More Changes in Store at ATF as Deputy Director Announces Retirement

To say there’s a great deal of confusion surrounding the ATF leadership at the moment is an understatement. What we know for sure is that Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll is also serving as Acting ATF Director, replacing FBI Director Kash Patel, who was named as Acting Director back in February. 

When news broke of Driscoll’s appointment on Wednesday, the assumption was that was a fairly recent change, but NBC News is reporting that Patel hasn’t been involved with the ATF for some time. 

I’m now told the Patel was only the acting ATF Director for a very short time, perhaps just a day. And Driscoll was appointed the acting when Kash was removed. An official said it had nothing to do with job performance. Unclear why they never announced this. https://t.co/GrJg8tHQjP

— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) April 9, 2025

On today’s Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co, National Shooting Sports Foundation senior vice president and general counsel Larry Keane also revealed that Deputy ATF Director Marvin Richardson announced his retirement to agency employees early today; a move hinted at by retired deputy assistant director Pete Forcelli earlier in the week on Cam & Co. 

According to Keane, a number of other ATF officials in senior leadership have accepted the Trump administration’s offer of early retirement for federal employees, though how many employees are heading for the exit is still unclear at this time. 

Richardson, who’s been with the ATF for more than 35 years, was named Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer during the first Trump administration back in 2019, and served as the Acting Director in 2021 and 2022, when Steve Dettelbach was confirmed as permanent director. Richardson has been essentially serving as the day-to-day head of the agency since Dettelbach’s departure at the start of Trump’s second term, but Forcelli told Bearing Arms earlier this week that he had lost the confidence of many field agents, who were preparing to make their criticisms public. 

With Driscoll pulling double duty as Secretary of the Army and Acting Director of the ATF and Richardson getting ready to retire, there are several big questions for the Trump administration to address. Presumably, Driscoll’s primary role in the Trump administration will be overseeing the U.S. Army, and while he might be a regular presence at ATF headquarters, someone is still going to have to handle the day-to-day functions of the agency. Will Driscoll get to name his number two, or will that fall to Attorney General Pam Bondi or even President Trump himself? 

Another question is whether the departure of senior officials like Richardson and others will speed up the process of repealing the agency rules put in place under Biden, or lead to further delays in undoing the anti-gun actions taken by the previous administration. During his campaign, Trump promised to undo those measures early on, and the ATF announced earlier this week that the ATF’s rule treating most brace-equipped pistols as short barreled rifles and its “engaged in the business” rule that treats most private gun sellers as unlicensed gun dealers were under review with an eye toward repeal, but no timeline for the completion of the review and potential repeal has been announced. 

Finally, who, exactly, will fill the shoes of those other top officials who are retiring? Will current employees be promoted from within, or will the Trump administration look outside the ATF for their replacements? If the ATF is going to undergo major internal reforms it would be helpful if there were some outsiders brought into the fold, including members of the firearms industry and 2A community, and the departure of senior leadership like Richardson and others is the perfect opportunity to do so. Hopefully the Trump administration will bring in some fresh faces to help rein in the ATF and return it to its primary mission of combatting gun trafficking instead of waging attacks on gun makers and gun owners alike.