We’ve recently reported how many gun owners and gun-rights groups are urging President Donald Trump to eliminate the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Now, the agency has provided yet president another reason to consider that action.
A federal lawmaker is accusing ATF leaders of attempting to circumvent President Trump’s executive order to ban diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. According to a report from thenationaldesk.com, U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Missouri, stated that the ATF changed a job title to skirt the ban instead of eliminating a DEI position within the agency as directed by the president.
According to Burlison, that is yet another reason the agency should be eliminated, rather than reformed as some suggest.
“The ATF defied @realDonaldTrump’s order to place DEI workers on leave, instead giving their DEI officer a new title,” Burlison wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “They attack citizens’ rights, ignore leadership and act as though they’re above the law. Enough is enough. Time to abolish the ATF!”
Burlison has long criticized the agency that President Joe Biden has weaponized against lawful gun owners, manufacturers and retailers. Earlier this month, he introduced a bill in Congress to abolish the agency.
“The ATF is emblematic of the deep-state bureaucracy that believes it can infringe on constitutional liberties without consequence,” Burlison said in a press release announcing the measure. “If this agency cannot uphold its duty to serve the people within the framework of the Constitution, it has no place in our government.”
The DEI executive order was among several signed by President Trump on the first day of his presidency. It mandated that all federal government agencies close their DEI offices immediately.
“The Biden Administration forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI), into virtually all aspects of the Federal Government, in areas ranging from airline safety to the military,” the executive order stated. “That ends today. Americans deserve a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect and to expending precious taxpayer resources only on making America great.”
Rep. Burlison’s accusations center on ATF Chief Diversity Officer Lisa Boykin. As stated in the TNND report, her job title was recently altered to “Senior Executive” without any explanation for the change.
While President Trump has been very busy during his first week in office, aside from shuttering the White House Office on Gun Violence Prevention, actions on guns and gun rights have been mostly nonexistent. It will be interesting to see what he decides to do about the ATF, which he has also been critical of in the past.
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