The picture of the day is one that gun rights activists will love and that the gun control industry hates.
It is a screen capture of the BATFE’s Leadership page. I am happy to see that they didn’t waste any time in updating it. Gee, it is almost like the BATFE is trying to suck up to the White House.
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.
One of the major nominations not yet released by President Trump is who will head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. I think it goes without debate that current head Steve Dettelbach will be replaced.
Two names that have been suggested are Brandon Herrera, aka The AK Guy, and Blake Masters.
Herrera would love to see the ATF abolished and there has been a vocal campaign to have him nominated for the position. He has indicated he’d accept the position if offered. He ran as a pro-gun candidate in the GOP primary against incumbent US Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) and lost by a mere 400 votes in a run-off.
A second person who has been suggested is Blake Master of Arizona. A protégé of venture capitalist Peter Thiel, Masters is a lawyer and venture capitalist. He lost the Arizona US Senate race in 2022 to Mark Kelly and was defeated in a GOP primary for Congress this year. Like Herrera, he has touted his 2A credentials.
I have a modest proposal for an alternative that meets all the criteria: law enforcement experience, knows guns, is comfortable testifying before Congress, and is a real 2A activist.
Dianna Muller!
Law enforcement experience? Di served 22 years with the Tulsa Police Department including units dealing with drugs and gangs. She has the street cred to be respected by ATF special agents. Moreover, I have no doubt she can outshoot almost every one of them.
Knows guns? Professional shooter, two-time national 3-gun champion, hunter, and the list goes on and on. While not a gunsmith, she could hold her own with the ATF’s Technical Branch.
Testified before Congress? Dianna has testified multiple times before Congress and is famous for saying she would “not comply” with any AWB.
2A activist? She founded The DC Project which has now become Women for Gun Rights. I was at the SHOT Show in 2015 and attended her rollout of the idea. It was smart then and it is smart today. She recognized that having women from all 50 states go to Congress and lobby for gun rights was an effective way of delivering the message. Their motto of Educate, Not Legislate is an effective message and their teal t-shirts really stand out.
I haven’t run this by Di and I have no idea if she would even consider it. I know I’d be running the other way but Di has always impressed me as a someone who is willing to step up when needed. I do know if Dianna isn’t interested or willing someone else from Women for Gun Rights like Holly Sullivan who also heads the Connecticut Citizens Defense League would make a great alternative.
I’ve been a little slack for the last week or so about blogging. I hope this little tidbit will make up for it. I saw it on X or Twitter this morning. The response was so perfect especially coming on a day when the Supreme Court finally (!) killed the abomination that was the Chevron Doctrine. Combine Looper Bright with Cargill and there are a lot of sad faces at 99 New York Ave, NE, in DC.
Enjoy!
This is a fantastic program that I was lucky enough to participate in last year. There was a series of wonder training seminars:
— Bob Johnson (@realBob_Johnson) June 28, 2024
• Target Acquisition, A Study of Dogs and Children.
• Constitutional Law: How, When, and Why to Bend it.
• Qualified Immunity and You.
The Department of Justice announced a new regulation and plans to update the definition as just who is a dealer in firearms. I won’t get into the meat of the proposal but one thing in their release just jumped out at me.
From the news release:
Federally licensed firearms dealers are critical partners to federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement in our shared goal of promoting public safety. They help keep firearms out of the hands of prohibited persons by running background checks on potential purchasers; ensure that crime guns can be traced back to their first retail purchaser by keeping records of transactions; and facilitate safe storage of firearms by providing child-safety locks with every transferred handgun and offering customers other secure gun storage options.
If FFLs are such critical partners to law enforcement in the shared goal of promoting public safety, then why does the Biden Administration demand the ATF treat them like shit?
There are stories after story about how the ATF’s Industry Operations Inspectors are combing the records of dealers during their audits looking for something, anything, with which to use to revoke the dealer’s license. They are deeming clerical errors as “willful” and thus subject to zero tolerance. Moreover, if a dealer just happens to be a plaintiff in a civil rights lawsuit against the ATF, they are doubly sure of getting a rectal exam type of audit from ATF. Witness the cases of Michael Cargill in Texas and Morehouse Enterprises in North Dakota.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives was successful in getting an administrative stay in VanDerStok v. Garland from the Supreme Court. Judge Reed O’Connor had granted a nationwide injunction against the implementation of the ATF’s frame or receiver rule. He had determined it was in “excess of their statutory jurisdiction”.
As might be expected, ATF and the Department of Justice appealed to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals which refused to grant a stay of Judge O’Connor’s order. The 5th Circuit said the ATF had not “demonstrated a strong likelihood of success on the merits, nor irreparable harm in the absence of a stay.” The 5th Circuit still will be hearing ATF’s appeal of Judge O’Connor’s final order.
Yesterday, the ATF and DOJ filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court to receive a stay while the case is under appeal. This would mean the Final Rule would still remain in effect while it was being appealed.
Today, Justice Alito granted an administrative stay until August 4th at 5pm.
UPON CONSIDERATION of the application of counsel for the applicants,
IT IS ORDERED that the June 30, 2023 order and July 5, 2023 final judgment of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, case No. 4:22-cv-691, are hereby administratively stayed until 5 p.m. (EDT) on Friday, August 4, 2023. It is further ordered that any response to the application be filed on or before Wednesday, August 2, 2023, by 5 p.m. (EDT)
Well, crap!
I am sure the attorneys for the Firearms Policy Coalition as well as DOJ are working hard to craft their responses as I write.
UPDATE: Attorney and law professor Mark Smith of The Four Boxes Diner has an explanation of what happened yesterday. The administrative stay was requested by the Solicitor General and the SCOTUS usually grants these without question. Bottom line is that we shouldn’t panic.
Michael Cargill is the owner of Central Texas Gun Works in Austin. He is also the plaintiff in Cargill v. Garland which successfully challenged the BATFE’s ban on bump stocks. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals found for Cargill in an en banc appeal in January. The US Justice Department appealed that decision to the Supreme Court and is seeking a writ of certiorari.
With that as a background, I find the following full blown audit of Central Texas Gun Works by BATFE inspectors as rather suspicious.
So the ATF walked into the gun store to do a full audit this morning. You know you are in the fight by yourself when 4 agents come to inspect and will spend the entire week going through every sheet of paper. #Texas #2A #GarlandVCargill pic.twitter.com/y2FMnMapuH
— Michael Cargill (@michaeldcargill) June 27, 2023
Day 4 with ATF agents conducting a full audit/inspection at @centexguns Central Texas Gun Works. The worse thing they found so far was 2 customers spelled AUSTIN wrong on the 4473 out of 13,000 transactions. #2A #Texas #GarlandVCargill #AffirmativeAction pic.twitter.com/PuKyXaEIPG
— Michael Cargill (@michaeldcargill) June 30, 2023
It would be hard to convince me that this is a normal routine inspection and not an effort at retribution by the Justice Department and their henchmen at BATFE. Given the Biden Administration’s new policy of “zero tolerance”, one is left to wonder if they are not seeking a way – anyway! – to put Cargill out of business. I don’t think two misspellings of the city name “Austin” are worthy of it but one never knows with the BATFE.
As with the IRS raid on a gun store in Montana, I think it is time for publicity by the representatives and senators from Texas. While the representative who covers the district where the store is located, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX-37), is an anti-gun tool in the pockets of the Demanding Moms, Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and John Cornyn (R-TX) need to step up and start asking questions.
If you are a Texan reading this, call Cruz and Cornyn and demand they get answers. Being an out-of-stater they don’t have to listen to me but they sure need to listen to a constituent.
I don’t think I need to add any comments. The cartoon says it all.
I just received an automated call from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. It was to inform me that effective March 29th, the North Carolina pistol purchase permit was no longer acceptable as a NICS check substitute given the passage of SB 41 into law.
The message went on to say that existing permits issued before the date of repeal would no longer be accepted in lieu of the NICS check. I guess those prohibited persons who obtained a permit prior to becoming a prohibited are now out of luck.
I received this call because I hold a Curios and Relics FFL. However, as a collector, I am not required to fill out the Form 4473 for a sale nor am I required to do a NICS check. The ATF must have lumped anyone who held any sort of FFL into one big database for the call.
The bottom line is we can be assured that the bureaucrats at ATF are on it! That being said, they have not issued a revised letter advising FFLs that the pistol purchase permit is no longer qualifies as an alternative to a NICS check. The only “Brady letter” for NC on their site is from 1998.
UPDATE: BATFE is into the belt and suspenders approach. In addition to the phone call this morning, they also sent out this email.
This is an important message from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
On November 13, 1998, ATF issued an Open Letter to All North Carolina Federal Firearms Licensees advising them that the North Carolina pistol purchase permit qualifies as an alternative to NICS. On March 29, 2023, North Carolina Senate Bill 41 overcame the North Carolina Governor’s veto and became law that same day. North Carolina Senate Bill 41 repeals GS 14-402, which required the pistol purchase permit to acquire a pistol from an FFL. Additionally, the North Carolina pistol purchase permit is no longer considered an approved NICS alternate permit.
Accordingly, effective March 29, 2023 , North Carolina pistol purchase permits – regardless of when issued – may not be used as an alternative to the NICS background check requirement.
North Carolina’s concealed handgun permits are unaffected by Senate Bill 41 and will continue to serve as an alternative to a NICS check requirement. Please contact your local ATF office if you have additional questions.
I wrote last week that Montgomery Community College was holding a Firearm Business Conference. I had planned to attend virtually using Zoom. Due to some technical difficulties, I wasn’t able to catch everything. However, all sessions were recorded and now are up on YouTube.
One session that really caught my eye was on the zero tolerance inspection policy demanded by the Biden Administration. It was taught by Judy Ladeaux of NSSF. Prior to joining NSSF, she was the Director of Industry Operations in the ATF’s Columbus Field Division.
One interesting topic that came up around the 10 minute mark of the video below was where a state-issued CCW permit substitutes for a NICS check. As she made clear, a purchaser may still be in possession of a revoked CCW permit while being a prohibited person. That can very well be caught during the compliance inspection. While it will not be considered “willful” and result in a revocation of your FFL, it will still be a black mark. She said she had suggested to many FFLs while still with ATF that they could require a NICS check on all sales regardless of a CCW.
Listening to her you really get a feeling for just how nit-picky that Industry Operations Inspectors have been forced to become. While the goal is to make every firearm traceable – including your Polymer 80 type frames – the absurdity of it is that it only goes to the original purchaser in most cases. Firearms can change hands privately in most states without another background check. There is nothing requiring the seller to even get the buyer’s name, address, etc. Now I think you and I might think that would be a good idea to cover our asses but it usually isn’t required unless you live in an Un-Free State.
The last 10 minutes of the session are spent on the things that will get your FFL yanked by ATF and especially the “five deadly sins”.
For those of us who are not dealers, this is good background information. For those that hold a FFL, I would study this video and watch it multiple times. It could be that your livelihood depends upon it.
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