Commentary: Biden Gun Regulations Don’t Affect Mass Shootings

Shooting Range

President Biden is making gun control a central part of his reelection campaign. In a new ad, Biden says that Trump did “nothing” when children were “gunned down in classrooms,” innocent people “killed in church,” and others “massacred at a concert.”

The Biden campaign is referring to shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida; First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas; and an outdoor concert in Las Vegas. In four years, there were 18 mass shootings that occurred in public places and that did not transpire during another crime such as robbery or selling drugs. (A “mass killing” is defined by criminologists as involving four or more fatalities, not counting the shooter.)

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Trump-Appointed Judge Halts Biden ATF Rule Changing Definition of ‘Firearms Dealer’

Gun Show

A Texas judge granted an injunction Tuesday against a new Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rule that changes the definition of a “firearms dealer.”

The ATF rule broadens the definition of “engaged in business” to extend beyond merely a “gunsmith or pawnbroker.” Trump-appointed federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled that the plaintiffs had met the legal standards to be granted an injunction until the lawsuit is resolved.

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Federal Judge Blocks Biden ATF Rule Expanding Gun Background Checks

ATF Agents

A federal judge temporarily blocked a background check rule issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Sunday night.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the rule covering background checks for firearms purchases April 10, claiming it was based on bipartisan legislation passed in the wake of a deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. United States District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas issued a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of the rule until June 2.

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Questions Swirl Around Deadly ATF Raid of Arkansas Home Leaving a Local Airport Administrator Dead

ATF Agents

Newly released videos show federal agents arriving to execute a search warrant on the home of the administrator of a local airport in Little Rock, Arkansas. The raid-gone-wrong in the predawn hours of March 19 ultimately led to the death of the administrator, Bryan Malinowski, after a brief standoff with the agents.

These videos, as well as a search warrant and affidavit previously published, shed light on why an administrator at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport was under investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). According to the ATF he was allegedly selling firearms without the proper licenses—some of which were reportedly used in crimes—and for misrepresenting his purpose on purchase forms.

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Clinton Airport Director Dies After Shootout with Federal Agents Investigating Gun Sales

Bryan Malinowski

The executive director of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport died Thursday after a shootout with federal agents who were investigating the potentially illegal sale of firearms.

Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) attempted to serve a warrant at the Little Rock home of Bryan Malinowski, 53, at 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, ATF and Arkansas State Police told NBC. Malinowski’s family has sought legal counsel and claims the ATF’s actions were not justified.

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Tennessee AG Skrmetti Joins 27-State Coalition Against ATF’s New Gun Sale Registration Rule

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti (R) joined a 27-state coalition of state attorneys general on Monday to oppose the new rule by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) which will require gun owners to conduct background checks and register transactions with the agency any time they sell, gift, or trade a gun.

Skrmetti announced his office will join 26 other state attorneys general and the Arizona State Legislature in a letter “demanding” the ATF drop the rule, arguing it “violates the Second Amendment” and “risks making any individual who sells a firearm for profit liable to civil, administrative, and even criminal penalties for failing to register with a federal agency.”

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Ohio Attorney General Announces State’s Expanded Access to Nation’s Most Detailed Gun Crime Database

On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced that expanded access to one of the nation’s most effective resources for investigating and averting serious gun crimes is now available to law enforcement officials in Ohio.

The National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) is a database that contains digitized photos of spent cartridge cases recovered from crime scenes or fired from firearms that law enforcement took into custody. The database essentially serves as a massive library of ballistic “fingerprints” because every gun leaves its own distinctive microscopic imprint on the cartridge cases it ejects.

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ATF Director Says He’s ‘Not a Firearms Expert’ When Asked to Define Assault Weapons He Wants to Ban

Steve Dettelbach, director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, would not define what an assault weapon is and said he is “not a firearms expert” despite saying he would support an assault weapons ban.

At a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing Tuesday on the ATF’s 2024 fiscal year budget, Rep. Jake Ellzey (R-Texas) asked Dettelbach: “In 15 seconds, would you define an ‘assault weapon’ for me?”

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Ohio House Bill Aims to Preserve the Second Amendment

Two Republican state Representatives have introduced a bill that aims to reduce firearms regulations and expand Second Amendment rights in Ohio.

House Bill (HB) 51 known as the “Second Amendment Preservation Act” sponsored by state Representatives Mike Loychik (R-Bazetta) and Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland) takes several steps to protect the Second Amendment by adding further protections to the right to bear arms, and removing federal firearms law references from the state firearms control law.

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Failed Ohio AG Candidate Nominated to Head ATF

A failed candidate for Ohio Attorney General and former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Monday was tapped by President Joe Biden to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

“Today, to lead and support the dedicated men and women of the ATF, I’m proud to nominate Steve Dettelbach,” Biden said during a Rose Garden speech, apologizing for mispronouncing his pick’s last name. “Steve is immensely qualified. He served the Department of Justice for two decades. He worked side by side to support the work of federal, state and local law enforcement, including ATF agents. One of the cases he personally tried as a U.S. Attorney were the serial arsonists who firebombed the courthouses and police headquarters in Mansfield, Ohio.”

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