ATF Agents

ATF: Oh No, We Totally Haven’t Become a Politicized Weapon of the Biden Administration

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During the last fiscal year that started in October, 122 gun dealers had their licenses revoked by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives which is up from 90 the year before and 27 in 2021, Wall Street Journal reported.

During the Trump and Obama presidencies, the number of licenses revoked never exceeded 81. 

Some in the gun industry are crying foul and suggesting that they are being unfairly targeted for political reasons over paperwork errors as part of an agenda to combat gun violence which President Biden has vocally pushed.

“We were making $1 million a year, now it’s less than $100,000,” Anthony Navarro, a gun dealer who lost his license last year after receiving three warnings for legal violations since 2009, told Wall Street Journal. “This policy is designed to be a backdoor violation of the Second Amendment.” 

Navarro said he was issued warnings over mistakes gun purchasers made on paperwork but that they weren’t prohibited from buying guns.

Others have pointed out that gun dealers are typically strong allies of the federal government in terms of providing tips on suspicious gun buyers and that the working relationship could be harmed by the crackdown. 

“The gun dealers were our first line of defense against gun trafficking,” Peter Forcelli, a retired deputy assistant director, told Wall Street Journal. “Why are we now beating an ally into submission?”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the ATF said it is following the law. 

“Federal Firearms Licensees are often our first line of defense against gun crime and are often a source of critical enforcement information that helps law enforcement identify straw purchasers and disrupt firearms trafficking schemes,” ATF Spokesperson Kristina Mastropasqua said. “FFLs that willfully violate the law, however, must be held accountable. ATF conducts inspections to ensure compliance with applicable local, state, and federal laws and regulations and to educate licensees on the specific requirements of those laws and regulations.”

—  Andrew Mark Miller in Gun Industry Cries Foul After Hundreds of Gun Dealers Lose Licenses Amid Biden Administration Crackdown

46 thoughts on “ATF: Oh No, We Totally Haven’t Become a Politicized Weapon of the Biden Administration”

    • Don’t feel singled out. We all get the cuffs eventually. There are some trigger words/phrases, plus there may be bit of random selection to it; wordpress is apparently run by a bunch of Karens and is notional. At one time, I couldn’t post from my home ISP for a couple months, because they all disappeared. I could submit the same posts from my office ISP or cell ISP same time with no problem.

  3. The ATF must be accountable for what they cannot keep there records straight ,they loose thousands of guns and the cannot keep the same rules of the game. They are like Hunter Biden making a” Kids do not do drugs” psa

  4. Is it a coincident or have all the DA’s that have filed charges against Trump been dems? Isn’t one of the judges in a Trump case a recipient of large donations from the left?

    The fascists running the white house are not even pretending anymore. They have roland frieslers lined up to ‘try’ their enemies.

  5. “FFLs that willfully violate the law, however, must be held accountable…”

    Yes, those pesky FFLs behind all the minor 4473 typos must be dealt with. Dealt with, I say!

  6. In section IV.B.5.c of the stabilizing brace ruling issued last year (section titled “Political Motivation”) BATF defends the criticism that their new SBR definition is politically motivated. BATF writes in reply, “Presidential administrations are elected to make policy. And as long as the agency remains within the bounds established by Congress, it is entitled to assess administrative records and evaluate priorities in light of the philosophy of the administration…Thus, even if a rule is ‘‘politically motivated’’ to the extent that a presidential administration’s policies can inform which problems an agency seeks to most urgently address, that fact does mean [sic] the rule is motivated by, for example, animus towards the Second Amendment, as some comments seemed to suggest.” That wordy, lawyeresque phrase can be simply translated as “Yes, we are politically motivated. Get over it.”

  7. Snap Score is a measure of your Snapchat activity, including snaps you send and receive. It’s not fully transparent, fostering a playful sense of competition among users.

  8. Wow…the same ATF that ran guns into Mexico to blame the Second Amendment and US gun owners is talking accountability? Please.

  10. I am less interested in what Trump, Biden, Fox News, or even the ATF has to say on this. What does interest me is why Congress is not actively trying to defund the ATF.

    • They gain nothing from defunding it. All about them Benjamin’s. The other day there was a TTAG header “more gunz than we thought”. Ya think? Not even the gubmint brown shirts can stop it🙄

      • Perhaps. Fox News commenting on it ultimstely gains nothing either. It’s really just a big part of why the NFA, the ATF, and all the other nonsense persists.

  12. Liar Liar liar pants on fire.
    I like Donald Trump. And I think he was a good president. But Vivek Ramaswamy has articulated a much better position/answer on solving the problem. With all of these government agencies and government employees out of control.

    And I like Governor Ron DeSantis. But he is not ready.
    Also I think Vivek is not pure enough for the libertarians liberals and the left. But the conservatives are liking him. more and more.

    • Honestly would be ok with any of the three but do agree DeSantis could use some more time to develop for the national level as not all of the country is Florida (more the shame for some regions). Vivek presents well but not much to go on re known history so would be a hopeful shot in the dark.

      • Typical Republican, all about big Pharma:

        “Born in Ohio to immigrant parents from India, he earned a biology degree from Harvard University and then finished a J.D. at Yale Law School. Ramaswamy has no prior experience in politics. He spent his twenties investing in pharma companies at hedge fund QVT Financial and made partner when he was 28, Forbes reports.

        Forbes estimates his net worth is at least $630 million“

        Another Republican elitist millionaire, both he and Donald Trump “understand the problems of every day working class folks here in America”.

        What a bunch of rubes, y’all going to get snookered again, hilarious.

        • The fact that Miner49er, and others like him attack Vivek. Shows Vivek is over the target.

        • All about big pharma? Ain’t you the one that peddles that covid shot shit?

          Republican elitist millionaires? Like gates. soros. bloomberg. zuckerberg. Oh. My bad. Those are elitest billionaire fascists and they pay your pieces of silver, miner.

        • Chris it is possible you are correct but there is always the possibility of a judas goat.

        • I forgot you support the A”$hole who’s been selling the country out since 1973. The failed Lawyer that got his real start to financial success being a Slum Lord.

        • Big pharma is more concerned about synthetic opioids and psychotropic medications. It’s where the real money is at.

        • MINOR Miner49er, Here’s a tid bit for you. The Founding Fathers cautioned us against professional politicians. IN fact George Washington thought that Congress should be populated by the people not people like your buds, Schumer, Pelosi, Feinstein, etc. Heck Feinstein is not even capable to a complete thought any more. Pelosi babbles like a brook. And Schumer never saw a camera he didn’t like.
          The fact is the best politicians are those who don’t try to make a career of it. We have seen just how they screw things up.

      • Yes, I know he was in the drug pharmacy business. I just wish people were just as skeptical of the “medical marijuana” business.

        Because the pot leg@liz@tion crowd are just as corruptible.

        • And yet, Chris, the real money is in politics. Tell me that this isn’t shameful:

          Joe Biden – Net Worth Over the Years

          2019 $1.5 million
          2021 $8 million
          2022 $9 million

          Of course that’s based on reported income and assets only. I’m sure that there’s lots, lots more in offshore and family members’ accounts.

    • I have been unable to get a statement on the Second Amendment from neither him nor any of the other wannabes running as the republikans’ candidate. Please post any Vivek statements supporting the Second Amendment and the date and place of the statement. I do know the guy from Florida pushed the FL legislature to pass a weak open carry bill and he signed it. That’s the most pro-Second action I have seen from any of them. Christie from Noo Jersie is as anti-gun as they come.

  13. There was another reason for placing more attention on FFL(s); the number of inspectors and agents assigned to police the FFL dealers keep significant attention off of illegal aliens criminals and allows the Biden globalist USA-haters to being more criminal aliens in to the country to stay longer than they usually would if there was better border enforcement. I’m sure FAIRY BARRY SEOTORO has a hand in this bullshit too.

  14. So the bats are saying that we should ‘trust’ them simply because they say so? Trust is EARNED by trustworthy actions and theirs have been anything but. They ‘almost’ sound like professional politicians.

  16. I hope the law suit that is going on against them succeeds. Basically they outline how the ATF has failed to live up to the standard they give others themselves even.

  17. to educate licensees on the specific requirements of those laws and regulations.”
    by yanking their license for a couple of typos from 10 years ago, that were long ago corrected, and given the ok on.
    or is it educate them by the bully method to get them to surrender the license?

    • In a no doubt misguided effort to be fair – 122 divided by 137000 (approx number FFLs total) = .0009.

      Not to minimize the suffering of the discriminated against, but that number indicates the overall rate of cancellation is quite low.

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