Second Amendment Fans Cheer Patel’s Appointment As Head of ATF

Newly sworn-in FBI head Kash Patel will be doing double duty in Washington, D.C., at least for a little while. News broke over the weekend that President Donald Trump has tapped Patel to also serve as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; a highly unusual move, but one that’s drawn cheers from many 2A organizations. 

Kash Patel is a patriot who understands that the Second Amendment right of the People to keep and bear arms SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED. 🇺🇸 🔫 https://t.co/PVUr841EHx

— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) February 23, 2025

The entire gun industry hearing the news about Kash Patel as ATF Director: pic.twitter.com/s0nfkgtJvG

— SAF (@2AFDN) February 23, 2025

It’s not just the gun industry who’s cheering (and to be fair, while I’m sure most firearms executives are thrilled by the news, they’re also still concerned about the Trump administration’s current freeze on firearm export licenses). Gun owners should be celebrating the news of Patel’s appointment as well. 

GOA was an early an ardent supporter of Patel’s nomination as FBI director, in large part because of his outspoken support for the Second Amendment and his recognition that the D.C. power structure had been weaponized against gun owners under the Biden administration. Patel was one of the speakers at the GOA Leadership Summit in Knoxville last summer, and blasted the DOJ for its steady incursion on our right to keep and bear arms. 

“So, what about the law? I thought we acted here on the law.”

“ATF & so many other organizations… strip away your rights little, by little, by little, by little. None of it is the law!” 🔥

– @Kash_Patel https://t.co/PVUr8416RZ pic.twitter.com/rUZ6KLBePD

— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) February 23, 2025

“The counter mandate that we have is the force of the Founding Fathers in the 2nd Amendment.”

“That is more powerful than any regulation these entities can come up with. But if you let ATF continue to chip away, they will completely take it away FOREVER.”

– @Kash_Patel 🔫🇺🇸 https://t.co/TijQnt0qqQ pic.twitter.com/eOENpAmrR6

— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) February 23, 2025

Contrast that with the utterings of former AFT agent-turned-gun control activist David Chipman, who was the Biden’s first choice to head the ATF, or Steve Dettelbach, the man who was ultimately confirmed as ATF director. Neither dared utter a critical word of the agency and its abuses, and Dettelbach was happy to oversee and implement the Biden administration’s continuous attacks on the firearms industry and the tens of millions of lawful gun owners around the country. 

Another reason to celebrate Patel’s nomination is the absolute butthurt expressed by the gun control lobby in the wake of his confirmation to the FBI. 

Kash Patel is wholly unfit to lead the nation’s top law enforcement agency. We’ll do everything we can to hold him accountable and keep Americans safe.

— GIFFORDS (@GIFFORDS_org) February 20, 2025

Gun extremists back Kash Patel’s nomination for FBI Director because he’ll prioritize the gun lobby’s agenda and use his position to go after Trump’s adversaries.

Believe that if confirmed, he will. Text FBI to 644-33 to tell your senators to block his confirmation. pic.twitter.com/yaTonwcTlW

— Everytown (@Everytown) February 11, 2025

If they were that unhappy about Patel heading up the FBI, imagine the seething that’s taking place at Giffords, Everytown, and Brady after seeing him appointed as interim ATF director. 

With Patel at the helm, even on an interim basis, those attacks should come to a screeching halt. And with Attorney General Pam Bondi acknowledging over the weekend that the ATF had been zealously targeting gun owners and declaring those days at an end, it certainly sounds like she’ll be recommending the immediate repeal of every one of Biden’s executive actions on firearms. 

👀 WATCH: Pam Bondi chastises ATF and celebrates the firing of former Chief Counsel Pamela Hicks. ⁰⁰“These people were targeting gun owners. Not going to happen under this administration,” the Attorney General says. pic.twitter.com/0sXm2RggSG

— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) February 22, 2025

It will take time to formally undo the ATF rules put in place over the past four years, but there’s nothing stopping Patel and Bondi from deciding not to enforce the rules treating pistols with braces as short barreled rifles and any gun owner interested in selling a firearm from their private collection as an unlicensed gun dealer in the meantime. I don’t know if Patel will dismantle the ATF itself, but the agency’s attacks on lawful gun owners and the firearms industry are clearly in his crosshairs.