For those of you who were iffy about pulling that lever for Donald Trump last fall, here’s more evidence that while he may not be everything everyone would choose in a President (who is?), the tide has decidedly turned in the right direction, gun policy-wise.
Our friends at The Trace (AKA the gift that keeps on giving…thanks, Mike!) report that…
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is polling outside interest groups about what gun regulations to eliminate following an edict from the Trump administration to cut government red tape.
In three closed-door meetings held in May and June, top ATF officials separately asked firearms-industry leaders, law enforcement officials, and representatives from gun-violence prevention groups what current regulations could be eliminated without risking public safety, according to attendees who went to one or more of the meetings.
Did you get that? A government agency — the one that regulates firearms, no less — is asking how it can eliminate regulations currently on the books. Is there anyone who thinks that anything remotely similar would have happened under President Pantsuit?
Maybe the swamp draining hasn’t progressed quite as quickly as many of us would like, but it’s clearly a new day in D.C. (to mix metaphors). As The Trace notes,
Firearms-industry officials have long complained about what they call needless regulations enforced by the ATF, which oversees firearm manufactures and dealers, operates the national gun-tracing center, and enforces federal gun laws.
In January, Ronald Turk, the agency’s associate deputy director and chief operating officer, wrote a controversial white paper suggesting that the bureau “review” more than two dozen regulations, including restrictions on the sale of silencers and armor-piercing bullets, and a ban on the import of some foreign-made rifles.
Reading between the lines, The Trace’s “gun-violence prevention group” moles who were there were clearly uncomfortable with the tenor of the meeting.
According to two people present at the ATF meeting with gun-violence prevention groups, people present expressed concern about Turk’s white paper, which quoted the Second Amendment on its title page. They asked whether its tone indicated that the firearms industry has too much influence at the ATF.
OMG! A government official including part of the Bill of Rights in policy paper! The temerity! OMG!
In any case, let’s assume that you had a seat at the table among that Star Wars bar scene collection of lobbyists, regulators and activists. When the discussion made its way around to you, what would you have said? Which current regulations would you have told them to eighty-six?