I am so glad to see that the Trump administration pulls no punches and moves quickly. Please enjoy today’s good news and check out the ATF’s website. Here, I’ll put the link to what you’re going to want to see: https://www.atf.gov/about/leadership.

Kash Patel is officially the acting director of ATF as well. Let’s all celebrate the fact that a real, honest to God gun rights supporter is now not only cleaning up the FBI swamp but is also heading the organization responsible for firearms legal enforcement in the United States. I’m still not getting tired of winning!

Did those assholes ever find those guns they lost in Mexico under Obama / Holder?

That's great. Yes, I know Patel just started a day ago, but he needs to really clean house. As long as that Lisa T. Boykin remains on there as Senior Executive , there is no trusting the rest of the leadership on that page. You guys remember Lisa T. Boykin, right? Bitch needs to go. Plus, whoever that tried to pull that wool over our eyes.

quote:

Originally posted by Lt CHEG:
Please enjoy today’s good news and check out the ATF’s website.

First thing Kash needs to do is fire this person, still featured on the website.



She recently had her title changed to Senior Executive (office of the Director), when it used to be "Chief Diversity Officer". And I suspect there are others on that web page that need to go as well.

(...Hah! Q beat me to it!)

Does ATF really need that many Assistant Directors? Top heavy for sure.

Reminds me of my former agency upper management, more lounge lizards than some districts had officers working.

They have Executive Assistant Directors, then they have Assistant Directors. I'm surprised they don't have Deputy Assistant Directors.

But, that Senior Executive was clearly a just made up bullshit post to hide Lisa T. Boykin. She must be kicked out.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
I'm surprised they don't have Deputy Assistant Directors.

They do have Deputy Assistant Directors.

From the bottom up (in terms of sworn personnel) the order of progression is Special Agent, Senior Special Agent (no higher pay but honorary title for length of good service - also what I was when I left), Resident Agent in Charge or Group Supervisor (GS-14), Assistant Special Agent in Charge (GS-15), Special Agent in Charge (SES), Deputy Assistant Director, Assistant Director, Executive Assistant Director, Deputy Director, Director.

I’m guessing they will make the firearms part of the ATF an FBI function and the collection of tobacco and alcohol taxes a Treasury function, eliminating the need for a separate Division of government.
Part of streamlining and downsizing government, as it should be.

So did I get that right, they have more SES level positions than actual GS/agent positions? That seems top heavy to me.

I'd like to see if the new leadership there does anything about the Bryan Malinowski murder. Seems to me, putting some word out about that on the main ATF web page would go a long way toward letting people know there absolutely will be some accountability in this case.

From Ammoland. Written by John Crump.

With Kash Patel now in the position of Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the agency is in for a shake-up.

One thing that Patel can do is get rid of problem employees who have gone out of their way to infringe on the rights of Americans to keep and bear arms. This purge has already started with the firing of the ATF’s Chief Council, Pam Hicks. Hicks was a rabid anti-gun attorney that chose to defend very constitutionally dubious rules. Although Hicks was a good first step, without removing other problem members, nothing will change.

The first person that Patel should remove from the Bureau is the ATF’s Deputy Director, Marvin Richardson. Mr. Richardson has been behind some of the ATF’s most controversial rules. He was the driving force behind the reclassification of pistols equipped with braces. Mr. Richardson proposed reclassifying pistols with braces and unfinished firearms frames during a 2020 meeting with the Biden transition team without President Trump’s knowledge.

Even before the ATF’s pistol brace rule, Richardson tried to shut down the brace industry. At his direction, ATF’s enforcement side issued cease and desist letters to Q, LLC, regarding its Honey Badger pistol, which was equipped with an SB Tactical brace. The ATF claimed that the Honey Badger was a short-barreled rifle (SBR). ATF’s enforcement side issued the letters after the Trump Justice Department (DOJ) had ordered ATF’s industry side not to move on braces. And Q, LLC wasn’t the only company to receive a letter; multiple companies producing braced pistols also received them. But eventually, the ATF was forced to back down.

The only thing that stopped Richardson from going after privately manufactured firearms (PMF) and pistol braces during Trump’s first term was the lack of “political capital.” He stated that he hoped that would change once Biden was sworn in. Shortly after Biden was sworn in, he started attacking PMFs and pistol braces. With him still in a leadership position at the ATF, it allows the anti-gun side to have an “in” at the Bureau.

Mr. Patel should look at Matthew Varisco. Mr. Varisco is the ATF Assistant Director for the Office of Field Operations. When he worked out of the Philadelphia Field Office, he pushed the targeting of companies selling firearms precursor parts, including issuing a cease-and-desist letter to JSD Supply. This action was taken before the rule change of pistol frames. He pioneered the idea of firearms “structuring.” According to Varisco, if someone buys firearms parts from multiple companies to build a working firearm, that is “structuring.” This use of the term was the first time it was used outside banking crimes. He claimed that the possibility of “structuring” meant that all 80% firearm frames needed to be treated like completed guns. Mr. Varisco’s idea of “structuring” made it into the final rule.

Office of Enforcement Programs and Services Assistant Director Megan Bennett should also be on the chopping block. Under Ms. Bennett’s leadership, the department tried to enforce the pistol brace rule even after enforcement of the rule was blocked in federal court. The department claimed that even though the rule was blocked, they could still interpret the federal statute however they liked, considering all pistols equipped with braces as short-barreled rifles (SBR). Eventually, the ATF was forced to back down.

Kash Patel needs to fire Lisa T. Boykin once and for all. Ms. Boykin was the head of DEI at the ATF before her title was changed to “Senior Executive.” This move was to sidestep President Trump’s Executive Order ending all DEI positions. Trump specifically said that government agencies should not hide DEI employees. Sources at the ATF have said she was placed on administrative leave. She is still listed on the ATF’s leadership page. Mr. Patel should consider parting ways with Ms. Boykin permanently.

Another group of employees that needs to be examined on a case-by-case basis is the industry operation investigators (IOI). Some of these IOIs use their position to put gun shops out of business, although others are not anti-gun. Mr. Patel should order the ATF to review all actions by these IOIs to determine if they are abusing their position to act out a political agenda.

These are just a few of the many employees that Kash Patel should take a hard look at and decide whether they should still have a job inside the ATF. Many more are not known to the public and should be forced into new careers.

https://www.ammoland.com/2025/...an-house-at-the-atf/

^^^^^^^

Fuck it. Fire every single one of the faces on the ATF "Leadership" website, except for Patel. Start from scratch.

quote:

Originally posted by BB61:
So did I get that right, they have more SES level positions than actual GS/agent positions? That seems top heavy to me.

Not even close. ATF is unquestionably top heavy, and also had the most messed up SES cadre in that they move up and down the management ladder to suit the needs of the person instead of the agency. However, there are still way more GS positions than SES positions. The agency has a ton of faults, but having SES members outnumber GS members is not one of them.

I’ve tried to get in touch with people from Trump’s transition team about ATF faults. I reached out to Elise Stefanik and her weaponization of government committee. The only person that had any interest in what I had to offer about violations and flat out abuses by ATF was Senator Grassley, whom is a man I do truly admire.

I could honestly write a book, but that’s not my style. I’m currently in the process of trying to reach out to some gun tubers to see if they’d be interested in doing an interview some time. I wish there was a way that I could get my information to more people that could do something about it, as it seems like there has never been a better time to make some much needed changes to ATF and I have lots of friends that are good people that still work there that would benefit from some serious meaningful changes.

I’ve also formed an LLC with a business partner and we’re going to be getting our FFL. We will be doing some light gunsmithing and transfers and things of that nature. But the biggest reason why I’m getting my FFL is because I’m trying to get into consulting. I legitimately want to help people that have been treated improperly by this agency and other government agencies. If anyone has additional ideas on helping me get the word out or can put me in touch with people that will listen, I’d really be appreciative. I really am hopeful that President Trump will be able to make meaningful changes to this organization.

Will they undo the Trump bump stock ban?

I think the courts have already done that.

We do not need the ATF. Most of their functions are anti-American and unconstitutional. Some if their functions can just be outright eliminated.

Abolish the entire organization and destroy their hard disks of their internal registry of firearms ownership.

No more rule making.

^^^
Uninfringed by what has been fringed.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Will they undo the Trump bump stock ban?

Supreme Court strikes down bump stock ban

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
We do not need the ATF.

FBI already does NICS checks. ATF checks to make sure your NFA paperwork is correct when you file for any of that stuff, but currently the bottle neck with NFA submissions isn't the ATF, it's the FBI and their NICS department. If Patel can streamline that so that people aren't waiting for days, weeks, and months on delays, then I see no reason why what the ATF does with NFA related items can't simply be folded into the FBI.

That said, the idea of the FBI under another president like Biden or Obama handling absolutely everything to do with firearms does not give me the warm fuzzies. At least currently there's a separation of labor on that and no one agency has all the power over our 2A rights. If the ATF is going away, then a massive cleanout and revamp of the FBI needs to happen - one the likes of which the hydra cannot simply just grew a few new heads and continue as before.

Agreed

The ATF could be done by 3 admin types just checking paperwork.

And a lot of that could be automated by OCR