3/24/2025 UPDATE TO THIS STORY:
Law enforcement agents don’t answer to the media, especially the fake news.
Our cops @ATFHQ answer the mission. Thank you for protecting our nation. pic.twitter.com/LsW2XfhNJL
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) March 25, 2025
UPDATE: Since publication of the original article below, FBI Director and Acting ATF Director Kash Patel issued an internal memo denying the CNN report that first broke news of a plan to reassign up to 1,000 ATF agents to the FBI.
Patel called the report “entirely false” and emphasized that no operational decisions are made in response to media pressure.
From Fox News;
“I want to address a report from this weekend speculating about the intentions of FBI leadership with personnel decisions at the ATF,” Patel began the memo obtained by Fox News Digital. “This weekend, CNN reported news of a plan on the part of our leadership to ‘cut as many as one third’ of ATF agents and reallocate 1,000 agents over to the FBI. The report even suggested our leadership team altered course after reading a news report, and ultimately backed off certain aspects of changes. This ‘report’ is entirely false.”
In contrast, sources cited in the CNN piece and others close to the reorganization effort maintain that the plan is still under consideration, though possibly being reworked. What remains clear is that significant questions persist about the future of the ATF’s enforcement footprint under the Trump-Patel administration.
While Patel categorically rejected claims that a one-third reduction in ATF agents is underway, the strong reaction from both the FBI and media suggests the possibility of internal discussions that could shape federal law enforcement in the coming months.
Stay tuned for further developments as the situation unfolds.
Washington, D.C. – According to a CNN report, the newly appointed FBI Director, Kash Patel, has unveiled a major restructuring plan that could gut the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). On the heels of 14 anti-gun House Democrats demanding President Trump remove Kash Patel as head of the ATF, Trump/Kash is now reassigning up to 1,000 of its agents to the FBI.
That’s more than a third of the entire ATF agent workforce.
Patel, who also serves as Acting Director of the ATF, began his leadership of both agencies under President Donald Trump’s direction last month. According to reports, the reassignments are being framed as part of a “surge initiative” to support border enforcement and combat organized crime. But the long-term result could be a significant reduction in the ATF’s footprint—something many gun owners have demanded for decades.
“The ATF has been weaponized for too long,” said one pro-2A activist who applauded the move. “It’s about time someone stepped in to start reining them in.”
According to CNN, an ATF spokeswoman tried to downplay the situation, claiming the move was only temporary and that agents would still be working as part of the ATF in other field offices. But sources close to the plan suggest otherwise—indicating that while it may start as temporary, these agents will be absorbed into the FBI with no clear return date. In effect, the ATF’s enforcement arm could be permanently thinned out.
The report went on to say that the plan triggered some pushback, including from inside the Republican Party. That mild backlash reportedly caused FBI officials to hesitate slightly—but for now, the plan still appears to be moving forward.
This isn’t the first time a presidential administration has considered folding part of the ATF into the FBI. In fact, even Joe Biden floated the idea while serving as vice president under Obama. But under the Trump-Patel team, this could be the first time it’s actually implemented.
The ATF currently employs around 2,600 special agents and has a total staff of over 5,000. That number has barely changed in years, but this plan—if carried out—would make one of the most significant cuts to the agency in its history.
Gun rights advocates have long argued that the ATF operates with vague laws, questionable tactics, and aggressive enforcement that often crosses constitutional lines. From the Waco siege in the 1990s to recent crackdowns on pistol braces, solvent traps, and forced-reset triggers, the agency has become a symbol of federal overreach in the eyes of millions of Americans.
Now, with Patel at the helm of both the FBI and ATF, a quiet but powerful shift may be underway—one that reflects the belief that protecting the border and fighting real crime is a better use of federal manpower than going after law-abiding gun owners.
Stay tuned. The ATF may never be the same again.
For pro-Second Amendment updates and analysis, follow AmmoLand News.
Pistol Braces — They’re Baaaaaaack!! ~ Vortex Nation #10MinuteTalk VIDEO
Here’s a better idea; fire every last ATF employee who WASN’T a Whistle Blower!
Great, now dog killing ATF agents will be with the FBI. More chances to assault free citizens. They should be working at at a McDonalds cleaning the rest rooms.
What could possibly go wrong? At least the FBI, in theory, has minimum standards and a modicum of training.
“… pushback, including from inside the Republican Party.”
Well, who were these Republicans? We can take a few good guessed (cough-rnym, etc.) but a definitive list would be better.
Ok, The BATFE budget has been reduced by $120 million; its rule making at authority was taken away; and now BATFE will be depopulated by 1,000 agents. A good start, but more is required.
Smoke and Mirrors move. Nothing to “celebrate”
So he gave anti gun agents more power!?!
That hardly sounds like a good thing.
We’ll see. Results talk, bullshit walks, and I sincerely doubt this changes anything.
Finding 1,000 ATF agents that are qualified for the FBI might be tough. Most ATF agents are FBI rejects. Some don’t even have bachelor’s degrees. The FBI requires either an accounting degree or a law degree. Should just fire about 2,000 ATF agents. At the very least, the ATF should be transferred back to Treasury and disarmed.
Wasn’t it an FBI agent that shot and killed Randy Weaver’s wife at the Ruby Ridge standoff?
I guess this move makes sense, then?
Nuts…