ATF Chief Counsel Fired

Pamela Hicks, ATF Chief Counsel since September 2021, was fired yesterday by Attorney General Pam Bondi. Hicks, a graduate of Duke Law, had served at ATF for a total of 14 plus years with additional service at the Department of Justice and Department of the Treasury. She had been promoted to Chief Counsel from the Deputy Counsel position. At the time of her promotion, an article by John Crump pointed out that Hicks had donated to Democrat candidates including Hillary Clinton along with Emily’s List. I’m sure that helped confirm her bona fides to the Biden Administration.

According to ABC News, Hicks was escorted out of her office upon being fired. Hicks posted a note on her LinkedIn page that said she had been fired but did not specify the reason.

Earlier today, I was served official notice from the Attorney General of the United States that I was being removed from my position as the Chief Counsel of ATF and my employment with the Department of Justice terminated. I have had the privilege of serving in the federal civil service for almost 28 years, including 23 as an attorney for the Department of Justice. Serving as ATF Chief Counsel has been the highest honor of my career and working with the people at ATF and throughout the Department has been a pleasure.

As The Firearm Blog notes, Hicks had a mixed batting record given the Biden-era rulings coming out of ATF such as the pistol brace rule.

Over the past few years, the ATF has been involved with cases such as the Pistol Brace Flip-Flop, where the feds were in the odd position of saying pistol-stabilizing braces were illegal and then saying they weren’t, and then saying they’d decide on a case-by-case basis with no real guidance.

These and other Second Amendment-suspicious situations do not indicate strong leadership or solid legal groundwork, and whether you were looking at the situation from an anti-gun or a pro-gun viewpoint, it is no surprise to see Hicks punted a few weeks after ATF Director Steven Dettelbach left. With a new director incoming, whoever that may be, the agency will also likely want to clean house of previous personnel and policies.

ATF quickly erased her from their page devoted to the bureau’s leadership. She still can be found on the older page which featured Steve Dettelbach as Director.

Of course, the gun control industry is upset by this.

Brady United President Kris Brown called the firing “chilling” and said “we are all at greater risk.” Everytown and The Cult of Personality known as Giffords have not posted anything as of yet concerning her firing. The latter seems more concerned with Kash Patel winning confirmation as the Director of the FBI.

As for me, I say it is a good first step. I hope more firings are to come.

Update: Hicks first job after graduation from Duke Law was with the law firm of Crowell and Moring. I was just reading an article by 2A scholar David Kopel on the Volokh Conspiracy regarding an amicus brief submitted by the NRA, FPC Action Foundation, and the Independence Institute in Smith & Wesson Brands v. Mexico. It was authored by he and NRA-ILA’s Joe Greenlee. The response attacking this brief came from none other than lawyers affiliated with Crowell and Moring.

Why am I not surprised? One must wonder if former Chief Counsel Hicks was involved in recruiting her former firm to submit the response brief.

This is also another case of Big Law wanting subvert gun rights.