevents rogue agents from using the system for their own needs. Also, the system may now only be utilized in cases involving suspected violations of federal firearm statutes. This new policy prevents ATF agents from monitoring suspects for states such as California.
The memo reads: “Effective immediately, Special Agents in Charge (SACs) approval and Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) concurrence is now mandatory for all NICS alerts. NICS alerts may only be utilized in cases involving suspected violations of federal firearm statutes. See 28 C.F.R. Part 25. This investigative technique should not be utilized to primarily investigate state firearm laws. A formal memo for approval will be utilized which will require the following information: Field Management Staff (FMS) will also monitor all requests.”
The FMS will notify the SAC and requester of upcoming expirations. This monitoring of expiration dates ensures that the flags are removed at the end of the monitoring. Sources tell AmmoLand News that there have been times when a flag is not removed and left in place. This oversight wasn’t done in malice; it was due to procedures not being followed. The new policy should change that.
The memo reads: “FMS will monitor all NICS flags and notify the SAC and requestor of upcoming expirations. Renewal of the NICS alert requires SAC concurrence and DAD approval. This process will also be documented in a formal memo and processed through FMS. Instructions regarding the maintenance and purging of NICS alert information will be provided by FMS. Any current NICS alert may only be renewed utilizing this process.”
A flag can be renewed, but only for six months. After that time period has expired, any extensions must be approved by the ATF Deputy Director and the Chief Legal Counsel. The idea is to prevent the abuse of the problematic NICS monitoring system. New ATF Deputy Chief Robert Cekada signed the letter.
About John Crump
ATF Fact Sheet – Facts and Figures for Fiscal Year 2024
Personnel
| Special Agents | 2,572 |
|---|---|
| Industry Operations Investigators | 857 |
| Administrative/professional/technical | 1,893 |
| Total full-time employees | 5,322 |
Another ATF Bureaucrat Removed From Office
Another long-term Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) employee is out as the purge of anti-gun advocates continues. The latest casualty, Megan Bennett, has been forced to retire.
Ms. Bennett was the Assistant Director of the Office of Enforcement Programs and Services (EPS). Recently, she came under fire for presenting former ATF Director Steve Dettelbach with what appeared to be an 80% AR-15 lower receiver in violation of Washington, DC law. DC requires all AR-15 lowers to be serialized and the transferee to go through the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
It was clear by the ceremony that Dettelbach didn’t go through background checks.
In the ceremony, Bennett talked about her pride in being part of all the new rules implemented under the Biden Administration. Bennett was an advocate of rules such as the pistol brace rule. The rule reclassified pistols equipped with pistol stabilizing devices as short-barreled rifles (SBRs). Millions of Americans own braced pistols. These citizens would have to register their firearms with the ATF’s National Firearms Act Division (NFA), or they could be charged with a felony, face 10 years in federal prison, and be forced to pay a $250.000 fine.
Multiple gun rights organizations sued over the pistol brace rule, claiming that it violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). The proposed rule had a checklist called the ATF Form 4999 with a point system determining whether a braced firearm was a rifle or pistol. The Final Rule lacked any resemblance to the proposed rule. The gun rights groups claimed that the Final Rule was not a logical outgrowth of the proposed rule. These groups also contended that the rule was arbitrary and capricious because it had a “you know it when you see it” clause.
The courts would issue multiple injunctions against the ATF’s pistol brace rule, preventing the Bureau’s enforcement of its implementation. Braced pistols would return to shelves of gun stores. This injunction should have been a sign that the ATF should not try to enforce the pistol brace rule, but Ms. Bennett and EPS disagreed.
Lest we forget:
ATF Targeting Old Men in Rural Missouri
The entire State of Missouri can rest much easier now. The ATF has made the Show-Me State a much safer place. Two rule breakers from small Missouri towns were indicted by a federal grand jury last week. Their crimes? They’re accused of selling guns without a federal license. Their ages? One was 75 and the other was 81 years old.
This, friends, is not a sick joke. The ATF actually publicized the arrests in a press release, which was sent out last week.
“According to an indictment returned this week, Aubrey Foxworthy, 81, of California, Missouri, was charged with dealing firearms in Morgan and Moniteau Counties from approximately June 2, 2023, through September 9, 2024. He did not have a federal firearms license to deal firearms. Foxworthy was also charged with possession of a rifle with a barrel length less than 16 inches and that rifle was not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record,” the press release states. “According to an indictment returned this week, Philip Leroy Rains, 75, of Popular Bluff, Missouri, was charged with dealing firearms in Morgan County from approximately April 1, 2023, through April 4, 2024. He did not have a federal firearms license to deal firearms.”
Each man now faces five years in a federal prison and fines of up to a quarter-million dollars for the no-FFL charges, but Foxworthy faces an additional 10 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000 for whatever the ATF considered an unregistered short-barreled rifle. Nowadays this could be a legal firearm with a brace. Unfortunately, if things go the ATF’s way, Foxworthy could leave federal prison in 2040 at the ripe age of 96.
Foxworthy could lose a lot more than just his freedom. According to his indictment, the ATF also ordered him to turn over all of his guns, and the 81-year-old had a decent collection.
The ATF wants 197 of Foxworthy’s personal firearms, according to a list attached to his indictment. The guns are about what you’d expect a lifelong gun owner to have in his safe. Almost all are American made: Ruger, Colt, Winchester, Savage, Browning, Remington, Marlin, Mossberg, Henry and Smith & Wesson. The ATF also wants Foxworthy’s ammunition, and the list claims he had more than 16,000 rounds.
Because the ATF prepared the list, there are four firearms identified as “machineguns,” but the type, manufacturer and calibers are listed as “unknown.” Also, Foxworthy was not charged with the illegal possession of any machineguns. This makes sense in a sick way, because experience has shown when the ATF can’t identify a firearm, they usually just consider it a machinegun.
The list also shows that Foxworthy owned a dozen Winchester Model 94 rifles. The serial number of one rifle shows it was manufactured before 1896. Depriving the man of that rifle is a sin, especially since it will likely be kept or even resold by some nameless ATF agent.
Calls to Foxworthy’s defense attorney were not returned.
Takeaways
Who hasn’t seen an old man at a flea market with a couple guns for sale either on a folding table or laying on a blanket in the bed of his pickup?
It’s classic Americana, right? There is certainly no crime or criminal intent.
Unfortunately, Joe Biden robbed us of this for a few years. Biden’s “engaged in the business” rule required anyone who made a profit on a single gun sale to obtain a federal firearm license.
“Under this regulation, it will not matter if guns are sold on the internet, at a gun show, or at a brick-and-mortar store: if you sell guns predominantly to earn a profit, you must be licensed, and you must conduct background checks,” former Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced about a year ago.
The press release shows that both arrestees’ alleged law-breaking occurred while Biden was napping at the White House. Besides, it was easier for the ATF. Their agents are much less likely to be shot or scared if they harass a couple old men, rather than going after big-city gangsters armed with full-auto Glocks with Glock switches.
Truth be known, Attorney General Pam Bondi or her staff should examine all of the ATF’s cases made during Biden’s term. Some were much worse than this one.
I certainly hope that whoever is actually in charge of the ATF today will take this into account and drop all charges against Messrs. Foxworthy and Rains.
The ATF has put each of them through enough. I hope that Foxworthy gets to keep his guns, too, especially the pre-1896 Model 94.
To do anything else would be a real crime.
As promised, I have declassified the Biden Administration’s Strategic Implementation Plan for Countering Domestic Terrorism.
– DNI Tulsi Gabbard
Salient page for violating RKBA
Task Force’s Exclusion of Gun Owner Advocates Means Continuing DOJ Disappointments
“For too long, the Second Amendment, which establishes the fundamental individual right of Americans to keep and bear arms, has been treated as a second-class right,” Attorney General Pam Bondi began in an April 8 Memorandum to All Employees. “No more. It is the policy of this Department of Justice to use its full might to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.”
It’s a refreshing sentiment considering Justice Department sentiment during the last administration, but it reflects a fundamental misunderstanding about where the right to keep and bear arms comes from. As the Supreme Court noted about an earlier decision in the Heller case:
“The very text of the Second Amendment implicitly recognizes the pre-existence of the right and declares only that it ‘shall not be infringed.’
As we said in United States v. Cruikshank, ‘[t]his is not a right granted by the Constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence. The Second amendment declares that it shall not be infringed…’”
It’s not quibbling over words, and it recalls a similar disconnect from the previous administration, when the Trump White House website declared “The Second Amendment gives citizens the right to bear arms,” and then ignored a petition to make a simple correction.
That points to the danger in not formally partnering with the gun owners Donald Trump would not have won without. And the Second Amendment Task Force AG Bondi introduces in the memorandum is an invitation to continued dysfunction:
“I will serve as the Chair of the Task Force and the Associate Attorney General will serve as the Vice Chair. The Task Force will be further composed of representatives from my personal staff, the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the Office of the Associate Attorney General, the Office of the Solicitor General. the Civil Division, the Civil Rights Division, the Criminal Division, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and any other components or representatives that I may from time to time designate to assist in the Task Force’s labors.”
Forgetting anyone (scroll to pg. 73)? Because the primary loyalty of all of those people Bondi cites is to the chain of command, and when its priorities conflict with “shall not be infringed,” guess which will win.
I’ve been advocating replacing Joe Biden’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention with an Office of Second Amendment Protection for a while now, arguing:
“Gun rights leaders and legal scholars could be identified and nominated to analyze and prioritize bills, lawsuits, regulations, opportunities, and threats, to advise on judicial and other federal nominees, and to help educate the public. The Office would provide a way for the public to express their concerns and to offer ideas and suggestions, meaning gun owners would have a conduit.”
Such a body could nip misunderstandings and surprises in the bud and put a stop to much of the Second Amendment bipolarity we see being manifested in Justice, where one day they come out with an announcement gun owners cheer, and the next do something that leaves us slapping our foreheads and wondering what the hell is wrong with these people. Such uncertainty breeds mistrust and causes real divisions among gun owners, especially when we see actions being taken that fly in the face of Donald Trump’s campaign promise that “Every single Biden attack on gun owners and manufacturers will be terminated on my very first week back in office, perhaps my first day.”
Aside from the fact that, instead of making that pledge come true, assessment reports, studies, and task forces just kick the can down the road indefinitely (see an instructive video from National Association of Gun Rights on this), such actions leave many wondering how serious and sincere the promises are.
Some recent cases in point:
Republican Lawmaker Takes Aim at IRS Guns
But something that I’ve always found perplexing is that they have armed IRS agents.
I get that they’re in charge of enforcing the tax code, but they’re still the IRS. They’re not a law enforcement agency, but a revenue collection agency. Their job isn’t to kick in doors and make arrests, so why do they have so many guns?
Well, one lawmaker has introduced a bill to fix that.
U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) introduced the Why Does the IRS Need Guns Act on Monday.
The bill:
- Prohibits the IRS from using appropriated funds to purchase, receive, or store any firearm or ammunition
- Requires the IRS to transfer to the GSA any firearms or ammunition owned or under the control of the IRS
- Within 30 days of transfer, GSA must initiate the sale or auction of any firearms to licensed dealers and the auction of any ammo to the general public
Moore told 1819 News on Monday, “We’re going to try to force them to get rid of the ammunition and weapons they’ve bought since 2020.”
That’s a solid start.
However, there are a lot of federal agencies that have guns when they probably shouldn’t. I recall one story years ago where a tactical team from the Department of Education showed up at someone’s house regarding student loans. I don’t recall the specifics, but the fact that the Department of Education has a tactical team is more than a little troubling.
NASA and the Department of Energy have those, too, but I get why they have them. Rocket fuel would be beneficial to terrorists, as would sabotaging a nuclear reactor. Having heavily armed personnel on site makes sense for those two agencies.
For most other agencies, though, I don’t see why they need any such thing. If they need a door kicked down, that should fall to the FBI or some other relevant federal law enforcement agency.
So disarming the IRS is a good start, and I hope this bill passes, but I’d rather it be a bit more expansive than that.
While the federal government has spent years trying to disarm the American people, it’s been arming just about every governmental entity it can, which is not how the balance of power is supposed to work in this country. The militarization of federal agencies–agencies that are not law enforcement agencies–is a troubling phenomenon that no one should ever be comfortable with.
Like the man in the comic turned movie said, “People should not be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.” That’s a lot harder to make happen when even the Department of Education has a heavily-armed tactical team. Especially when our own arms have been neutered by a century of gun control laws.
Starting with the IRS is fine, but the line cannot be allowed to be drawn there. More needs to be done.
Here’s hoping, though.
Senator Rand Paul Launches an Investigation Into NICS Monitoring
Senator Rand Paul is launching an investigation into the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) use of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
“This kind of backdoor surveillance of American citizens—without due process or public disclosure—should alarm every single person who values the Bill of Rights,” said Dr. Paul. “The ATF and FBI have no business creating secret watchlists for law-abiding Americans seeking to purchase firearms. It’s unacceptable, and I intend to get answers.”
In 2021, AmmoLand News discovered through a leak that the ATF was using the FBI’s NICS to monitor certain Americans’ gun purchases. These Americans were not wanted for any crime, but the ATF expected they might commit a crime in the future. Some people were monitored because they were associated with groups and people that the government didn’t like. The monitoring period for the ATF target is 30, 60, 90, or 180 days.
Recently, it was determined by a Freedom of Information Act Request (FOIA) filed by Gun Owners of America (GOA) that the ATF was using the NICS monitoring program to watch Californian gun owners who might purchase guns that violate state law. It is legal to buy long guns out of state, but not all those long guns are legal in California, which has some of the strictest gun laws in the country. Continue reading “”