The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is cheering the announced departure of Steven Dettelbach as head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and is urging incoming President Donald Trump to appoint someone who will “run the agency, not politicize it.”
Dettelbach submitted his letter of resignation on Dec. 20th, 2024, and it becomes effective Jan. 18th, 2025, just two days before Trump is sworn in as the 47th U.S. President.
“That’s one less person Trump will have to fire after he takes office,” CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb observed, “and it is one less gun prohibition lobbyist on the government payroll.”
Since playing a key role in helping Trump win the November election, American gun owners and Second Amendment advocates have been urging him to make replacing Dettelbach a priority. Grassroots activists want an ATF chief who adheres to the Second Amendment, and who “can tell the difference between the good guys and genuine bad guys.
“We’re delighted to learn Dettelbach will be gone and that President Trump will be able to place someone in authority at ATF who can turn that agency around,” Gottlieb stated. “The country needs someone at the ATF helm who will lead the agency, not weaponize it; someone who not only can define what an ‘assault weapon’ is, but also understands what it is not.
“We are hopeful the next ATF director will straighten the record by telling Congress, the media and the gun prohibition lobby that modern semiautomatic rifles are not ‘weapons of war,’ and that there is not, and never was, a ‘gun show loophole,’” he added. “The next ATF director should know how to disassemble a pistol instead of trying to regulate it out of existence. He should lobby Congress for funds to revive restoration-of-rights procedures, and stop harassment of lawful, small business firearms retailers. He should be someone willing to visit a gun show rather than shut it down.
“For four years,” Gottlieb said, “the Biden-Harris administration has waged war on gun owners and the Second Amendment, with Dettelbach leading an ATF that helped make it happen.”
“The next ATF director must be someone who recognizes law-abiding gun owners as allies, not enemies in the fight against crime, which is a battle we all want to win.”
Dettelbach Resigns as ATF Director with Record Number of Defeats
Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (www.ccrkba.org) is one of the nation’s premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.
The fact that he is resigning is a blatant admission that he was only in the director position to do as much harm as possible to to law abiding businesses and gun owners. So Steve, thanks for improving the process to approve Form 4 applications but don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out. Question: who is second in command that will run the show for awhile?
best choice would be to abolish atf. Next best would be to appoint Brandon Herrera to destroy it from the inside. Spare me the need for a “competent administrator” Destroy atf with prejudice Lot of talk in the last couple of weeks about screwing gun owners on atf and national reciprocity……….Trump owes us!!!!! Time to stick to the promises…….no compromises………..very sick and tired of hearing “officials” talk about the “practical realities” as they work to screw us. If we don’t hold feet to the fire over the next 100 days this opportunity may never come around again……..and we will deserve… Read more »
Defund and disband the ATF and there will be no need to replace lying puss gut Dettlebach.
Can we can just abolish the ATF while we’re at it???
Appoint a pro? Do you mean one that actually stands up for the constitution? If so, there would be no atf. People have the constitutional RIGHT to keep and bear arms. People have the GOD given right to keep and bear arms. The atf should be disbanded and prosecuted for treason, tyranny, murder, murder by proxy, assault with deadly weapons, perjury, theft, threats, intimidation, trespassing etc. etc. etc. When this is done we will be on our way to a free America again. If the courts won’t do their job then don’t be surprised when Joe Citizen does it for… Read more »
I want the ATF deleted from the rolls of the Government!