Home » CO Ceasefire News: ATF Faces Trumpy Future, Springs Cops Say Lock up Guns in Cars

CO Ceasefire News: ATF Faces Trumpy Future, Springs Cops Say Lock up Guns in Cars

Hart Van Denburg/CPR News

Trump Election Leaves Questions for ATF

After pursuing an aggressive gun control agenda under President Biden, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives faces an uncertain future under Donald Trump.

The New York Times reported that Trump is likely to choose a gun rights proponent as ATF director, or simply leave the job vacant, leaving the bureau rudderless and vulnerable. But the biggest threat may come from the Republican-controlled Congress, which is threatening to cut the agency’s budget.

Recently the agency, under Biden-appointed director Steven M. Dettelbach, has set rules to curb the proliferation of ghost guns, clamped down on devices that make firearms fully automatic, and regulated unlicensed firearms sellers who operate at gun shows or online.

“People who don’t think that law enforcement, including A.T.F., has anything to do with driving down violent crime are just wrong—it didn’t happen by accident,” Dettlebach told the paper. “What I am concerned about is that people will take their eye off the ball, that they’ll either get complacent or political, or some combination of those things. That will result in more people getting killed.”

Springs Police: Guns Stolen from Cars Nearly Every Day

Colorado Springs Police told KKTV that a gun is stolen from a car in their city ‘just about every day,’ and that this year they have investigated more than 320 reports of stolen guns from cars.

Starting January 1, 2025 firearms must be secure and hidden in parked vehicles. For rifles, a soft case can be used, but there also has to be a locking device on the gun itself. Improper storage could result in a citation and fine of up to $100.

“It is staggering just how many people are leaving their guns inside their cars,” Ira Cronin, Public Information Officer with Colorado Springs Police Department, told the station. “This is a crime of easy opportunity. Kids–we are mostly finding juveniles committing these crimes, but really anyone can burglarize a car.”

Ceasefire Visits Pinnacle

Upon request by the students from Pinnacle Charter School in Northglenn, on Dec. 17 Colorado Ceasefire returned to host another gun violence prevention workshop and help students explore what they can do to prevent gun violence in their homes and communities. Following the workshop, 100% of students reported that they have a better understanding of gun violence and what can be done to stop it, and 74% said they are more willing to take personal action to reduce gun violence.

Report: For Decades, NRA Ran Interference for ‘Bad Actors’ on Guns

A new, blockbuster report from The Smoking Gun details the National Rifle Association’s public and backroom efforts in the 1990s and 2000s to protect bad actors in the gun industry from legal accountability.

Documents from the congressional archives of current NRA President and then- U.S. Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.), show the group’s efforts to protect gun manufacturers and dealers from dozens of municipal lawsuits by ushering in sweeping federal immunity, as well as its swift reaction against a gun company that dared to reform its business practices.

More than 30 U.S. cities in the late 1990s brought lawsuits against gun manufacturers and dealers for their role in fueling America’s gun violence, stating that ‘the industry is negligent in failing to include various safety devices on handguns’ and ‘knowingly produces more firearms than can be absorbed by the lawful stream of commerce.’ The lawsuits were ultimately rendered moot by the passage of the largely NRA-authored Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) in 2005.

The NRA also chose to make an example of firearms maker Smith & Wesson after the company agreed to implement a ‘code of conduct’ for its dealers, keep better track of its inventory, refuse to sell firearms at gun shows where background checks weren’t conducted, and develop smart guns, among several other safety initiatives.

The NRA immediately called Smith & Wesson “the first to run up the white flag of surrender…leaving its competitors in the U.S. firearms industry to carry on the fight for the Second Amendment.” By September 2000, an NRA- backed boycott had nearly bankrupted Smith & Wesson, forcing its CEO to resign and its owners to sell the company for $15 million, a fraction of its purchase price.
Read the whole Smoking Gun article here. It’s a long one but well worth the time.

New Report Outlines Survivor Experiences with Firearms

The National Domestic Violence Hotline and the Battered Women’s Justice Project have released an updated report detailing experiences among victims and survivors of domestic violence in which firearms have been used.

The report touches on a variety of issues, including how often victims and survivors of domestic violence experience firearm threats and violence, barriers they might face while seeking help, and if they sought (or attempted to seek) a domestic violence protection order or an extreme risk protection order.

Key findings from the survey include:

• 48% of women, 30% of men, and 38% of transgender and non-conforming respondents indicated they have been threatened, coerced, stalked, or otherwise harmed by firearms;

• For all gender categories among survivors, the most common person an abuser threatened was the survivor and themselves (suicide);

• A current or former partner’s access to firearms influenced the majority of the survivors’ decisions to seek help or continue the relationship;

• Survivors experienced a variety of barriers in using legal options to stop a partner from having or getting firearms.

“Understanding the impact that firearms have in abusive relationships is critical to saving lives,” said National Domestic Violence Hotline CEO Katie Ray-Jones. “Firearms are the most common weapons used in domestic violence homicides. What we often fail to grasp, however, are the ways in which those who cause harm use firearms to control their victims and stop them from seeking safety. Through this research, which captures the non-lethal ways in which firearms are used to cause harm, we can understand how we can intervene and better support survivors before it’s too late.”

A Big Colorado Gives Day Thank You!

We are thrilled to announce that your generosity on Colorado Gives Day helped Colorado Ceasefire raise over $30,000! Your support for Colorado Ceasefire truly makes an impact—helping us support the fight against gun violence and the work to help keep our communities safe every day. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for taking action to join this statewide movement and create lasting change. And if you haven’t donated yet, you still can at the link above!

We hope you find this newsletter valuable. If you are interested in the news you see here and want to get involved, please consider volunteering!

And remember that the 2025 Colorado Legislature convenes Jan. 8. Your voice can help make sure our lawmakers know that the majority of Coloradans support common-sense gun violence prevention laws, so please subscribe and pass this news along to anyone else you think may be interested, either as a link or by cutting and pasting into your own newsletter (if forwarding, please take out the ‘unsubscribe’ message at the bottom first!)–this is how the movement grows. And remember, when we fight, we win!