Kash Patel, who President Donald Trump recently swore in as the Senate-confirmed Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), has also been appointed Monday as the Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Acting Director Patel will likely view members of the firearms industry, including licensed retailers, as ATF’s partners on the front lines of keeping firearms out of the wrong hands, combatting illegal firearms trafficking, and preventing violent crime involving the misuse of firearms.
“President Trump nominated Kash Patel as FBI Director for his unswerving dedication to protecting the Constitution and the adherence to the rule of law. Those same traits serve him well as he carries out President Trump’s plan to reform ATF,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “Like the FBI, the ATF was weaponized by the previous administration. In the case of ATF, it was to carry out a radical gun control agenda. President Trump’s appointment of Acting Director Patel to lead the ATF will return the bureau to its proper role as a law enforcement agency laser focused on combatting violent crime and illegal firearms trafficking, and to act as a non-partisan regulator of the firearm industry.”
A featured speaker at Gun Owner of America’s (GOA) inaugural GOALS conference in Knoxville this past August, Patel has consistently demonstrated his dedication to protecting gun rights and defending the Constitution against government overreach.
Tim Macy, chairman of GOA, praised Patel’s confirmation, saying, “Kash Patel’s confirmation is a massive win for gun owners across America.”
Erich Pratt, Senior Vice President of GOA, added, “Kash Patel is a true constitutionalist, and we are confident that he will work to rein in the agency’s abuses.”
NSSF said the firearms industry hopes Acting Director Patel will move quickly, in consultation with Attorney General Pam Bondi, to carry out President Trump’s Protecting Second Amendment Executive Order.
Thirty U.S. senators sent a letter to Deputy Assistant Director Marvin G. Richardson recently imploring him to swiftly roll back the punitive and unconstitutional policies and final rules the Biden administration used to target the lawful firearm industry and gun owners. NSSF strongly supports the senators’ requests and President Trump’s swift action to refocus ATF to its Congressionally mandated role of combatting violent crime.
