In the last fiscal year, 122 gun dealers had their licenses taken away because of the ATF’s “zero tolerance” policy, which some think is part of a plan to go after the gun industry and chip away at the Second Amendment. Republican Sen. Joni Ernst is asking the Biden administration to keep an eye on this.
“On November 7, 2022, we sent you a letter asking for more information about the so-called ‘zero-tolerance’ policy, which says that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) can revoke a Federal Firearms License (FFL) for a single ‘willful’ violation of the law,” Ernst wrote in a letter to the Biden White House on Monday.
“It’s been almost a year, and you still haven’t replied.”
After saying that not responding to calls for oversight “directly undermines our federal government’s system of checks and balances,” Ernst said that the ATF recently asked for a $1.8 billion budget increase, which would pay for 500 more workers.
Ernst wrote, “Some of these employees work for you in the ATF’s Office of Media and Congressional Contacts, and they would be in charge of helping you answer our oversight letter.” “However, your agency has been silent for the last ten months and hasn’t even given us an update on the status of our letter. This makes us wonder if Americans’ tax dollars could be better spent elsewhere.”
Related Posts
In Ernst’s November letter, which Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley also signed, the two senators said they were worried about stories that the Biden administration was seizing a lot of gun licenses, especially in Iowa.
“We are worried that overzealous enforcement of small paperwork mistakes is closing the doors of hardworking businesses and infringing on the Second Amendment,” the letter said. “This includes hardworking businesses all over Iowa.” “Recently, an Iowa FFL in the Des Moines area told us that they had to give up their license because of clerical mistakes that weren’t done on purpose, and we know of another Iowa FFL who is in the process of having their license taken away for the same reason.”
In recent years, many people in the gun business have been upset because hundreds of gun sellers have had their licenses taken away because of mistakes in their papers. They think the Biden government is out to get them.
Anthony Navarro, a gun salesman who lost his license last year after getting three warnings for breaking the law since 2009, told The Wall Street Journal, “We used to make $1 million a year. Now we make less than $100,000.” “This policy is meant to violate the Second Amendment in a sneaky way.”
Last month, an ATF representative told Fox News Digital, “Federal Firearms Licensees are often our first line of defense against gun crime and are often a source of important enforcement information that helps law enforcement find straw buyers and stop firearms trafficking schemes.”
“FFLs that break the law on purpose, on the other hand, must be held responsible. “ATF does inspections to make sure licensees are following all local, state, and federal laws and rules and to teach licensees about the specific requirements of these laws,” the representative said.
The ATF took away the licenses of 122 gun dealers during the last fiscal year. This is up from 90 the year before and 27 in 2021.
During both the Trump and Obama administrations, no more than 81 licenses were taken away.
Ernst told Fox News Digital, “Biden’s ATF has been against gun owners from the beginning.” “Not only have we seen this administration change the law to make it harder for legal gun sellers, but the Biden administration has been cracking down on legal gun dealers for years to push its gun-grabbing agenda, making it hard for small businesses to make a living.”
“Instead of making it easier for dealers to follow the law, Biden’s ATF has made it harder for them to sell guns legally so that it can take away their licenses for small, so-called “violations.” I have stood up for FFL holders against the Biden administration’s abuses many times, and I will continue to do so when it tries to take away our Second Amendment rights. Joe Biden’s ATF has dodged important review for a year, but it will have to answer for what it has done.
The letter asks the Biden administration to answer a number of questions, such as “Please explain the process that must be followed when the ATF sends a revocation letter to an FFL holder” and “Has the Biden administration changed that process?”
The letter also asks the ATF to “provide statistics of FFL holders that are closing/going out of business compared to new FFL holders for FY2022 and FY2023” and to “describe what the ATF considers a “willful violation” compared to a clerical mistake or error when inspecting an FFL.”
