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Rep. Elise Stefanik, Chairwoman
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Press Releases

Biden Doubles Down On His Anti-Second Amendment Agenda With ATF Nominee

Washington, DC, April 11, 2022

With Steve Dettelbach’s nomination to Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Joe Biden has chosen to put an anti-Second Amendment advocate in charge of the agency responsible for regulating America’s firearms industry.

Dettlebach is not simply a “former federal attorney.” He’s a known gun controller, using his position as a US Attorney to advocate for gun control for years, publishing op-eds such as Requiring universal background checks makes sense. As a US attorney, he heavily weighed in on the Manchin-Toomey gun control proposal in 2013, condemning “[t]he Senate’s failure… to pass the universal background check bill” as “disheartening.” In 2018, Dettlebach unsuccessfully ran for public office with an endorsement from Michael Bloomberg’s gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety. Luckily, Ohio voters rejected his candidacy. During Biden’s campaign, he promised a host of new gun control initiatives if elected, including:
  • Gun bans
  • Restrictions on lawful firearm transfers
  • Gun confiscation for misdemeanor crimes
  • Gun confiscation for those dealing with mental health issues
  • “[C]losing” the made-up “over the Internet” and fake “gun show loophole[s]”
  • Disarming teachers and keeping schools as “soft targets”
  • Universal Background Registration Checks, which are unworkable without a national firearm registry and was previously endorsed by Everytown for Gun Safety.
GUN OWNERS BY THE NUMBERS:
  • According to a recent survey of industry retailers, at least 5.4 million people purchased a firearm for the first time in 2021.
  • Nearly 47 percent of first-time gun buyers in 2021 inquired about training and 43 percent signed up for training.
  • Nearly 23 percent of retailers indicated that first-time gun buyers in 2020 purchased another firearm in 2021.
  • Over 33 percent of first-time gun buyers in 2021 were women.
  • 44 percent of retailers saw an increase of African-Americans purchasing firearms in 2021.
  • Nearly 40 percent of retailers saw an increase of Hispanic-Americans purchasing firearms in 2021.
  • Over 27 percent of retailers saw an increase of Asian-Americans purchasing firearms in 2021.
  • Over 18 percent of retailers saw an increase of Native-Americans purchasing firearms in 2021.
  • Nearly 14 percent of retailers saw an increase of Native-Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders purchasing firearms in 2021.
IT’S SIMPLE: Steve Dettelbach would be neither fair nor objective as ATF Director. Biden’s nomination of a Far-Left gun control advocate to head the ATF is an attack on law-abiding Americans' Second Amendment rights.