Category: Bureaucraps

When a state goobermint, even one supposedly as ‘gun friendly’ as Tennessee, is the point of contact for NICS, (when the system was designed for individual FFLs to query) it means that no matter how much they may disclaim, they are recording the transactions for their own state police registry.

‘We’ve lost quite a bit’: Gun shops across the state lose revenue as TBI troubleshoots firearm background check system outage

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee’s Instant Check System was down for days, causing sales losses for gun store owners across the state.

The firearm purchase login page for Tennessee FlexCheck, which is the system used across the Volunteer State, displayed an error message reading, “We are currently unable to run background checks.  We are working quickly to resolve it. Please check your emails for more information and updates.”

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which helps oversee the system, told News 2 that the agency had been troubleshooting an outage. The TBI said that the outage was related to a “planned system change” from the agency’s vendor, which was outside of the organization’s control.

The vendor told the TBI they were working as quickly as possible to resolve the issue. It was tentatively restored around midnight Friday.

Phillip Arrington, who owns Goodlettsville Gun Shop and has been in the business for about 30 years, told News 2 the store had experienced about five or six outages so far this year — each lasting more than 24 hours — with other shorter outages throughout the year as well.

This outage lasted for about three days.

“It’s getting to a point where we can’t tell customers, ‘Yeah, we’ll get your background check! It’s an instant check!” Arrington told News 2. “It’s no longer an instant check because there is no pattern to when it’s going to be reliable.”

The TBI told News 2 that in 2024, TICS had been fully operational 99.46% of the time and is only closed on the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The agency did not provide outage statistics for this year.

No firearms could be sold in the state of Tennessee due to the outage, Arrington said, nor could firearms be taken in on consignment or any pawned. Some customers have been unhappy and even angry as a result of the outage.

“We’ve lost quite a bit [of money], but nothing compared to what some of the bigger stores have lost,” Arrington added. “…We have nothing to tell our customers. It basically stops everything we’re doing. There’s no sense in advertising because we can’t sell anything.”

Additionally, the TBI confirmed that some agencies lost access to the National Crime Information Center as a result of the outage. Law enforcement agencies utilize the NCIC to input information about missing children as well as information about crimes and criminals — like apprehending fugitives.

We Were All ‘Domestic Violent Extremists’ According to the Biden Administration.

The COVID pandemic feels like a distant, bizarre dream now—but the remnants are still around if you look closely. A lone mask-wearing Karen at the grocery store… faded social distancing stickers no one bothered to peel off… reminders of just how absurd—and sometimes terrifying—that era really was. It’s almost laughable to recall some of the things that were forced on us. Other times, it’s downright chilling—as when Joe Biden tried to impose sweeping mask and vaccine mandates on the entire country.

At PJ Media, we pushed back hard against those mandates from the beginning. For that, we were likely branded “domestic violent extremists” by the Biden administration.

It’s true. Newly declassified intelligence documents reveal that the Biden administration categorized Americans who opposed COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates as potential “Domestic Violent Extremists” (DVEs). This wasn’t mere rhetoric—the DVE designation grants federal agencies expanded surveillance and investigative powers against targeted individuals, according to intelligence records recently declassified and obtained by Public and Catherine Herridge Reports.

The report, which the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, has declassified, claims that “anti government or anti authority violent extremists,” specifically militias, “characterize COVID-19 vaccination and mask mandates as evidence of government overreach.” A sweeping range of COVID narratives, the report states, “have resonated” with DVEs “motivated by QAnon.”

The FBI, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) coauthored the December 13, 2021 intelligence product whose title reads, “DVEs and Foreign Analogues May React Violently to COVID-19 Mitigation Mandates.”

The report flags opposition to mandates as one of the so-called “prominent narratives” linked to violent extremism. Among the flagged beliefs: that COVID-19 vaccines are unsafe—particularly for children—that they’re tied to a government or global effort to strip away civil liberties and livelihoods, or that they’re part of a broader push to usher in a new political or social order.

I wrote articles including “Biden Can Shove His New Vaccine Mandate up His Donkey,” “The FDA Is on the Verge of Approving COVID Vaccines for Kids Under Six. Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Do It,” and “Screw the CDC — I Won’t Give My Child the COVID Vaccine.” At the time, we thought the biggest problem with publishing articles such as these at PJ Media was that they’d get demonetized. It turns out that the real issue was that the Biden administration probably flagged us as “Domestic Violent Extremists” as well. If you commented on articles like these and agreed with them, they may have flagged you, too.

By defending individual liberty and questioning government overreach during the pandemic, PJ Media and our readers apparently earned ourselves a spot on Biden’s domestic terrorist watchlist. The irony? We were right about the mandates all along—their ineffectiveness, their  unconstitutionality, and their use as tools of control rather than as public health measures.

This was a national security apparatus designed to target political opposition and further evidence that the United States was transitioning to a police state under Joe Biden. When questioning public health mandates gets you branded as a potential terrorist, we’ve crossed a line that should concern every American, regardless of his or her stance on COVID policies.

Yeah, until the next demoncrap administration is in office and the feckless bureaucraps change their tune…..again.

ATF Issues New Guidelines for FFL’s, Ending Biden’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy

Though the end of the Biden administration’s “zero tolerance” approach to federal firearms licensees was announced a few weeks ago, it took some time for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to come up with a new national policy for compliance inspections of FFLs.

That policy was officially unveiled on Friday, with the agency declaring that the new guidelines for both FFLs and ATF agents will “promote fairness, consistency, and public safety.”

The policy replaces the 2021 Enhanced Regulatory Enforcement policy, also known as the “zero-tolerance” policy. It directs industry operations investigators to consider all circumstances of an inspection rather than applying automatic outcomes, ensuring ATF uses its regulatory authority fairly and effectively.

“This update is about getting it right and making sure we’re focused on public safety,” ATF Acting Director Daniel Driscoll said. “Under the previous policy, some licensees were being penalized for simple mistakes such as, forgetting to put their license number on forms.

This new guidance gives our investigators the discretion to tell the difference between an honest mistake and a real threat to public safety. Law-abiding dealers deserve a system that treats them fairly, not like suspects. They are our partners and the first line of defense in our efforts to combat firearms trafficking.”

I can’t imagine Driscoll’s comments coming out of the mouth of former ATF Director Steve Dettelbach, who was happy to serve as Biden’s attack dog on the industry. Biden himself declared the gun industry an “enemy” in his 2020 campaign, but as Driscoll says, the industry (including individual gun dealers) are an inherent part of combatting illegal gun sales and gun trafficking.

So what’s actually changed? The ATF points to several major revisions from the previous policy.

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Department of Justice Announces Settlement of Litigation Between the Federal Government and Rare Breed Triggers

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.

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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.”

Named in their letter and statement are ATF Senior Executive Lisa Boykin and Justice Management Division (JMD) Acting Deputy Director of Human Resources (HR) Ralph Bittelari.

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.

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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:

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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.

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.

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

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.

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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.