Without a repeal of, or a court finding that, the underpinning laws that empower the bureaucraps, another agency will simply take over enforcement. A new director, like a Brandon Herrera or Blake Masters would have the opportunity to gut the bureau from the inside out.
President Trump should help destroy the ATF
It’s time to end the ATF before they kill another law-abiding American.
by Lee Williams
President Donald Trump’s election victory was made possible by millions of gun owners who are still angry about the treatment they received from Joe Biden and his antigun ilk in the ATF.
Biden and whoever was actually calling the shots targeted legitimate gun owners and gun dealers like it was cool—like it was a game. Biden even allowed these illegitimate forces to establish an antigun office right inside his White House. They met regularly with senior members of the antigun industry.
This civil rights abuse was totally ignored by the mainstream media because the “journalists” themselves were all antigun and totally on board with Team Biden.
The ATF has a long and blood-soaked history. In addition to the more than 80 lives lost at Waco—which includes 20 children—a Deputy U.S. Marshal and Randy Weaver’s wife and son were killed during ATF’s Ruby Ridge fiasco. The ATF’s “Fast and Furious” scheme resulted in the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and hundreds of Mexican nationals, who were killed by the weapons ATF allowed to walk straight into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels. The ATF has never fully addressed or apologized for these needless deaths that its agents caused.
Nowadays, there are scores of examples of ATF crews laughing and joking with each other as they tear apart the homes of law-abiding folks who had done nothing wrong. The latest was Mark “Choppa” Manley, who along with his wife and children is lucky to have survived an early morning ATF search warrant that found nothing wrong. All of Manly’s firearms were legal and complied with both state and federal law.
Thankfully, Manley recognized that armed ATF agents were taking tactical positions outside his home and put down his handgun right before they beat down his front door, threw two flashbang grenades and stormed inside. Bryan Malinowski never had that opportunity. The Arkansas airport director assumed that criminals had entered his home during the early morning hours of March 19, 2024. Malinowski grabbed a pistol and fired several rounds. ATF shot and killed the 53-year-old, who had absolutely zero prior criminal history.
For decades, the gun community has talked about dumping the ATF, but the agency still exists, and its unlawful and deadly actions continue to this day. Under Biden, the agency actually got much worse.
Their deadly and loathsome raids add further proof that the ATF can never be trusted again. It has become more dangerous than the criminals it allegedly tries to target. Thankfully, Congress has a bill in the works to dump the agency. Representatives Eric Burlison (R-MO-07) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO-04) recently introduced H.R. 221, legislation that is simple and succinct: “The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is hereby abolished.”
According to its FY2022 budget, the ATF had around 5,000 employees, a little more than half were armed special agents. The rest were Industry Operations Investigators, who make life hell for gun shop owners, and other clerical and professional staff. They operated on a budget of $1.5 billion taxpayer dollars.
Years ago, there were ATF agents who supported guns and our gun rights—older agents who didn’t let their administrators push them into breaking the law. But after four years of Biden and his chosen joke of an ATF director, these agents are mostly gone. They were replaced by younger antigun bureaucrats.
If President Trump truly wants to take historic action, he will help end the ATF immediately, before another American is needlessly shot and killed, which is guaranteed to happen.
As if no one knew this for the past 4 or 5 YEARS…..
Speaker Mike Johnson reveals just how out of the loop and cognitively impaired Joe Biden was as President after meeting with Biden and discussing his LNG Executive Order:
“Biden was not lying to me. He genuinely did not know what he had signed.”
Scary.
pic.twitter.com/Clbytug8e3— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) January 18, 2025
What SCOTUS doesn't have much time for: most Second Amendment questions, even though they have taken very few such cases in their history.
What SCOTUS does have time for: pic.twitter.com/FpwnydnvO1
— Kostas Moros (@MorosKostas) January 17, 2025
Armed L.A. residents defy evacuation orders to defend homes from wildfire looters
Amid concerns over looters targeting wildfire victims’ homes, some residents are defying evacuation orders and choosing to protect their properties instead.
The homeowners said they have chosen to stay put, taking security measures into their own hands while potentially snuffing out any embers that could ignite.
EveAnna Manley moved to Altadena 20 years ago and said she worked to prepare her home for natural disasters such as the Eaton Fire.
As of Wednesday, around 50 people had been arrested for alleged looting in wildfire evacuation zones across L.A.
Manley said she is fully prepared to face any looters who show up on her property.
“I do have firearms and I’ve been calling my friends to make sure I know how to legally exist with them,” she said.
EveAnna Manley chose not to evacuate her Altadena home to protect the property against looters or potential flare-ups from the Eaton Fire. (KTLA)
A sign posted on EveAnna Manley’s front window alerting potential trespassers that she is armed.
Supreme Court Second Amendment Update 1-17-2025
In my last update, I wrote, “If a cert petition reaches its scheduled conference date without a justice requesting a response, then we know it was placed on the deadlist and never voted on. It was simply denied.” That remains true. Every Second Amendment cert petition that went into last Friday’s SCOTUS conference, where the respondents had either filed a waiver or did not file any response, was denied. In one case, the Feds asked for the cert petition to be granted, the lower court’s decision vacated, and the case remanded (GVR’d) back to the lower court for proceedings consistent with US v. Rahimi. With only one exception that I can recall when the Feds ask for a GVR, they get it.
I also wrote The “assault rifle” and “large capacity” magazine cert petitions were today relisted to this Friday’s SCOTUS conference of January 10th.” They survived that conference and were relisted to today’s conference. We won’t know until Tuesday whether they and the other petitions scheduled for today’s conference survived.
A response was requested for one of the petitions scheduled for today’s conference, but the Second Amendment was just one of three questions presented to the justices. I suspect that one of the other questions (most likely question 3) in Jarvis Parker, Petitioner v. Florida No. 24-6146 resulted in a response being requested.
In any event, when a justice requests a response after a waiver has been filed and the response hasn’t been filed before the petition goes to its scheduled conference, the petition survives that conference.
Last Friday’s SCOTUS conference resulted in 13 denials, 1 GVR, and two relists.
The petitions that were scheduled for today’s conference are:
Americans who value freedom had better be more concerned about the gun control crowd than the criminals. The criminals want your money. The Neo-Totalitarians want your freedom.
— Charlie Reese
January 18, 2025
This video right here is why Tom Homan is the perfect choice for border czar. pic.twitter.com/IXf80Pon3P
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) January 17, 2025
This “28th Amendment” stunt is not random.
The brainwashed liberal sheep will eat this up and actually believe that this is part of The Constitution.
Then when Trump rightfully says this is hogwash, the Dems will say Trump is “taking their rights away”.
Pure desperation. pic.twitter.com/Q0KDVtj9Ji
— Clandestine (@WarClandestine) January 17, 2025
This Gun Store Owner Just Forced the ATF to Reverse an Anti-Gun ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy
Score another victory for gun rights. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has reversed its “zero tolerance” policy created under the Biden administration to infringe on the right to keep and bear arms.
The policy allowed the ATF to revoke the licenses of firearms dealers who make common clerical errors on their paperwork. Several small gun shops have been forced out of business because of the rule.
Michael Cargill, owner of Central Texas Gun Works, joined with the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) in a lawsuit against the White House over the unconstitutional measure. The Biden administration capitulated before the lawsuit could be decided in the courts and reverted back to the previous policy, which only allows the ATF to revoke licenses for “willful” offenses, not small clerical errors, according to a press release issued by the TPPF.
LaPierre Pays Up $, Lawyer Brewer Resigns, Our Causes Advance : NRA Board After Action Report
Dallas, Texas, January 12, 2025 – The Winter meeting of the NRA Board of Directors wrapped up just after midnight last night (January 11/12/25) in Dallas, after almost a week of committee meetings and a long, sometimes contentious meeting of the Board.
The big news from the meeting was confirmation that Wayne LaPierre has tendered payment of over $4 million to the NRA. The payment covers the total judgment against LaPierre issued in last year’s civil trial, plus interest.
As I understand it, Mr. LaPierre has filed a notice of appeal on that judgment, so the NRA will need to hold onto the money until that or any other appeals are finally concluded, which could take years. The wheels of justice turn slowly.
The Board wasn’t satisfied with LaPierre’s payment though, passing a strongly-worded resolution expressing their commitment to recovering all legal fees and other expenses paid by NRA on behalf of LaPierre in relation to the lawsuit.
A few of LaPierre’s long-time friends and supporters on the Board tried to argue against “kicking a man while he’s down,” but after some debate over wording, the resolution passed on a strong majority voice vote. Like the payment already received, this claw-back commitment will not yield substantive action until all appeals are concluded, which could take years, but at least we’ve begun the process.
Another action of significance from the meeting was the dissolution of the Special Litigation Committee.
No charges in fatal weekend shooting in North Omaha
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Authorities said no charges will be filed in the shooting death of a 37-year-old man in North Omaha over the weekend.
Brandon Jones, 37, was killed and four others were injured in a shooting reported near 24th and Binney streets around 3 a.m. Sunday.
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine told First Alert 6 on Wednesday that no charges have been filed in Jones’ death, saying shots had been fired at him in self-defense.
“The people that fired at him were justified in doing what they did — obviously he wasn’t justified in coming in with a gun and firing at people inside,” Kleine said.
Prosecutors shared details about the case with First Alert 6 on Wednesday, saying Jones was upset after he was asked to leave an after-hours gathering at a business, and returned with a gun. He allegedly made threats then fired multiple shots, and gunfire was exchanged.
When police arrived on the scene after a ShotSpotter activation, they located Jones and another victim. Officers immediately began CPR on Jones before he was taken to Nebraska Medicine, where he later died, reports state.
Police reports indicate officers also found a 32-year-old man with a gunshot wound in the lower left side of his back at the scene; his injuries were determined not to be life-threatening.
Authorities later identified three more victims who arrived at CUMC with gunshot wounds after the shooting: a 57-year-old man, a 55-year-old man, and a 48-year-old man. All three were transferred to CHI-Bergan Mercy hospital for treatment, but initial reports indicated their injuries were not life-threatening.
Experience for the Future: To Revive, Reform & Rebuild the NRA
I am running to return to the NRA Board of Directors because I love the NRA, and I fear for her well-being and continued viability.
My name is John Sigler. I am a retired Police Captain, a veteran of the U.S. Navy’s Submarine Service, a lifelong Second Amendment activist, a lifelong hunter, collector, and competitive shooter, and an experienced corporate attorney. [John also writes for AmmoLand News]
My passion is Second Amendment legal research and advocacy. All of my pro bono legal work is centered upon and revolves around the defense of The Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
I had the honor and privilege of serving as NRA’s 59th president (2007-2009) during the “Glory Years” immediately following Charlton Heston’s time as our president.
To be painfully blunt, our beloved NRA is not what it once was, nor what it could be and should be today. Over the past few years, the NRA has been lied to, lied about, used, abused, swindled, spindled, and mutilated – and we, “The Members”, have paid the price.