In a bold two-fer seemingly designed to undo years of gun violence prevention progress, President Donald Trump named newly confirmed FBI Chief Kash Patel acting head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Patel—who in his confirmation hearings for the FBI job pointedly declined to say that background checks on gun sales (which he now oversees) are constitutional—now has the power to weaken structures in place to prevent illegal gun sales and other measures to reduce gun violence. Patel has been widely panned as a hardcore Trump loyalist who was chosen primarily to keep the FBI from interfering with Trump’s agenda.
GVP groups decried the move. Brady President Kris Brown said, “If the top goal of this Administration is to keep Americans safe and prosecute violent criminals, then this choice is even more incomprehensible. Kash Patel isn’t qualified to run either of these agencies, let alone both at the same time.”
