By: Kayleigh Hamilton
This was not what political observers were expecting Donald Trump to do.
He made a move completely out of left field.
And it will certainly have a big impact on the Second Amendment.
The director of the ATF is usually a position that is held by a law enforcement officer of some kind, even under Republican presidents.
Of course, when a Republican is in office, the ATF director is generally a bit less hostile to civilian gun ownership than the type of people who are appointed when a Democrat is in office.
But the idea of not appointing anyone as ATF director at all and simply making the head of the FBI the acting head of the ATF is a shocking move.
That is exactly what Donald Trump has done as he named Kash Patel, who was recently sworn in as the FBI director, the head of the ATF as well.
Gun owners are likely going to be happy about this as it seems to signal a heavily reduced role for the ATF.
If that turns out to be the case, it could be the greatest thing Trump has ever done for the Second Amendment.
According to The Truth About Guns, “If you thought Big Gun Control’s howling over America’s newest FBI Director Kash Patel was shrill, just wait until they wake up to news that Donald Trump plans to appoint Patel the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Explosives and really big Fires. That’s right: sources say Trump plans to ‘reshuffle’ federal law enforcement. And placing Patel at BATF will help reform that agency away from persecuting gun owners and bring them back to prosecuting legitimate criminals.”
First of all, Patel is going to be so busy running the FBI, he wouldn’t have time to use the ATF to intimidate gun owners even if he wanted to.
But second of all, Patel has shown no indication that he wants to do the bidding of gun control lobbying organizations with his newfound power.
The article continues, “Already Team Trump has dumped BATF’s lawyer Pamela Hicks under the Biden regime and she had plenty of folks who complained of her penchant to target law-abiding gun owners. Now she’s free to take a job with one of the lobbying firms in DC. It probably won’t be for the big gun control outfits though, given that the USAID gravy train has been curtailed.”
Not all of the news out of the Trump administration has been good for gun owners, but this is apparently the best news yet.
It certainly seems to indicate that the ATF will be conducting fewer no-knock raids that lead to the deaths of non-violent gun owners for alleged paperwork violations.
In fact, hopefully those type of tragic incidents will cease entirely under the leadership of Kash Patel.
This is a move by Donald Trump that the Second Amendment community will certainly appreciate, and it will hopefully lead to more peace of mind for gun owners in the future.