President Trump Expected to Appoint Kash Patel as Acting ATF Head

[rabid wombat]

This could get entertaining….

President Trump Expected to Appoint Kash Patel as Acting ATF Head | WLT Report

President Trump is set to make a big change! He's looking to appoint FBI Director Kash Patel as the acting head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), sources say.

wltreport.com

 

[hso]

That will be a first. Making the director of the FBI acting ATF is interesting.

 

[armoredman]

Interesting, do you think he might be trying to merge the two?

 

[Buzznrose]

Why did we ever need the ATF if Congress writes laws?

 

[AlexanderA]

Interesting, do you think he might be trying to merge the two?

Sure looks that way. I think, from a gun owner's point of view, it would be better to reform the agency rather than to merge it.

 

[JmacD]

I’m not 100% sure what to think… thinking long term especially…

 

[LiveLife]

Interesting, do you think he might be trying to merge the two?

My take is FBI director being appointed as acting director of ATF also would make sense if intent is to dismantle the ATF and transfer enforcement activity to FBI. Having one person in charge of both positions would expedite the process and once dismantling is done, Patel could continue being FBI director to work on FBI corruption and bias - https://armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?topic=70249.msg1466714#msg1466714

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Patel ... has been a vocal critic of the FBI for years and previously said he wanted to clean out the bureau’s headquarters in Washington claiming corruption and bias

Patel's appointment as FBI director and acting ATF director comes on the heels of Attorney General Pam Bondi firing chief counsel Pamela Hicks because the agency was “targeting gun owners”.

To me, this is significant as President Trump's executive order directed Attorney General Bondi to “assess any ongoing infringements of the Second Amendment rights of our citizens" with report due in 30 days. And ATF has been the foremost agency that has infringed on the Second Amendment so looks like the writing is on the wall as to what may happen next. I am sure Bondi's report will reveal much more due out soon.

 

[Phaedrus/69]

I suppose merging the two would make targeting people more convenient. Anyone here love the ATF and FBI sharing a database of all gun owners? Will it require one confirmation hearing or two? Or is it quaint and naive to even ask?

 

[KevininPa]

And I predict that two years from now we'll still be paying for tax stamps for things that Canada(SBS,SBR) and England(Suppressors) can just buy. Because it makes the government money.

 

[JmacD]

And I predict that two years from now we'll still be paying for tax stamps for things that Canada(SBS,SBR) and England(Suppressors) can just buy. Because it makes the government money.

I find it somewhat ironic that in many locations, you have to pay a sizable fine if you don’t have a muffler on your automobile… Firearms are a little noisier than that…

 

[KevininPa]

I find it somewhat ironic that in many locations, you have to pay a sizable fine if you don’t have a muffler on your automobile… Firearms are a little noisier than that…

The Brits find it terribly impolite to shoot something that you can suppress without a suppressor.

 

[kidneyboy]

My take is FBI director being appointed as acting director of ATF also would make sense if intent is to dismantle the ATF

I agree. As acting director he can make some major changes/cuts to personnel and the agency's direction. As the FBI chief he can look closely at every ATF agent.

 

[MarshallDodge]

I suppose merging the two would make targeting people more convenient. Anyone here love the ATF and FBI sharing a database of all gun owners? Will it require one confirmation hearing or two? Or is it quaint and naive to even ask?

What makes you think they don't share the database already?

In my opinion, the ATF is all about tax revenue. Merging the two may shrink the budget and allow for elimination of tax stamps. There is a punchline in there somewhere.

 

[GEM]

I vaguely recall that a suggestion to combine ATF with FBI at the time of Waco, led the ATF to their ill planned raid on the Davidians for PR purposes. Then the FBI came in and that was a disaster also. Just sayin'.

 

[entropy]

And I predict that two years from now we'll still be paying for tax stamps for things that Canada(SBS,SBR) and England(Suppressors) can just buy. Because it makes the government money.

That's a half truth as far as Canada and SBS/SBRs. They can have barrels shorter than 18"/16", respectively, but they must have a buttstock. A Shockwave is illegal under Canadian law. An 8" barreled 870 or clone with a (non folding) buttstock is not. Most of the ones made for the Canadian market have full length buttstocks. I am not sure if there is a minimum LOP to the stock or OAL.
"Bear Claws", 12" barreled SxSs with a regular LOP, seem to be a popular choice.

 

[KevininPa]

That's a half truth as far as Canada and SBS/SBRs. They can have barrels shorter than 18"/16", respectively, but they must have a buttstock. A Shockwave is illegal under Canadian law. An 8" barreled 870 or clone with a buttstock is not. Most of the ones made for the Canadian market have full length buttstocks. I am not sure if there is a minimum LOP to the stock or OAL.
"Bear Claws", 12" barreled SxSs with a regular LOP, seem to be a popular choice.

I'll take whatever we could get. But I'm expecting zilch. Heck, I'd be happy to buy a suppressor off the shelf for the same price that they go for now minus the $200! MachIVShooter would need to buy more machinery to keep up!

 

[GEM]

As said before, folks are waiting for actual action on gun rights from the Trump administration. Bondi is supposed to report on something. Active intervention with briefs in Scotus cases and bully pulpit discussion of the need to act on seminal issues such as state AWBs, mag bans, locale bans and unnecessary application processes are languishing in the courts. Patel also put Elon's command to the FBI to file the activities report (what a stupid idea) on hold.

 

[DeepSouth]

I’m not 100% sure what to think… thinking long term especially…

I’m with you.

Frankly most things a president does seems to be fairly irrelevant in the long term, the next guy gets in and reverses everything he wants. I’m getting more and more convinced our system of governance (the one we have, not the one envisioned in 1789) can last very long.

Anyway, the issue at hand seems like it may be giving the ATF the added strength of the FBI. That doesn’t sound good, when the next guy uses it to target gun owners we’ll regret it.

 

[AlexanderA]

And I predict that two years from now we'll still be paying for tax stamps for things that Canada (SBS,SBR) and England (Suppressors) can just buy. Because it makes the government money.

In my opinion, the ATF is all about tax revenue. Merging the two may shrink the budget and allow for elimination of tax stamps. There is a punchline in there somewhere.

The $200 NFA tax is just nominal. It doesn't even cover the cost of processing the application. It's also set by law. It can't be eliminated or changed in amount without a change in the underlying law. Only Congress can do that.

However, the fact that it is a tax means that the NFA can be amended under the budget reconciliation process, sidestepping the Senate filibuster. That is, if the Republicans in the Administration and Congress want to do it.

 

[Jim Watson]

Giving gun registration to the FBI has been proposed before. Apart from idling one batch of bureaucrats it is hard to see an advantage to the American Commoner.

 

[buck460XVR]

I’m not 100% sure what to think… thinking long term especially…

....same here.

I think, from a gun owner's point of view, it would be better to reform the agency rather than to merge it.

My thoughts as well. While I truly believe there was reform needed in both the FBI and the ATF, I don't see merging them making this simpler. Both agencies have big plates with a lot on them. Seems pulling a few dandelions would make more sense than killing the whole lawn.

Why did we ever need the ATF if Congress writes laws?

My guess would be for the enforcement of the laws Congress writes.

 

[Speedo66]

If they keep firing people, I can see wait times at the ATF increasing dramatically.

 

[Gordon]

I suppose merging the two would make targeting people more convenient. Anyone here love the ATF and FBI sharing a database of all gun owners? Will it require one confirmation hearing or two? Or is it quaint and naive to even ask?

I think I'm All insta check and all NFS items back ground checks come from FBI data base. I think ATF shuffles papers mostly. They do hunt races and they do investigate gun sales and transfers and enforce gun laws on the books . It probably should be a division of the FBI and go back to Alcohol and Tobacco and Arson maybe add Cannabis.

 

[Buzznrose]

My guess would be for the enforcement of the laws Congress writes.

Law enforcement is the FBI’s job

 

[buck460XVR]

Law enforcement is the FBI’s job

....well, the ATF is defined as a "law enforcement agency in the Dept. of Justice" and are responsible for investigating violations of Federal laws related to Firearms, explosives alcohol and tobacco. At least that was what they use to do and were originally designed to do. Sounds a lot like enforcement to me.