The long-standing effort by Republicans to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been revived.
GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene announced the legislation to abolish the agency on June 17. She shared the news on Twitter, writing: “I’m introducing this legislation to #EliminateTheATF to protect ALL gun owners across this country from a tyrannical, power hungry group of bureaucrats who’s goal is to destroy our Second Amendment rights.”
I’m introducing this legislation to #EliminateTheATF to protect ALL gun owners across this country from a tyrannical, power hungry group of bureaucrats who’s goal is to destroy our Second Amendment rights. https://t.co/QbYx9YArJh
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) June 17, 2021
Greene’s legislation seeks to “wipe away anything the ATF did after last Aug. 1 and would eliminate the agency 180 days after the bill’s passage,” according to reporting by the Western Journal.
According to the bill, the duties of the ATF would be given to the FBI. Any weapons that were confiscated and are being held by the ATF would be sold at auction, and the proceeds from the sales would go to the families of Border Patrol agents that were killed due to Operation Fast and Furious.
Former Republican Representative Jim Sensenbrenner, who is now retired, spearheaded this effort in the past. In 2015, he introduced legislation to abolish the ATF after the horrific failure of the agency’s Obama-era Operation Fast and Furious, which was an attempt to track illegal guns that were sold to drug cartels in Mexico.
“The ATF is a scandal-ridden, largely duplicative agency that lacks a clear mission. Its ‘Framework’ is an affront to the Second Amendment and yet another reason why Congress should pass the ATF Elimination Act,” Sensenbrenner said in a statement at the time.
It seems that Greene is carrying on with Sensenbrenner’s legacy, using the title of her legislation to memorialize Brian Terry, the former Marine and Border Patrol agent who was killed with one of the guns that was sold to Mexican drug cartels as part of Operation Fast and Furious.
“Twelve years ago, under the direction of hate America leftist Eric Holder, the ATF smuggled firearms to Mexican drug cartels (Operation Fast & Furious) who then used those firearms to kill American hero Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. This can NEVER be allowed to happen again,” Greene said.
The GOP congresswoman went on to discuss the Democrats’ plans to violate the Second Amendment using the ATF as their enforcement arm.
“Joe Biden and the radical, anti-gun Democrats want to unleash the ATF on law-abiding gun owners across America, attacking our God-given Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. The ATF’s ongoing, unconstitutional attacks on the Second Amendment must end,” Greene said in a statement to the Daily Caller.
“Joe Biden’s nomination of gun-grabber David Chipman, who wants to ban, confiscate and destroy the most popular self-defense and hunting rifle in America owned by millions of American patriots, is a clear indication that the ATF’s war on gun owners is just beginning and is about to crank up,” she said.
Aaron Dorr, executive director of the American Firearms Association, released a statement in support of Greene’s legislation.
“The ATF has been a scandal-ridden disaster long before operation Fast and Furious became front page news,” Dorr told the Daily Caller. “These days, they exist solely to attack the Second Amendment and the tens of millions of proud gun owners who fight to defend it. It’s high time this agency was eliminated, before they can do even more damage to freedom.”
Republican Representatives Matt Gaetz of Florida, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, and Paul Gosar of Arizona have all signed on to the bill as co-sponsors.
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