ATF Ends Up Accepting 40,000 Additional Petitions Against Background Check Regulation After Pro-Gun Pressure
Jose Nino
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The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) relented to pressure from Georgia Congressman Andrew Clyde and fellow Republican colleagues in the United States House members on December 7, 2023 by agreeing to accept 40,000 petitions against the government agency’s background check regulation
Early on December 7, Clyde posted on X: “Last week, the ATF refused to accept 40,000 petitions from National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) members opposing the agency’s universal background check rule. I led 25 of my colleagues in demanding the ATF abide by the U.S. Constitution and accept these petitions TODAY—when the comment period ends.”
Shortly afterwards, Clyde posted, “The ATF caved and finally accepted the NAGR 40,000 petitions. MAJOR WIN—but the fight continues. Now it’s time for Congress to take down the ATF’s universal background check rule.”
Back in late August, the ATF put forward a universal background check regulation, effectively advancing a gun control measure that Congress has repeatedly rejected.
In a press release that published alongside the announcement of the proposed regulation, Attorney General Merrick Garland declared:
:The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was passed by Congress to reduce gun violence, including by expanding the background checks that keep guns out of the hands of criminals. This proposed rule implements Congress’s mandate to expand the definition of who must obtain a license and conduct a background check before selling firearms.”
ATF director Steve Dettelbach proclaimed, “This new proposed rule would clarify the circumstances in which a person is ‘engaged in the business’ of dealing in firearms, and thus required to obtain a license and follow the laws Congress has established for firearms dealers.”
The rule was published for the public to comment on, which the National Association for Gun Rights exploited by having its members deliver 40,000 petitions that will currently be accepted as a part of the aforementioned comments.
The tide is clearly turning. Thanks to the relentless activism of pro-gun activists in the no compromise fold, unconstitutional government agencies like the ATF are slowly losing legitimacy. Such pressure should not be let up. Ultimately, gun owners must strive to defund and eventually shut down the ATF due to how it poses an existential threat to the right to bear arms in the US.
Any restoration of the Second Amendment starts and ends with the abolition of the ATF.
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