As expected, Joe Biden has chosen yet another anti-gun nominee to lead the ATF, according to a White House Fact Sheet published Monday morning. Biden will also announce the Justice Department’s “final rule” on homemade firearm parts kits, which “clarifies” their status and turns them into firearms.
The White House confirmed that Biden will choose Steve Dettelbach, the former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio for the vacant ATF directorship. Dettelbach, a Democrat, ran unsuccessfully for Ohio Attorney General in 2018, losing to Republican Dave Yost. Dettelbach was endorsed by Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Everytown for Gun Safety. During this campaign, Dettelbach called for reinstating the failed “assault weapon” ban and for universal background checks. It is very likely the gun-ban industry will celebrate his nomination to run the ATF.
In a written statement, the National Shooting Sports Foundation said it has questions about Dettelbach.
“NSSF is committed to a thorough examination of Dettelbach’s record and qualifications and will listen carefully to his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. NSSF has significant concerns regarding Dettelbach’s previous public statements supporting bans on Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs), or AR-15 semiautomatic rifles, universal background checks, which are unworkable without a national firearm registry that is already forbidden by federal law, and extreme-risk protection orders, or so-called “red flag” laws, without protections for Due Process considerations. Dettelbach was also previously endorsed by the gun control group, Everytown for Gun Safety, for his support for policies restricting Second Amendment rights.”
The National Rifle Association said in a statement it opposes Dettelbach’s nomination. The NRA PVF gave him an “F” during his campaign for Ohio Attorney General.
“Today, the Biden Administration announced the nomination of Steven Dettelbach as the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”), subject to Senate confirmation. With Dettelbach’s nomination, President Biden has chosen to double-down on his attempt to put a gun control advocate in charge of the agency responsible for regulating America’s firearms industry.
David Chipman, Biden’s first nominee to head the ATF, failed to achieve enough support in the Senate to be confirmed. After a long campaign by the NRA that featured TV and digital ads, millions of text messages and pieces of mail, town halls in critical states, and an intense lobbying campaign, the Biden Administration withdrew Chipman’s nomination.
Like Chipman, Dettelbach is a dedicated gun controller with a background that proves he would be neither fair nor objective as head of ATF. When running for Ohio Attorney General in 2018, Dettelbach endorsed gun bans, restrictions on lawful firearm transfers, and further expansion of prohibitions on who can lawfully possess a firearm. In short, it’s unclear what gun control measures Dettelbach doesn’t support.”
Biden’s new rule on homemade guns states that parts kits now “qualify as ‘firearms’ under the Gun Control Act, and that commercial manufacturers of such kits must therefore become licensed and include serial numbers on the kits’ frame or receiver, and commercial sellers of these kits must become federally licensed and run background checks prior to a sale – just like they have to do with other commercially-made firearms.”
Biden’s new rule also regulates firearms with split receivers: “First, the final rule ensures that firearms with split receivers are subject to regulations requiring serial numbers and background checks when purchased from a licensed dealer, manufacturer or importer … The final rule updates the regulatory definitions of “frame” and “receiver” to ensure that firearms using split or multi-part receivers continue to be covered by our common-sense gun laws.”
Additionally, gun dealers are now prohibited from destroying records after 20 years. The new ruled requires dealers to “retain key records until they shut down their business or licensed activity. At that time, these dealers must transfer the records to ATF, just as they are currently required to do at the end of licensed activity. Previously, these dealers were permitted to destroy most records after 20 years.”
We will have more coverage of this breaking news throughout the day.
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