Joe Biden announced Monday, April 11, a new crack-down on so-called ghost guns, effectively ending the sale of DIY firearm kits built upon 80% frames and receivers. After much fanfare, he also nominated former federal prosecutor Steve Dettelbach to lead the ATF.
Vice President Kamala Harris, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, school-shooting survivor Mia Tretta, and then President Biden all painted homemade firearms as the root – or, at least, one of the roots – of violence in America. After thanking his guests, Biden was quick to boast about using his power as president to order the attorney general to write regulation after he failed to convince Congress to pass an actual law banning firearms kits. He then showed such a kit, and announced that, as of today, it is illegal for a business to manufacture one without a serial number and illegal for a licensed dealer to sell one without a background check. Liberty Nation reported on the rule change when it was first proposed, but today’s speech marks the actual implementation. Now, it’s official.
This rule, the president explains, is only part of the administration’s strategy to “prevent gun violence.” In addition to “today’s rule,” Biden said he’s working on four other approaches. First, the administration is going after illegal gun dealers. Second, they’re aiming to disrupt firearms trafficking by shutting down interstate weapons corridors. Third, the administration plans to fund anti-crime police programs and other community safety programs. Finally, he called for more funding for community policing and pressured Congress to pass universal background checks and another assault rifle ban.
Steve Dettelbach (Photo by Angelo Merendino/Getty Images)
After a good deal of virtue signaling by discussing school shootings and repeating what has clearly become his boilerplate of inaccurate firearms facts – like deer wearing Kevlar and how early Americans couldn’t buy cannons – Biden announced his second nominee to lead the ATF: Steve Dettelbach.
Dettelbach then took the stage and thanked the president and the men and women of the ATF. He talked about his admiration for the agents and how they deserve better support than what the agency has received in the past. He finished up by pointing to his own history of working closely with the ATF over his career as a prosecutor. Dettelbach was nominated to be a US attorney by President Barack Obama, who was his roommate at Harvard, in 2009. Dettelbach, who has openly supported the idea of having another assault weapon ban in the past, is believed by the administration to be an easier sell to Republicans and pro-gun Democrats in the Senate than the previous nominee, David Chipman, who failed to impress due largely to his activist background.
