The first U.S. Senate confirmed director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in seven years sat through a three-hour hearing of the Judiciary Committee to address concerns raised by members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
ATF Director Interrogated by House Judiciary Committee about Overreach
Steven Dettelbach, the ATF director, has been in charge of the agency for a little more than a year. The House Judiciary Committee asked him a lot of questions.
Stabilizing Brace
The hearing was largely focused on the regulation of firearms and accessories as well as firearm retailer inspections.
The ATF Final Rule, which reclassifies pistols with attached stabilizing arms braces as short barreled rifles (SBRs), has been a topic of discussion. The Final Rule requires lawful owners to register under the National Firearms Act.
Jim Jordan, chairman of the Ohio Judiciary Committee, expressed his anger at ATF’s decision to declare pistols with stabilizing arm braces attached as exempt from additional tax and registration for 10 years. Owners have until May 31, 2015 to disassemble, destroy, surrender, or register their lawful firearms. Otherwise, they risk becoming felons over night.
Chairman Jordan stated in his opening remarks that “Earlier this year the ATF issued a new rule which unilaterally places new restrictions on Second Amendment Rights”. “This isn’t the result of a law change by Congress. This rule, which turns law abiding gun owners into felons is the result unelected bureaucrats enacting new regulations. This is not how our great country should work.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., explained that ATF had previously written a letter to Alex Bosco (the brace inventor), saying that attaching the accessory does not “convert that weapon to be fired by the shoulder and would alter the classification of the pistol or other firearm.”
“Did Congress pass a new law between the time this letter was sent to Mr. Bosco, the production and distribution 10 to 40 millions of these braces, and the implementation of the rule? Rep. Massie pressed.
Director Dettelbach explains the Biden administration’s claim that the braces submitted for classification were different from those sold today.
Congressional Duty
President Biden has repeatedly urged Congress to ban “assault guns.” He tweeted: “In 1994, Congressional Republicans must show some courage. I led the fight for a successful ban of assault weapons in 1994.”
Sheila Jackson Lee, a U.S. Representative from Texas, asked: “My question is simple – yes or not – do know what an assault weapons is?”
Director Dettelbach deferred the definition of firearm classes to Congress. Modern Sporting Rifles are not the same as the firearms used by the military. MSRs are semiautomatic weapons that fire one cartridge per trigger pull. M-16 and M-4 military rifles can fire automatically. MSRs do not. This is an important distinction.
From 2009 to 2011, Democrats held majorities in both the House of Representatives (House) and the Senate. Barack Obama was also in the White House. They didn’t pass legislation to define an “assault weapons”. The Democratic majority in the House and Senate between 2021 and 2023, including President Joe Biden refused to do so during that time.
Clarification on Protection
Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La. Mike Johnson (R-La.)
Courts of Appeal repeatedly upheld PLCAA’s constitutionality. Merrick Garland, Attorney General for President Joe Biden and the DOJ have also defended PLCAA.
It is a lie to claim that gun companies are immune. This has been proven time and time again. PLCAA prevents frivolous suits against firearm businesses for criminal acts committed by distant third parties. Gun businesses can be held responsible if they commit crimes. They can also be held responsible if there are negligent entrustment, product manufacturing or design flaws.
PLCAA means that businesses who have lawfully manufactured or sold firearms cannot be held liable for crimes committed by others. It would be like if someone tried to sue Ford or Anheuser Busch over the harm caused by drunken driving, or blamed Kia for stolen vehicles.
PLCAA was a law that prevented gun control’s attempt to circumvent the Legislative Branch of Government. It also “would expand civil liabilities in a way never contemplated before by the framers.”
President Biden was rebuked for telling the lie numerous times. Washington Post, CNN and PolitiFact are among those who have rebuked and corrected President Biden for repeating the lie.
Firearm Industry Real Solutions
Lucy McBeth, U.S. Rep. (D-Ga.), questioned Director Dettelbach on the implementation of aspects of the Bipartisan Safety Communities Act. The director immediately referred to the ATF’s partnership the NSSF.
Director Dettelbach continued, “The second thing I would like to say is that we work with the industry.” “A couple of weeks back, I was in St. Louis launching the ‘Don’t Lie for the other Guy’ campaign with the National Shooting Sports Foundation. It’s a joint campaign to educate firearms dealers and licensees. I was in a store to catch straw buyers. How to recognize it and what to do because they are often the first line of defense.”
Real Solutions, the firearms industry’s initiative to find solutions for real problems, includes several programs. Safer Communities. (r) campaign. ATF data shows that the cooperative partnerships have decreased burglaries and robberies. Not to mention reducing straw purchases, and resulting in the lowest levels of unintentional gun deaths since 1903. Data was first reported in 1903.
Politics Over Policy
Hank Johnson, U.S. Rep. (D-Ga.), lobbed a blatantly untrue political shot against support for an ATF director who was confirmed.
Rep. Johnson asked: “Director Dettelbach… you’re the ATF’s first permanent director since 2015… but you didn’t receive a single Republican’s vote during your confirmation procedure, did you?”
Director Dettelbach clarified, “That’s not correct.” Rep. Johnson continued, “Tell us, sir, Republicans blocked the confirmation of each ATF director from 2015 onwards – what effect has this had on gun violence?”
“As a director, it is hard for me to speak about political impacts…I believe that in the name good government we should have an ATF director confirmed regardless of which party occupies the White House,” Director Dettelbach said.
NSSF supported George W. Bush’s nomination of Acting director Michael Sullivan in 2007, when the position required Senate confirmation for the first time. NSSF supported the confirmation by the Senate of President Barack Obama’s nominee B. Todd Jones and President Donald Trump’s nominee Chuck Canterbury.
NSSF only opposed President Biden’s first ATF Director nominee, David Chipman. Chipman was a gun control advocate who worked as a lobbyist for Everytown for Gun Safety, and Giffords Law Center for Preventing Gun Violence.
Original story posted on NSSF.org.
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