BELLEVUE, WA – The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms hailing a series of policy changes by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives which were announced with this statement: “This is not the same ATF of the last four years.”
“We are delighted at what looks like a full reversal of ATF policies initiated under the Biden administration,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Under Biden, gun owners and the firearms industry were treated like enemies of the state. The policy shift promises to rebuild trust with licensed dealers, gun owners and the public at large, which were essentially tossed aside by the extremely anti-Second Amendment Biden administration.”
According to the ATF announcement, the agency is ending what the Biden administration deceptively called an “Enhanced Regulatory Enforcement Policy” which targeted firearms dealers with the object of revoking as many licenses as possible. The new policy will emphasize firearms traceability and public safety, and encourage those dealers whose licenses were revoked or who surrendered them under the Biden policy to reapply. Immaterial paperwork errors will be deemphasized. Revoked FFL inspection reports will be removed from the ATF’s public website. The Form 4473 will be updated and simplified to make it more user friendly for both gun buyers and licensed retailers.
“Our initial impression is ‘Wow,’” Gottlieb stated. “Clearly, with this announcement, the ATF appears determined to shed its reputation for heavy-handedness as it emerges from the Biden administration’s cloud of anti-gun-rights demagoguery. Our hope is that the agency seriously follows through on these much-needed reforms and stops treating gun owners, casual collectors and gun show enthusiasts like criminals. We also hope the agency can weed out those individuals who seemed far too eager to carry out the draconian policies enacted under the previous administration.
“We are also encouraged by ATF’s a creation of a ‘Senior Industry Partnership Advisor/Liaison’ whose task will be to work with the firearms industry and address its various concerns,” he added. “Quite simply, this is a policy shift from night to day and a clear rejection of the anti-gun policies initiated by Joe Biden and his handlers which amounted to a four-year civil war between a weaponized government and the Second Amendment community.”