Since his last nominee for Director of the ATF was a disaster, President Biden announces a new option. And, since he was already on the topic of the ATF, why not sprinkle in more gun-grabbing rhetoric? So, while announcing his latest nominee, he also promised further restrictions on so-called “ghost guns.”

President Biden Announces a New ATF Nominee

I’m sure we all remember David Chipman. He was Biden’s first failed attempt at placing a gun-control advocate as the Director of the ATF. However, he couldn’t even make it past moderate Democrats in the Senate due to conflicts of interest. But, not surprising, Biden did not take the loss as a sign, he is back with Chipman 2.0.

Next on his list of gun grabbers to head the ATF is U.S. Attorney Steve Dettelbach.

According to the White House press release, “Dettelbach is a highly respected former U.S. Attorney and career prosecutor who spent over two decades as a prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice.”

However, he might not be quite as popular with U.S. citizens as he is with D.C. anti-gun politicians. As it turns out Dettelbach had an unsuccessful run for public office.

In a story from CNN, “Dettelbach ran unsuccessfully for Ohio attorney general in 2018 after serving as US attorney in the state.”

Democrats sure do love to find ways to push through people that U.S. citizens do not like, don’t they? If the people won’t vote for them, they will just appoint them to high power positions. So much for democracy.

Is Dettelbach a Gun Grabber? Yes. Yes, He Is.

If you are familiar with Dettelbach you probably already have a list of things to not like about him. There are plenty of reasons to be concerned about his nomination. But if you need more, try reading his op-ed “Requiring Universal Background Checks Makes Sense.”

Also, Gun Owners of America compiled a list of his 2018 campaign promises, including a host of gun control initiatives:

• An Assault Weapons Ban
• Universal Background Registration Checks
• Gun confiscation for misdemeanor crimes
• Gun confiscation for those dealing with mental health issues
• “[C]losing” the made up “over the Internet” and fake “gun show loophole[s]”
• Disarming teachers and keeping schools as “soft targets”

Also, according to GOA, “In fact, this US attorney heavily weighed in on the Manchin-Toomey gun control proposal in 2013, condemning ‘[t]he Senate’s failure… to pass the universal background check bill’ as ‘disheartening.’”

Although the GOA story reports that Dettelbach stated in the 2013 op-ed mentioned above that federal gun registries are illegal, I won’t hold my breath for him to uphold that.

Ghost Gun Busters

Like bad political theater, Biden once again breaks out the hyperbole to target ghost guns. The administration states that the U.S. Department of Justice issued a final rule to rein in the proliferation of “ghost guns.”

In the White House press release, “Last year alone, there were approximately 20,000 suspected ghost guns reported to ATF as having been recovered by law enforcement in criminal investigations – a ten-fold increase from 2016.”

However, according to a December 2021 report from the OIG (Office of the Inspector General), “ATF reports that only a limited number of 3-D printed firearms have been used in crimes.”

I can’t imagine anyone thinking that 20,000 of anything is a “limited amount.” So, that number seems inflated. Not too surprising though, inflation is something the Biden administration knows a lot about.

While some could argue that “20,000” comes from the number of firearms reported by Law Enforcement involved in a criminal investigation, while the OIG report lists firearms used in crimes, the OIG report further clarifies:

“ATF monitoring of 3-D printed firearm technology has been primarily based on those firearms seized or recovered during criminal investigations. As a result, ATF does not have standardized procedures to guide how it proactively identifies and evaluates 3-D printed firearms, and to ensure proactive monitoring of this evolving technology.”

But nevertheless, the new initiative will require the serializing of so-called “ghost gun” frames and receivers.

So, in short, if you are willing to break the law you can easily make an unregistered gun. But if you are unwilling to break the law, yours will have a serial number and will be traceable. Just Democrats continuing to make life harder for law-abiding gun owners and easier for criminals.

The NSSF Responds

A recent press release from the NSSF (National Shooting Sports Foundation) addresses the announcement. The press release reads, in full:

NEWTOWN, Conn. — NSSF, the firearm industry trade association, listened with keen interest to President Joe Biden’s nomination of Steve Dettelbach for Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

NSSF has long-advocated that the ATF needs a U.S. Senate-confirmed director, and that person must be an individual who will faithfully execute the duties of regulating the firearm industry in accordance with established laws and regulations.

Any nominee for this position of public trust, that has direct oversight of how law-abiding Americans are able to exercise their Second Amendment rights, must be a person wedded to the rule of law, and one that will not politicize the ATF to advance a partisan gun control agenda that exceeds what is established in law by the U.S. Congress.

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.

A Promise to Monitor Gun Control Orders

NSSF is also closely monitoring the submission of the Final Rule by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to redefine frames and receivers, which would significantly alter the sale and possession of not only personally-made firearms (PFMs) but numerous other types and models as well.

NSSF will review the Final Rule carefully to see if DOJ listened and took into consideration the industry’s comments that were submitted. As proposed, this rule radically alters the manufacturing and compliance processes for manufacturers of traditional firearms, not just the making of incomplete, unfinished parts Congress has not chosen to regulate.

I wonder if more copy would help to improve the passive voice issue. Maybe if I add enough of it I can