Free Republic

The Biden-era ATF rule restricting pistol braces was vacated Thursday after President Donald Trump's Department of Justice agreed to drop its appeal in a federal lawsuit, delivering a major victory to gun-rights advocates, Breitbart reported. The move marks a significant reversal in federal firearms regulation and concludes a lengthy legal battle over the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives' 2023 rule that reclassified AR-pistols with braces as short-barreled rifles under the National Firearms Act. "This afternoon, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and the federal government agreed to a joint dismissal of the government's appeal in our Mock v. Bondi lawsuit,...

Three years ago Patrick Adamiak was an E-6 in the Navy, on his way to finishing a military career. At 28, he had a private business selling popular gun parts and replica, non-firing weapons. Today, he’s nearing his third year in a federal prison, serving a 20-year sentence. His life fell apart when the ATF decided to take an interest in him. They raided his home and found nothing illegal, just gun parts and entirely legal, semiautomatic guns. But these were the Biden/Garland years and guns of any kind, and gun owners, were in their crosshairs. An example had to...

The agency is working with the ATF general counsel to cut upwards of 50 regulations as the administration drastically reduces the number of inspectors.The U.S. DOGE Service has sent staff to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the goal of revising or eliminating dozens of rules and gun restrictions by July 4, according to multiple people with knowledge of the efforts, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that have not been made public. The initial target was to change 47 regulations, an apparent reference to Donald Trump’s status as the 47th president of...

The Trump administration has reconsidered what state and territory firearms permits qualify as substitutes for National Instant Criminal Background Check system checks, or more generally, for Brady Law checks when purchasing a firearm. Two more states, Michigan and Alabama, have been added to the current list. As of present, 29 states and Puerto Rico have permits that qualify.Not all permits in a particular state may qualify. In Alabama, both the Concealed Carry Permit and the Lifetime Concealed Carry Permit qualify. In Michigan, both the Permit to Purchase, Carry, Possess, or Transport a handgun and the license to conceal carry qualify.Missouri...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The widow of an Arkansas airport director who was killed during a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives raid on his home last year sued the agency and several officials, claiming the agency and officers acted recklessly and negligently. Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport Executive Director Bryan Malinowski died days after he was shot when ATF agents were executing a warrant March 19, 2024, at his home in Little Rock. The ATF said Malinowski shot at agents, striking and injuring one, after which agents returned fire. An affidavit released after the shooting said the...

WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department plans to press ahead with a merger of its two agencies that investigate drug and firearms offenses, though the effort would still need approval from Congress, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.In a meeting on Thursday, officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were informed that the merger could be executed as soon as October, one of the sources said, speaking anonymously because the discussions are not public.The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A wrongful death federal lawsuit has been filed against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Explosives (ATF) and at least 10 agents after Bryan Malinowski, who was a director at the Clinton National Airport, was killed in an early morning raid. The lawsuit was filed by attorneys for Maria "Maer" Malinowski, the wife of Malinowski, and alleges "agents chose the most aggressive tactics available" to serve a search warrant on March 19, 2024. The complaint alleges the constitutional rights of the Malinowskis' were violated, with attorneys calling his death a "needless and a direct result of...

Republican Iowa Sens. Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley called on the Justice Department Monday to hold Biden-era Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives officials accountable for allegedly orchestrating an “illegal scheme” to “misclassify” administrative positions as law enforcement ones for greater pay and benefits. “We raised concerns because as a result of ATF’s illegal conduct, ATF staff assigned to these positions performed administrative work but unlawfully received enhanced law enforcement pay and benefits to which they were not entitled, wasting millions of taxpayer dollars,” Ernst and Grassley wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, ATF Acting Director...

News 12 has obtained exclusive video showing the moments before a lost DoorDash driver was allegedly shot by an elected official in Orange County. The 24-year-old victim is seen on surveillance camera at a residence in Chester holding a plastic bag and his cellphone at approximately 9 p.m. on Friday, while state police say he attempted to find the correct delivery address. “I have DoorDash. My phone is broken. I need some help,” the unidentified DoorDash employee is heard saying during the recording. News 12 traced the dasher’s steps to one of the houses he tried in the Valerie Drive...

The Trump administration removed a memorial from the main atrium of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) for victims of gun violence that was put in place under the Biden administration. As you can imagine, the move has tightened the jaws of folks on the anti-gunner left, which praised how the prior administration weaponized the agency against responsible gun owners. From The Washington Post:

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A controversial ATF informant who forewarned her handlers about the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City bombing has reportedly turned up dead 30 years later. The ex-ATF informant, Carol Howe—who warned her handlers in early 1995 that neo-Nazi extremists in Oklahoma were planning to attack federal buildings—had vanished in the late 90s after being acquitted from explosives charges. In the remaining years of her life, she was reportedly living in Sparta, Tennessee under the name “Sarah Collins.” She died in a house fire on Jan. 6, according to documentarian Jon Ronson. Ronson, who produced a podcast in...

As of today, we have four senior officials of the ATF which have been given the choice of retire or be fired... they elected to retire. Deputy Director - Marvin Richardson Chief legal counsel - Pam Hicks Assistant Director of Office of Enforcement Programs - Megan Bennett Senior policy counsel - Erik Epstein Hopefully more will be "retiring" in the near future - namely anybody brought in during the tenure of Obama or Biden.

DOJ press release on April 7, 2025, included a review of Final Rule 2022R-17F, the definition of what it means to be “engaged in the business” of dealing in firearms. From the atf.gov: “Today’s repeal of the Zero Tolerance Policy and the comprehensive review of stabilizing brace regulations and the definition of ‘engaged in the business’ marks a pivotal step toward restoring fairness and clarity in firearms regulation,” said Acting ATF Director Kash Patel. “We are committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure our policies are balanced, constitutional and protective of Americans’ Second Amendment rights.”The leadership of the Biden...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - FBI Director Kash Patel was removed as the Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and replaced by U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, seven people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Driscoll will continue to serve as Army Secretary while he also oversees the ATF, an arm of the U.S. Justice Department, said three of the sources, who were granted anonymity to discuss personnel matters that were not yet public.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Monday that it will repeal a “zero tolerance” policy that Second Amendment advocates said allowed authorities to revoke the licenses of gun dealers over paperwork errors. Critics of the policy, known as the Enhanced Regulatory Enforcement Policy, said it allowed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to revoke gun dealers’ licenses for clerical errors that, prior to the policy, would have been considered minor infractions but under the zero tolerance policy were considered “willful” violations of the Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968. On Jan. 28, 2022, the ATF issued...

Washington -- In New Mexico, police and prosecutors backed an effort to outlaw devices that convert pistols into machine guns. In Alabama, the governor made it a priority. Lawmakers in both states - one led by Democrats, the other by Republicans - responded this year with new laws making so-called Glock switches illegal. At least half of US states now have similar laws prohibiting the possession of such devices, a list that has grown over the past decade as law enforcement officers have found more of the tiny yet powerful devices attached to guns. States are mimicking federal law, which...

FIRST ON FOX - FBI Director Kash Patel is strongly refuting a CNN report alleging he is implementing a "major cutback" of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in a memo to ATF employees, Fox News Digital has learned. CNN reported Saturday that Patel "has outlined plans to move as many as 1,000 ATF agents to the FBI" and "cutting ATF’s agents by more than a third," according to three unnamed sources. **SNIP** "I want to address a report from this weekend speculating about the intentions of FBI leadership with personnel decisions at the ATF," Patel began...

Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson 🚨BREAKING: FBI Director Kash Patel to fire 1,000 ATF Agents. 4:16 PM · Mar 23, 2025

A report from CNN indicates FBI director Kash Patel — who is also ATF acting director — plans to cut “as many as 1,000 ATF agents” and move them to the FBI. This will represent a cut of roughly one third of the ATF’s current agents. According to CNN: The move represents a major cutback of the ATF, an agency that long has been in the crosshairs of gun rights groups that believe its work infringes on Second Amendment rights. The ATF has about 2,600 agents and more than 5,000 employees, a number that has remained largely unchanged for years....

Major federal law enforcement raids in Kentucky have taken down dozens of dangerous illegal aliens and executed a large-scale deportation operation. 81 illegal aliens were arrested in a four-day sweep as part of “Operation Take Back America.” ... United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Kentucky confirmed that 25 of those arrested are now facing serious federal criminal charges. The crackdown, based out of Louisville, saw immigration enforcement officers detaining individuals from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba, India, and Palau. Among them, 25 are now charged with crimes such as unlawful reentry, illegal firearm possession, and drug-related...