ATF’s Plan to Ban Private Gun Sales Sparks Whistleblower Outrage

2nd Amendment – R2KBA This Week
President Biden
President Biden in Monterey Park, CA on March 14, 2023. (Photo: WhiteHouse.gov)

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

In a surprising reveal, whistleblowers within the ATF have exposed a controversial maneuver. The Bureau is reportedly drafting a hefty 1,300-page document to ban private gun sales, a move that’s raising eyebrows and concerns alike.

Empower Oversight, a watchdog group, is leading the charge against this development. They’ve discovered that Eric Epstein, a senior figure at the ATF with a history in Operation Wide Receiver, is overseeing this project.

Tristan Leavitt, EO’s president, is sounding the alarm. He’s worried that this move will drag ATF agents into a legal gray area, pitting them against citizens in private sale situations protected by the 2A.

“The fact that inside ATF sources are blowing the whistle on this draft rule is an indication of what a difficult position it would put the ATF in,” he said.

“ATF agents did not sign up to go after law-abiding citizens for private sales protected under the Second Amendment of the Constitution,” Leavitt continued.

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The plot thickens with a letter from Empower Oversight to Attorney General Merrick Garland and ATF Director Steven Dettelbach.

The letter argues that treating private citizens like federal firearms licensees oversteps constitutional boundaries. It also warns of potential violations of the Second Amendment. It reads, in part:

Such an expansive rule that treats all private citizens the same as federal firearms licensees would circumvent the separation of powers in the Constitution, which grants ‘all legislative Powers’ to Congress while requiring that the President ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.’  To the extent such a rule prevents the private sale of firearms, it would also clearly violate the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which declares that ‘the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Empower Oversight isn’t just talking the talk; they’re walking the walk. They’ve filed a Freedom of Information Act request digging into Executive Order 14092 and its role in regulating or banning private firearm sales.

Here’s EO’s records request :

In order to shed light on the drafting of this unconstitutional measure, Empower Oversight requests the following records, for the period from January 1, 2023 to the present, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552:

  • All emails to or from ATF Senior Policy Counsel Eric Epstein which include the terms “ban,” “private sale,” “universal background,” and “gun control.”
  • Any and all records containing communications between DOJ and ATF regarding the implementation of Executive Order 14092.
  • Any and all records containing communications between DOJ or ATF and the White House regarding the development and/or implementation of Executive Order 14092.
  • Any and all records containing communications between DOJ and ATF referring or relating to regulating or banning the sale of firearms between private individuals.
  • Any and all records containing communications between DOJ or ATF and the White House referring or relating to regulating or banning the sale of firearms between private individuals.

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This development could be a turning point in the ongoing debate over gun control and constitutional rights. Empower Oversight is pushing back hard, determined to keep the public informed and the government in check.

For more details and to read the full letter and FOIA request, you can check out their website.

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  • Clint W. February 9, 2024, 8:32 pm

    Bloated, office chair riding bureaucrats, have the power to make up rules and regulations that are applied to the citizens, and this is a direct violation of the Constitution, and the allocation of power. Only the Legislative Branch can make propose and make laws, and if we don’t like it, we vote them out. How do you vote out a fatboy in a wheeled Lazyboy , making a heck of a lot more money than you or me, who thinks up things like how many MPG a motor should get, or move the HD Sportster shifter from the right side to the left because all the import bikes were that way, or make rules that shut down the only lead smelter left in the country? You can’t, and a whistleblower lets us know what things are in the pike we normally would not know until enactment. It is the ATF, but it is also the Copngressman who gave up their power to Departments like the ATF and allow them to write rules and regulations as binding as a law. Write your Congressman and complain, and keep writing. Use email, as any letter will be examined for safety, and it is questionable if a letter really makes it to ist destination. Keep you H of R guy and your 2 Senators emails as favorites, write a letter to one, be nice, know your facts, then copy and paste to the other 2. Next to pitchforks and burning faggots, and we saw what happened when that was tried on 1/6, that is all we have…for now.

  • Spankey February 9, 2024, 7:52 pm

    Here we go again. Thank you sir, may I have another? The ATF thinks themselves another legislative branch of government, and has to get spanked yet again to relearn that lesson.

  • Richard February 9, 2024, 6:59 pm

    F the ATF. They can pound sand.

  • jon February 9, 2024, 2:25 pm

    What is the status of the definitions that if you rent a table at a gun show you have to have an ffl

  • Dexter Winslett February 9, 2024, 11:40 am

    Our government is illegal and needs to be destroyed. Every Gestapo storm trooper should be a target. Water the tree or the Republic is gone.

    • SG February 9, 2024, 1:31 pm

      Just wanted to let you know our government is the republic…Also who and where are these gestapo storm troopers? Genuinely curious on your response to that question, I actually would like a reply and to help get the word out.

      • Chum Lee February 9, 2024, 7:54 pm

        To whom are you a subject?

  • paul I'll call you what I want/1st Amendment February 8, 2024, 5:44 pm

    mien furor biden and his generals

    • Goebblz the turkey February 9, 2024, 5:39 pm

      lol look up the definition of fascism then compare it to the policies of the Grand Orange Party.

      • paul I'll call you what I want/1st Amendment February 9, 2024, 6:50 pm

        let me see……telling people how to think
        knowing whats best for others
        controlling all aspects of people lives
        putting oneself on the level of a god
        reading minds and predicting the future
        and just good old plain lying
        is what your party and ilk are doing for sure!!!

        • Reasonable Gun Owner February 10, 2024, 8:06 am

          All aspects??? Go live in Afghanistan bro…GTFO of here with your no freedom bullshit. You own guns right? You get to travel wherever you want in the US right? No ones treading on you sweetie. The people elect people to represent them in this country, your views just probably are too stupid to convince enough people your way is the best way.

          • paul I'll call you what I want/1st Amendment February 10, 2024, 11:18 am

            you are proving my point here. you will find everything i say and do as wrong since it doesn’t go with that you want and will attack me over that. for me i don’t give a rats ass what you think or do since you are brain dead commie minion…….so scurry off back to the rock you oozed out from!
            P.S. leave the children out of your cause and let them be children!!!

      • Chum Lee February 9, 2024, 7:57 pm

        Would that be the New Libtard Collegiate Dictionary definition, revised yesterday? Or you want to go with Benito Mussolini’s definition (which probably hits pretty close to home for you)?

      • Hondo February 10, 2024, 9:58 am

        What a imbecilic statement, you should be embarrassed to be this dumb.

      • Hondo February 11, 2024, 4:26 pm

        Idiot

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