By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
As President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) reportedly is turning its attention to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the establishment media and the anti-gun Brady United gun control group are having fits.
MSNBC opinion writer Zeeshan Aleem writes, “This all comes as the Justice Department is aiming to scrap two-thirds of the ATF’s inspectors, who monitor federally licensed gun dealers. Those inspectors help ensure compliance with regulations which, according to The New York Times, are ‘intended to keep guns away from traffickers, straw purchasers, criminals and those found to have severe mental illness.’”
Those regulations may not be working too well considering the number of crimes still being committed by recidivist criminals who aren’t supposed to have guns.
Aleem laments, “So while we don’t know exactly what kind of policy revisions DOGE will pursue in the name of “efficiency,” it’s not unreasonable to predict that they will make it all the easier for guns to flow throughout this country with even less regulatory scrutiny. In a country awash in more guns than people, this is that last thing the country needs.”
Gizmodo notes in its coverage, “As to what those regulations are that will be changed, it’s hard to say. The Post noted that the agency enforces hundreds of rules that help to dictate the way that firearms are bought, sold, and used in the country. The report floated the possibility that DOGE may change the rules on what types of guns can be imported and make licensing fees refundable.”
And the Brady gun prohibition lobbying group’s CEO Kris Brown issued a statement in which she contends, “At a time when Americans should be celebrating freedom to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, this Administration is actively undermining our safety, instead prioritizing the financial interests of their allies in the gun industry. As DOGE hacks away at ATF and common-sense gun industry regulations, we will all become at greater risk of being shot and killed wherever we go — from parades and BBQs to schools, grocery stores, and our places of worship.”
The critics all argue against the apparent plan to tighten up the Form 4473 gun buyers fill out when they purchase firearms at retail. But the laments appear to be more about speculation than fact. The MSNBC opinion piece asserts, “In short, streamlining the form could potentially eliminate information that the federal agency regulating guns would want to know about buyers.”
Ground News reported earlier in June that 15 attorneys general from states controlled by Democrats “filed a lawsuit on June 9, opposing the planned ATF rule revisions.”
