Posted on 01/09/2025 6:07:34 AM PST by MtnClimber
Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives are planning to introduce legislation to abolish the controversial Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
According to Fox News, Congressman Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) will introduce the bill, which has earned several prominent co-sponsors, including: Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Mike Collins (R-Ga.), Bob Onder (R-Mo.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Mary Miller (R-Ill.), Keith Self (R-Texas), and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.).
In a statement announcing the legislation, Congressman Burlison denounced the ATF as an “unconstitutional agency.”
“The Constitution makes it very clear that when it comes to the federal government, there shall be no laws restricting firearms,” said Burlison in an interview with Fox News Digital. “It’s in the purview of the states, and so I don’t think it belongs on the federal level.”
“But here’s the thing I want to reiterate – they don’t have the manpower to enforce the laws that they implement,” Burlison added. “So they go and they solicit help from every local state law enforcement official to help them implement their stupid new rules.”
The idea of abolishing the ATF, which has long been the cause of mass suppression of Americans’ Second Amendment rights, has earned the support of Vice President-elect J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who previously supported such a move during his time in the Senate. Although President-elect Trump has not yet weighed in on the notion, he has expressed his support for abolishing several federal agencies in his second term, including the Department of Education.
Although Burlison admitted that he has not yet communicated with members of President-elect Trump’s team regarding this bill, he noted that “I’m sure there’s quite a few people in Trump world that would be open to this.”
The ATF has been plagued with scandal over its decades-long history, stemming from its use of too much force in dealing with gun-owning Americans. Most infamously, the agency was widely blamed for its poor handling of the standoffs at Ruby Ridge, Idaho in 1992, and in Waco, Texas in 1993. The Ruby Ridge incident led to the deaths of Vicki Weaver, her 14-year-old son Samuel, and their family dog. The Waco disaster ended with the deaths of 82 Americans who burned to death when their compound caught fire under mysterious circumstances in the midst of the ATF’s siege.
“But here’s the thing I want to reiterate – they don’t have the manpower to enforce the laws that they implement,” Burlison added. “So they go and they solicit help from every local state law enforcement official to help them implement their stupid new rules.”
The idea of abolishing the ATF, which has long been the cause of mass suppression of Americans’ Second Amendment rights, has earned the support of Vice President-elect J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who previously supported such a move during his time in the Senate. Although President-elect Trump has not yet weighed in on the notion, he has expressed his support for abolishing several federal agencies in his second term, including the Department of Education.
Although Burlison admitted that he has not yet communicated with members of President-elect Trump’s team regarding this bill, he noted that “I’m sure there’s quite a few people in Trump world that would be open to this.”
The ATF has been plagued with scandal over its decades-long history, stemming from its use of too much force in dealing with gun-owning Americans. Most infamously, the agency was widely blamed for its poor handling of the standoffs at Ruby Ridge, Idaho in 1992, and in Waco, Texas in 1993. The Ruby Ridge incident led to the deaths of Vicki Weaver, her 14-year-old son Samuel, and their family dog. The Waco disaster ended with the deaths of 82 Americans who burned to death when their compound caught fire under mysterious circumstances in the midst of the ATF’s siege.
A good start.
Arrests, trials, and convictions of ATF criminals to follow.
Showboating by usual suspects. Will go nowhere.
That would be great!
Agreed. Kabuki theater made to make the uninformed think that they’re “doing something.” As if the entrenched DC oligarchs would abide by legislation. Psh.
If they do this they need to actually fire the ATF agents and all the bureaucrats and not let them slip away into some other corner of the federal bureaucracy. They just need to go into the private sector and be gone.
The ATF was not in charge of the WACO siege.
The FBI had taken over the siege, very early, from the ATF.
Maybe a little showboating but it has some purpose, this provides Trump political cover to select an ATF head who can dismantle much of the organization AND claw back all the regs. So not entirely useless.
Imagine undoing decades of regs and staffing the org with eventually 1 figurehead :)
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms are all legal. Two of them have amendments in the constitution. Why do we have a bureau that polices them?
Do we have the Bureau of Books, Food, and Water to prosecute people who use them?
To be fair we probably have 10 other agencies for them but I digress.
Abolish everything the democrats use to suppress the US
“Showboating by usual suspects. Will go nowhere.”
It bears repeating.
I could see the reality of the 1920s, with prohibition....having the ‘A’ folks. But since the changes occurred....shouldn’t you just hand the law over to the US Marshalls and let them be the one-source LE organization?
If the ATF had not totally botched the initial arrest where people were killed, there would have been no WACO siege.
Way past time to get rid of it.
The fewer the better. The FBI should be reduced to purely investigative duties. Let them ask the local sheriff to serve any warrants.
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