Tag: atf

ATF Launches “New Era Of Reform”, Encourages Revoked Gun Dealers To Reapply

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has just announced that it’s “ushering in a new chapter” of “transparency, accountability, and partnership with the firearms industry” on its official web page.

The most notable of these changes is that ATF has invited those Federal Firearms Licensees who had their licenses revoked by the Biden Administration’s “Zero Tolerance” policy to reapply and have their license restored. This change is apparently in accordance with President Trump’s executive order “Protecting Second Amendment Rights.”

Other major policy changes were also announced, including a pledge to cease “creating entirely new laws based on executive order.” 

This is an excellent start to improving the lives of gun owners and dealers. But not to worry, Gun Owners of America is still working on the complete and total abolishment of ATF, starting with the repealing of laws that give the agency the power to regulate. 

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“It Was A War. We Won”: Rare Breed Triggers Scores Landmark Victory Over DOJ/ATF 

The Department of Justice announced a settlement with Rare Breed Triggers (RBT) on Friday, ending a multi-year legal battle over Forced Reset Triggers (FRTs). The agreement aligns with President Trump’s Executive Order protecting Second Amendment rights and follows guidance from the Attorney General’s Second Amendment Enforcement Task Force.

The legal settlement marks a significant reversal of the Biden administration’s efforts to weaponize the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in its crackdown on FRT-15s—a trigger mechanism for AR-platform rifles that increases the rate of fire.

Lawrence DeMonico, president of RBT, has explained countless times that the FRT-15 is not a “machine gun” because it does not fire more than one round per single function of the trigger—an essential distinction under the definitions outlined in the Gun Control Act and the National Firearms Act. As “Forced Reset” implies, spring tension and a mechanical assist reset the trigger after each shot.

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Fact Check: NBC News Claims Machine Guns Have Been Illegal Since 1986

CLAIM: In a May 16, 2025, article, NBC News claimed, “Machine guns have been illegal in the United States since 1986.”

VERDICT: False. Machine guns are bought and sold regularly in states where the possession of machine guns is legal.

When NBC News references “1986,” they are referencing the year when the Firearm Owners Protection Act was signed into law. One aspect of FOPA banned the sale of machine guns manufactured after the law’s effective date, which was May 19, 1986. However, FOPA did not (and does not) ban the sale of machine guns manufactured before May 19, 1986.

The ATF’s website makes clear that the machine guns that are legal are “those lawfully possessed before the effective date of the prohibition, May 19, 1986.”

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ATF Removes Anti-Gun Propaganda Display in DC Headquarters, Leftists Say Removal “Retraumatizes” Dead Victims

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has removed a controversial anti-gun exhibit from its national headquarters.

The memorial display, called the ‘Faces of Gun Violence,’ consisted of 120 portraits of individuals killed in gun-related incidents and was installed under the Biden administration and was taken down earlier this year by Trump-appointed officials.

The decision, confirmed by the Department of Justice, marks yet another reversal of subversive gun control messaging embedded into federal agencies during Biden’s term.

The ATF has still kept the anti-gun propaganda video on its YouTube page.

DOJ spokesperson Chad Gilmartin stated that the removal was not a political act but part of broader efforts to “balance agency messaging” with the Second Amendment values affirmed by recent Supreme Court rulings.

The display included images of high-profile victims such as Robert Godwin Sr., who was murdered in Cleveland in 2017, and portraits of children killed in school shootings, alongside slain law enforcement officers. While originally presented as a neutral tribute, critics long argued that the exhibit was a thinly veiled anti-gun propaganda, intentionally placed in a federal law enforcement building to reinforce a narrative in favor of further firearm restrictions.

Gun control activists and Biden-aligned interest groups reacted with outrage. Kris Brown, president of Brady United Against Gun Violence, accused the ATF of being “politicized” and called the removal “a gut punch to every American family affected by gun violence.” Brenda Haymon Joiner, mother of one of the victims featured in the exhibit, also issued a statement calling the action “cruel and deeply disrespectful.”

Elderly left-wing Star Trek actor George Takei, on Facebook, denounced the change and claimed it re-traumatized the victims’ families.

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BATFE: “Show Me The Man, And I’ll Manufacture The Crime”

Guns don’t kill people.  People kill people.  

But people don’t kill people with replica guns, because they are not guns. 

The point appears to be lost on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATFE), the nation’s top cops for enforcing federal firearms laws. 

It’s nearly illegal, and very difficult, for regular civilians to get machine guns, or anti-tank rocket launchers.  But you can get replicas of either; at most, they’ll have been demilitarized, with things like triggers, bolts and firing pins removed and plugs welded into barrels; at the lower level, they are metal facismiles that are specifically deisgned not to be able to shoot anything, absent some fairly malicious ingenuity.  

Which brings us to the case of Patrick Adamlak – who had a business, selling not firearms, but replicas, including of “RPG’7s” – the Soviet-era “bazooka” famous from “Black Hawk Down” and countless third world wars – and of a “Sten” submachinine gun, a bargain-basement British weapon from World War 2 favored by Resistance groups on the continent.  

This is the story of Patrick “Tate” Adamlak, a US Navy Petty Officer First Class and candiate for Naval Special Warfare (from which we might deduce had had a clean criminal record), and his…gun store?

No.  Replica store.

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“Not Today, Satan!”: Ex-FBI Agent Finds Possible ATF Honeypot Website Operation Selling Glock Switches

Ex-FBI agent and federal whistleblower Kyle Seraphin has uncovered a fake Polymer80 website selling illegal Glock Switches (devices that convert pistols into machine guns), which he describes as a likely honeypot operation set up by the ATF. 

“Have you ever wanted to buy an illegal MACHINE Gun DIRECTLY from @ATFHQ ?” Seraphin wrote on X. 

If this is a honeypot operation run by the federal government—whether the ATF or another agency—its web developers should refine the website’s rough appearance; it looks rushed and clumsily mimics the now-defunct Polymer80 site. Notice how “Glock Switch” product is number one on the list, which tells you all you need to know about intentions here: entrapment.

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ATF Game-Changer? Gun-Rights Scholar Nabs Chief Counsel Post

In what could prove to be a momentous development, the new top lawyer at the ever-overreaching Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is a Second Amendment proponent and scholar who clerked for the Supreme Court’s foremost gun-rights advocate. “Good news from the DOJ today,” said the National Association for Gun Rights. “This one could be HUGE.” 

The move came without any official publicity. Robert Leider‘s name and photo simply appeared on the ATF Leadership page last week, indicating he now holds the title of Assistant Director/Chief Counsel. Leider fills a vacancy created by Attorney General Pam Bondi’s February firing of previous Chief Counsel Pamela Hicks. 

At the time, Bondi told Fox News, “Yesterday I fired the general counsel from ATF. These people were targeting gun owners. Not gonna happen under this administration.” Continuing to shake things up last month, Trump also made the unusual move of giving Kash Patel control of the ATF as well at the FBI. 

Leider comes to his new role from an associate professor post at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. Earlier in his career, he clerked for Clarence Thomas when Thomas was a Seventh Circuit and then a Supreme Court justice. He has a blog encouragingly titled Standing His Ground, and has written about gun control, self-defense law and what he calls the “constitutional allocation of military power.” 

In an April 2024 blog post about gun control targeting AR-15’s and other rifles, Leider assailed a lower-court ruling that upheld an Illinois AR-15 and “high capacity” magazine ban, with judges claiming the Supreme Court’s Heller ruling asserted the Second Amendment only applies to self-defense against crime. “The Seventh Circuit’s rule…that arms most useful in military service are constitutionally unprotected is a complete perversion of the traditional understanding of the Second Amendment,” Leider wrote. In an August 2024 article published at SSRI, Leider championed the idea that the Second Amendment protects “an individual right for common defense.” 

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Is ATF Using AI-Powered Facial Recognition To ID Gun Owners?

Several reports now indicate that ATF has access to and utilizes facial recognition technology to identify gun owners. In fact, two Government Accountability Office reports confirm that ATF does have access to various facial recognition systems, including Clearview AI, Vigilant Solutions, and other systems owned by other federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial law enforcement agencies.

The Government Accountability Office described the Clearview AI database as: 

“A web-based facial recognition service using 30+ billion facial images sourced from publicly available websites, including news media, mugshot, and social media websites, among others.”

A 2021 GAO report found that ATF did not have sufficient accountability mechanisms “to track what non-federal systems with facial recognition technology are used by employees.”

According to testimony given to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, ATF:

“Initially used these services without requiring their staff to take training on topics such as how the technology works, what photos are appropriate to use, and how to interpret the results.”

GAO scolded federal agencies, stating that they “must consider the potential impact of its use on civil rights and civil liberties because the potential for error and the potential to misidentify someone could lead to the arrest and prosecution of an innocent person.”

GAO was also concerned that government use of facial recognition technology can have “a chilling effect on an individual’s exercise of their First Amendment rights.”

Similarly, ATF’s use of Facial Recognition Technology could have a chilling effect on the People’s exercise of their Second Amendment rights.

According to GAO, ATF is reported to have conducted at least 549 facial recognition searches on gun owners between October 2019 and March 2022.

GAO indicates that “as of April 2023, ATF… reported that they had halted their use of such services.”

However, the most recent reports suggest otherwise.

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Rep. Mann Introduces Bill Putting ATF’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy in Check

Rep. Tracey Mann (R-KS) is introducing legislation to put the ATF’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy in check, halting the agency’s seemingly unchecked FFL closures under former President Biden.

The legislation is titled the Reining In Federal Licensing Enforcement (RIFLE) Act.

According to Mann’s office:

Under the Biden Administration, ATF’s zero tolerance policy forced small and mid-sized gun stores out of business. The agency revoked Federal Firearm Licenses due to minor clerical errors like missing a customer’s middle initial or using a state’s abbreviation rather than the state’s full name. In 2024 alone, ATF saw the highest levels of gun store license revocations in 20 years—the third consecutive year of increased license revocations under President Biden’s leadership. Last week, the Biden Administration claimed it reversed its zero tolerance policy. Upon further review of the updated enforcement guidance, it appears to remain fully in effect.

Rep. Mann told Breitbart News, “President Biden did everything in his power to weaponize the federal government against gun store owners in the Big First District of Kansas and across the country. His zero tolerance policy undermined the Second Amendment and trampled on the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens. Since day one, I have rigorously pushed back against this unconstitutional policy and fought for more oversight to rein in ATF’s abuse.”

He added, “On November 5, 2024, the country made it clear—our constitutional rights are not up for grabs. My bill makes that crystal clear by fortifying the Second Amendment rights of local gun stores and seeking to restore a degree of wholeness to individuals whose livelihoods were destroyed by this federal abuse. I look forward to working with President Trump to further strengthen the protection of the Second Amendment, deliver justice for our FFLs, and get our country back on track.”

The RIFLE Act “ensures that ATF works with FFLs, giving FFLs a chance to comply before ATF moves to revoke a license,” “clearly defines and strengthens what constitutes a willful violation, imposing a presumption that there is no willful violation absent clear and convincing evidence,” “allows FFLs to review and appeal ATF determinations before an administrative law judge and reimburses FFLs for legal fees incurred while the zero tolerance policy is in effect,” and automatically reinstates and approves licenses suspended, revoked, or denied while ATF’s zero tolerance policy is in effect.”

The Act also reimburses FFLs who were victims of the ATF’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy.

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DEVELOPING: ATF Arson Investigators Descend on Hiking Trail at The Summit of Pacific Palisades

ATF arson investigators descended along a hiking trail at The Summit of the Pacific Palisades on Monday nearly one week after the fires erupted.

“Two prongs, one team will analyze the scene, including damage & burn patterns, while another will gather surveillance video, digital evidence, etc,” Fox News reporter Bill Melugin said.

The Pacific Palisades fire erupted last Tuesday morning.

LAX video journalist “Airline Videos” captured the moment the Pacific Palisades fire broke out on Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday morning around 10:30, LAX airport streamer Kevin noticed a plume of smoke shortly before a United Airlines flight landed.

“Uh oh! Uh oh! Uh oh! Not something we wanna see here in Southern California. A fire has now broke out. That is looking like Encino. Uh oh. Not what we wanna see here in Southern California. A fire has now broke out there in the hills. I believe that’s looking toward possibly Bel Air, Encino,” Livestreamer Kevin said Tuesday morning.

“This was the concern for many with these high winds and as dry as they are. Weather watch in full effect,” Kevin said referring to the gusty Santa Ana winds that reached over 80 miles per hour on Tuesday.

“With these high winds that fire can spread really quickly,” Kevin said as he panned over to the plume of smoke in the distance. “There are a lot of expensive homes up there in the hills.”

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