ATF director Dettelbach defends stabilizing brace rule, more at congressional hearing
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The head of the nation’s gun regulation agency defended policies to crack down on gun dealers and a new prohibition on stabilizing brace devices Wednesday at a Capitol hearing.
GOP members at the House Judiciary hearing hammered Steven Dettelbach, director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms on what they called inconsistent previous guidance on the braces that are due to become illegal to possess without a license June 1.
“You told them one thing 10 years ago and now you’re telling them something else,” Republican Chairman Jim Jordan said, decrying that owners of the pistol brace devices will become felons overnight.
Dettelbach defended the new rules, signed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, and cautioned that unwitting violators likely wouldn’t face prosecution and the 10-year prison penalty given prosecutor priorities.
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When does the pistol brace rule start?
After the June 1 deadline, millions of braces, which effectively allows a pistol to operate as a short-barreled rifle, will need to be detached, registered or destroyed.
The rules have already been challenged in court, and a similar ban on bump stocks were handed a blow by a federal appeals court Tuesday. Other appeals courts have upheld the bans in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Critics question crackdown on gun shops
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. read a letter from a constituent he says held a Federal Firearms License for 46 years before being revoked recently for selling to a prohibited purchaser. The licensee says he relied on Florida’s background check system that gave the sale a go-ahead.
“Why should you be able to destroy the livelihood of my constituent?” Gaetz asked.
Dettelbach defended the new ‘zero tolerance’ policy under President Biden that encourages ATF to revoke licenses for willful or repeat violations.
“Congress has given us the authority to inspect and make sure firearm dealers are compliant, and the vast majority are,” Dettelbach said. “A very small minority of those dealers after due process have been revoked.”
New data released from ATF shows the 92 licenses revoked in 2022 was the highest rate since 2006.
Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis. asked if the crackdown has resulted in a reduction in crime.
“There are lots of causes of gun crime, it’s impossible to say any one of them is the silver bullet, but it doesn’t mean you don’t work on all of them to address the issue,” Dettelbach said.
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OIG report slams gun shop FFL inspections
Last week, the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General issued an audit of ATF’s gun shop inspection program criticizing what it called “inconsistent” application of penalties that didn’t always follow policy.
It noted that in 98 percent of inspections with at least one revocable violation, like selling to a prohibited purchaser, did not result in revocation.
“We believe that ATF is at risk of fostering the perception among FFLs that certain violations are tolerated, that FFLs will not be held accountable for compliance with federal firearms laws, or that ATF’s use of administrative actions is unpredictable or unfair,” the report states.
Auditors found more than 2,200 active gun shops that hadn’t been inspected for more than a decade — well outside the goal of every three years. It also questioned the effectiveness of a “top 100” list of shops that receive extra inspection scrutiny.
ATF officials pushed back on the OIG findings, but ultimately pledged to implement fixes in many areas.
Nick Penzenstadler is a reporter on the USA TODAY investigations team. Contact him at npenz@usatoday.com or @npenzenstadler, or on Signal at (720) 507-5273.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: At ATF congressional hearing Dettelbach defends pistol brace rules
