Staff Reports
The bureaucratic weather in federal agencies typically doesn’t change with each new president, at least on paper. In theory, agencies like the ATF should focus on their jobs without political favoritism. Yet, when it comes to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, things are about to get spicy, especially with Donald Trump making a return to the White House.
The ATF has spent the last few years reveling under the guidance of Joe Biden, who was all too happy to provide the agency with new ways to restrict gun rights. During this time, the agency operated like a kid in a candy store, encouraged to go after the Second Amendment in the name of “regulation.” With a high hand of enforcement, they could target the rights of law-abiding citizens with impunity. However, with Trump on the verge of reclaiming the Oval Office, the ATF’s party is about to be disrupted, and they know it.
ATF Braces for Trump Era https://t.co/429mZRZ52j
— Marlon East Of The Pecos (@Darksideleader2) December 16, 2024
Recent political maneuvers led by congressional Republicans have already felt like a gut punch to the ATF. As part of the 2024 budget, they managed to secure a cool $47 million reduction from the ATF’s already meager $1.6 billion annual budget. Meanwhile, other federal agencies have seen their funds top up, all while the ATF faces the grim prospects of scaling back after years of overreach. It’s almost poetic justice when one considers that this agency has thrived under a president who has all but given them a blank check to infringe upon the rights of Americans.
Trump has already made it clear that he’s not a fan of the ATF or its current chief, Mr. Dettelbach. It’s rumored that Dettelbach plans to jump ship before the former president can even take office, which hardly seems like a vote of confidence. A quick reversal of the overreaching regulations Biden allowed the ATF to enact is on Trump’s agenda, and that sends shivers down every anti-gun bureaucrat’s spine. The proposed efforts to tackle issues like stabilizing braces and expansion of background checks are on the chopping block, making the agency’s future look bleaker by the day.
In a perfect world, the ATF wouldn’t even exist as a law enforcement entity but rather as a collection of convenience stores where citizens could stock up on their favorite adult beverages and tobacco products without the government breathing down their necks. But instead, the ATF turned into a regulation factory under the Biden administration, encouraged to overreach and violate rights at will. Now, they are gearing up to navigate a tumultuous change with a Trump administration that promises to bring the hammer down on their previous escapades.
If one were to take a moment and imagine what the ATF might look like four years into a Trump presidency, it wouldn’t be an office filled with jubilant agents patting themselves on the back over new legislative wonders but rather a barren wasteland where the agency once operated. The message is clear: the ATF had its fun, and the party is coming to an end. It remains to be seen just how deep the cuts will go and how drastically the agency will have to shift gears when the looser rein of the Biden era is yanked away, but one certainly can’t help but chuckle at the thought of the ATF scrambling to catch up to their new reality.
