By Lee Williams
Senate hearings for Joe Biden’s second nominee to head the ATF, Steve Dettelbach, could begin as early as next week, Sen. Dick Durbin, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Politico.
Officials within the Biden-Harris administration have said they hope to refocus on Dettelbach’s nomination after the mass murder in Buffalo, New York.
When Dettelbach, a Democrat, ran unsuccessfully for Ohio Attorney General in 2018, he was endorsed by Biden, Barack Obama and Everytown for Gun Safety.
From 2018: “Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund today announced it is endorsing Steve Dettelbach for attorney general in the Buckeye State.” https://t.co/wLOth8JcqR
— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) April 11, 2022
“Dettelbach is running on a platform that includes strengthening enforcement of gun safety laws in Ohio, and he supports closing the background check loophole and keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. His opponent, Dave Yost, is endorsed by the NRA,” Everytown announced in a 2018 press release.
“Everytown is all-in on the midterm elections and gun violence survivors and volunteers with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America will be knocking on doors and making calls to elect Dettelbach and other gun sense candidates.”
This bipartisan group of mayors know that listening to local leaders is key to ending gun violence. We need a strong ATF led by President Biden’s nominee, Steve Dettelbach. https://t.co/a351tQuQ3Y
— Everytown (@Everytown) May 10, 2022
Everytown quickly endorsed Dettelbach to head the ATF because of his history of support for “assault weapon” and standard-capacity magazine bans, universal background checks and Red-Flag laws, as have several groups that represent police chiefs, sheriffs and other law enforcement executives.
The president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, which represents 26,000 federal officers, wrote that Dettelbach has a “proven history of working with law enforcement agencies, corrections officials, advocates, stakeholders, and elected officials across the political spectrum.”
Most recently, a group of 140 ex-Justice Department employees endorsed Dettelbach, saying he will “will help keep our communities safe by taking gun traffickers and other violent criminals off our streets.”
New this morning >>>@ABC: Two more major law enforcement groups endorse Biden pick for ATF
“In recent weeks, an increasing number of national law enforcement groups have thrown their support behind Dettelbach”https://t.co/GefG2PuPti
— Mike Gwin (@MGwin46) May 9, 2022
Biden’s first choice to run the ATF, David Chipman, was rejected by the Senate due to the uproar his nomination created within the gun-rights community, which balked because Chipman was a paid, anti-gun extremist.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation, which “vehemently opposed” Chipman’s nomination, calling him “entirely unqualified to hold a position of public trust,” has concerns about Dettelbach, too.
“NSSF is committed to a thorough examination of Dettelbach’s record and qualifications and will listen carefully to his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. NSSF has significant concerns regarding Dettelbach’s previous public statements supporting bans on Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs), or AR-15 semiautomatic rifles, universal background checks, which are unworkable without a national firearm registry that is already forbidden by federal law, and extreme-risk protection orders, or so-called “red flag” laws, without protections for Due Process considerations. Dettelbach was also previously endorsed by the gun control group, Everytown for Gun Safety, for his support for policies restricting Second Amendment rights,” said in a statement last month.
The National Rifle Association’s Political Victory Fund awarded Dettelbach an “F” when he ran for Ohio Attorney General in 2018. The organization strongly opposes his nomination to head the ATF, and has urged its members to take action.
“Like Chipman, Dettelbach is a dedicated gun controller with a background that proves he would be neither fair nor objective as head of ATF. When running for Ohio Attorney General in 2018, Dettelbach endorsed gun bans, restrictions on lawful firearm transfers, and further expansion of prohibitions on who can lawfully possess a firearm. In short, it’s unclear what gun control measures Dettelbach doesn’t support,” NRA said in a statement.
Takeaways
After Chipman’s stunning defeat, the Biden-Harris administration seems to have learned a lesson. White House staffers are laying a better foundation for Dettelbach than they did Chipman. They’re putting in the work, so to speak. They let Chipman sink or swim on his own, and he quickly sunk, so they’re a lot more careful with Biden’s second choice.
Compared to Chipman and his reprehensible personality, Dettelbach may be a charmer. The Senate hearings will be telling. However, when you consider their lack of respect for the right to keep and bear arms and their inability to serve as a fair and objective regulator of the firearms industry, Biden’s two nominees are eerily the same.
Yup, they’re not even pretending anymore! Remember, you can’t enslave an armed populace!!
Keep up the pressure, all!
Sneaky democRats are pouring more sugar on steve dettelbach. That way the racism and genocide inherent with their Gun Control rot won’t be tasted by the knee jerk useful idiots who stand for nothing and fall for anything…Exactly like useful idiots fell for the socialist nazi party and the Gun Control military wing of the Jim Crow democRat Party known as the kkk.
So keep up the pressure on your State’s R’s. Make sure they know that a cave is a grave.
Because kicking out the experienced black man currently running the BATF is vital to the interests of the Demokkkrats in the White House…
Black Lives Matter, but not to the DNC leadership…
NSSF doesn’t need to take a thorough look. The AFT (as per pedobiden) is horseshit. Anyone who wants to head such an agency is anti-freedom. Hey, NSSF! Put forth the same pushback on this guy as you did with Chipmunk.
“Anyone who wants to head such an agency is anti-freedom.”
I wouldn’t go that far. I’ve never considered a job in politics, but . . . if offered the job, I’d probably take it. Sitting in that office, I could do a lot to roll back idiot policies and decisions made by damnfools whose purpose in life was to disarm you.
And, you can bet both cheeks that as federal arms cases came to court, I’d be submitting far more reasonable amicus briefs to the courts.
Do I “want” the job? Not really, but I’d take it.
Paul – off hand I’d venture to ‘guess’ that you are at least as well qualified for that appointed position as the current nominee is. At least you would try to be ‘fair and balanced’ in how you approach your duties.
IMHO the current nominee would be at least as bad for gun rights as the chip would have been. Likely even worse since he would be even more devious.
I’ve said before, ANY appointed official at any level that is unable or unwilling to operate within current laws should not be appointed. Unfortunately, far too many of them get swollen heads and end up abusing their power by letting their personal feelings/biases affect their ruling.
Thank goodness hes going to keep the gunms out of the hands of domestic abusers, they should have passed a law like that years ago.
Bettleback is going to get the job, hes got the right look and the right mindset.
possum – AND he doesn’t carry the obvious baggage that chip did. Far too many rinos will just cave in an support the appointment. They are simply getting worn down by fatigue and a desire to just get on with life.
Ohio Resident here. In 2018, I followed the State Lt. Gov and State AG Races.
This guy was cut up in debates by David Yost. He’s your typical Leftist Despot, but as much of a Dumbf*** as Andrew Cuomo.
Getting him into “Got Ya” traps is gonna be easy like with Chipman.
JP – hopefully your analysis is on target (pun intended). IMHO he would be at least as bad overall as chip would have been AND since he is a lot sneakier and less overtly obnoxious he would likely get away with a lot more.
“Working smarter”…when has that phrase been attached to Slow Joe & the Ho? BTW Richard Irvin da mayor of Aurora,ILLannoy is a certified member of EVERYTOWN. Running for governor as a Rino er Republitard. I will never give up my rifle!
why is this blm, defund no bail turd backed by ken griffin?
The Buffalo incident was a false flag, intended to sway public opinion in favor of confirming a gun grabber to run the ATF.
Change my mind.
Nothing will change your mind, because you are delusional. You are deciding to believe nonsense because it fits within your political views in the same way that left wing nutjobs thought Bush did 9/11
Yes, keep collecting data on a guy who has dedicated his life to opposing everything you claim to stand for. While you’re at it, why don’t you give us your neutral, balanced, nuanced assessment of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Bin Laden – or do you still need more information about them too?
Umm – ya left out Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun ;-(
Seriously, if the current nominee’s track record isn’t already enough to derail him, WHAT will?
Saying something raciss, maybe?
Looks like just another gun-grabbing SOB in a long line of gun-grabbing SOBs.
Washington, DC isn’t a swamp. It’s an open sewer that I can smell from here.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law banning so-called ghost guns on Wednesday, making the “Land of Lincoln” the first state in the Midwest to pass such a measure.
The law requires ghost guns, self-assembled firearms from gun kits and 3D printers, to be marked with serial numbers so they can be traced by law enforcement.
LETITIA JAMES OPENS INQUIRY INTO SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS USED BEFORE BUFFALO SHOOTING
“We are seeing these unserialized guns being built in basements by those who should never have had access to such dangerous weapons and then used to commit heinous crimes, and it must be stopped to keep Illinoisans safe,” Pritzker, a Democrat, said in a statement.
Pritzker signed the law at a ceremony with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has been ramping up efforts to curb raging crime in her city. Under the law, owners of gun kits have to get them stamped with serial numbers within 180 days of the measure taking effect, per the Chicago Sun-Times.
Authorities will likely encounter obstacles in enforcing the law due to the nature of ghost guns being untraceable. People caught with a ghost gun will face a class A misdemeanor on the first violation and a class 3 felony on the second, according to the outlet. Illinois state police analyzed 62 ghost guns in 2020 and 180 in 2021 and have already confiscated roughly 164 ghost guns this year, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Nationally, ghost guns comprise a small percentage of illegal firearms. For comparison, Chicago police alone confiscated 5,352 illegal firearms in the first half of 2021, compared to the 180 “ghost guns” seized throughout the state all year, according to NBC 5.
Federal law requires firearms manufactured after 1968 to have a serial number so that law enforcement can track where the weapons originated.
Ghost guns have gained national attention due to concerns about the untraceable weapons falling into the hands of violent criminals. The Biden administration has taken aim at the untraceable weapons, ordering the Justice Department to review the situation last year and announcing new restrictions last month that require purchasers of ghost guns to submit to background checks as they would for standard gun purchases.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/illinois-first-midwestern-state-to-try-to-crack-down-on-ghost-guns/ar-AAXtXRD?cvid=0a42fd75752d4a559b26dfb565d74d03
Good luck with that. Criminals looking to mass murder don’t care about a gun control law that says “don’t make guns.” The only affect this legislation will accomplish, is punishing lawful gun hobbyists.
You mean registered right? Not just serialized. And surely you don’t mean just kits and 3d printers. I can make a firearm without a kit or a 3d printer.
This is a self defeating statement. Guns are being built in the privacy of people’s own homes? Sounds completely unenforceable. Sounds like the gun control agenda has failed, completely. People can just build them in their own homes, anonymously, by themselves???? Gun control is over. The only thing left is the complete legislative bashing of law abiding citizens that wanted to be hobbyists.
What if the firearm is already built? Then you don’t need a serial number? Therefore, if you have a kit, you simply don’t tell anyone, and go ahead an built the firearm and claim you built it last year. Again, unenforceable. These laws do nothing, except harass hobbyists. A criminal looking to kill someone with his homemade gun is NOT going to register and serialize it. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together would know this. So instead, we just see this law for what it is – hobbyist harassment.
LOLOLOL!
So essentially, it’s not just about kits, its about retroactively forcing gun owners to serialize their private firearm, that they made. Further, it also looks like the state is looking for anyway possible to make hobbyists felons so they can own any guns.
I saw ghost gunner made a CNC mill that machines an entire receiver out of a solid block of aluminum. Looks like ghost guns are here to stay.
Then why pass this law? Oh wait, to harass hobbyists.
Only if they are sold/transferred.
That’s not going to go away, and this law doesn’t do anything to stop them. If you are going to go shoot up a rival gang, or perform a drive by in Chicago, you aren’t going to care about gun laws.
Purchaser’s of ghost guns??? How do you know they purchased them? Maybe they made the firearm themselves. You only know what they claim. You don’t know anything. And this is the future of guns. Nobody is going to follow this law. We are already on the path that exits from the road of gun control.
So? Nobody here gives a shit what you say. I didn’t even read your comment before I replied.
dacian the Dunderhead, Kinda makes the “ghost gun” laws look stupid, when you consider the small number of “ghost guns” confiscated compared to illegal guns over all.
Wow. This is a surprise.
When the Republicrats regain total power, they will gut the ATF.
No they wont.
“No they wont.”
Pessimist!
The Republicrats always overturn whatever the Dims put in place. And do it politely. It’s the way politics works in this country. Don’t you, like, read the newspapers, or something?
https://www.ohiogunowners.org/massive-gun-control-bill-filed-in-d-c/
Hyperbole or not?
They pass some of this in the Dead Of Night?
It goes nowhere.
They don’t have the votes now, and they really won’t have the votes after next November…
Steve Dettelbach like Merrick Garland is desperate for a job that he’s unqualified for.
You used Biden and smarter in the same sentence. Ottabe a law!
The gun Community needs to face reality. Someone eventually is going to be appointed, and approved by the Senate to head the BATFE. And perhaps it would be best that we support someone, who at least shows interest, in working with the gun industry in a positive way.
From 2021
“Acting Director of the ATF and Fort Worth Native Shares His Journey With Hometown Students”
Richardson weighed in on the new Texas permitless carry law.
“The states have the independence to pass whatever laws they choose,” Richardson said. “When you look again at the seconded amendment that’s a right of all the people. So, we are not here to say oh my goodness you can’t do this with a gun. What you can’t do is you can’t commit a criminal act with a firearm.”
https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/acting-director-of-the-atf-and-fort-worth-native-shares-his-journey-with-hometown-students/2751115/
I think Mr Richardson would be a very good ATF director for the gun community. He certainly would be better than the candidates the Democrats are going to put up at this point. He seems like a bit of a tenth amendment guy to me.
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