Matt Gaetz urges colleagues to abolish ATF before it strips Americans of gun rights: ‘Can’t be trusted’
Rep. Matt Gaetz is calling on his colleagues to support a bill that would abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), a law enforcement agency that reports to the Department of Justice, after its latest guidelines that restrict ownership of firearm components.
During a speech on the House floor on Wednesday, Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, said the office “is not to be trusted” and ultimately seeks to deny Americans their right of the Second Amendment to possess firearms in a private capacity.
“The ATF cannot be trusted to protect our right to own and bear arms,” Gaetz said. “There is no timeline when the ATF, under any administration, would become an ally [to gun owners]. It needs to go, we need to abolish the ATF before they abolish our Second Amendment rights.”
The comments came after the ATF announced it would treat guns with stabilizing attachments as short-barreled shotguns, which require a federal license to possess under state firearms law.
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U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., speaks during a business meeting before a hearing on U.S. Southern Border Security on Capitol Hill, February 1, 2023, in Washington, DC.
(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“Alcohol, tobacco and firearms should be the name of a chain of convenience stores in Florida, not a federal agency,” added Gaetz, who represents the Pensacola, Crestview and Fort Walton Beach areas. .
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Gaetz formally introduced legislation that would abolish the ATF in its entirety on January 17.
Gaetz’s bill, HR374, “Abolish the ATF Act,” simply reads, “The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is hereby abolished.” It was referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
“I urge all red-blooded Americans and all conservatives in this Congress to stand with Representative Andrew Clyde [R-GA] and its legislation and to support me and co-sponsor my bill, the Abolist the ATF Act of 2023. Let’s get rid of this illegal agency once and for all,” Floridian said.
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., speaks with Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, on Capitol Hill February 1, 2023 in Washington, DC.
He concluded: “Let this special order be considered a shot across the arc.”
Gaetz previously told Fox New Digital that he knows many disabled veterans in his district who use stabilizing bracing to shoot safely and effectively.
“The ATF’s continued existence is increasingly unwarranted because of the actions it takes to convert otherwise law-abiding people into criminals,” the lawmaker added.
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The ATF defended its decision to treat modified pistols the same as rifles.
“Some so-called stabilizer splints are designed to simply attach to pistols, essentially converting them into short-barreled rifles to be fired from the shoulder,” said ATF Director Steven Dettelbach. “Therefore, they should be treated equally under the law.”
Stabilizer devices were used in the grocery store shooting that killed 10 in Boulder, Colorado in March 2021, and in a Dayton, Ohio shooting that killed nine in 2019. President Biden has called for the accessory to be banned.
United States Attorney General Merrick Garland swears in Steven Dettelbach as the second person to be confirmed by Congress as Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF ) at ATF Headquarters on July 19, 2022 in Washington, DC.
(Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the restrictions on stabilizing corset accessories and said they should be subject to “enhanced requirements”.
“Keeping our communities safe from gun violence is one of the Department’s highest priorities,” Garland said. “Nearly a century ago, Congress determined that short-barreled rifles should be subject to increased requirements. Today’s rule makes it clear that gun manufacturers, dealers, and individuals cannot escape these important public safety protections simply by adding attachments to pistols that turn them into shorts – barrel shotguns.”
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The ATF focuses its law enforcement efforts on “violent criminals, criminal organizations, the illegal use and trafficking of firearms, the illegal use and storage of explosives, arson and bombings, acts of terrorism and the illegal diversion of alcohol and tobacco products.
Many of the ATF’s law enforcement responsibilities overlap with those of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.
Matt Gaetz urges colleagues to abolish ATF before it strips Americans of gun rights: ‘Can’t be trusted’
