The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has recently changed the manner in which it interprets the statutory and regulatory definition of “handgun,” thereby further limiting the types of firearms eligible for importation. These determinations are not public, so it is difficult for the regulated community to assess and track shifting agency positions…
In some of the new letters, ATF has begun listing the following “objective design features” when making its evaluations:
Incorporation of rifle sights;
Utilization of “rifle caliber ammunition” (both 5.56mm and 7.62mm have been considered as such);
Incorporation of “rifle-length barrel;”
The “weapon’s heavy weight;”
Ability to accept magazines that range in capacity from 20 rounds to 100 rounds, “which will contribute to the overall weight of the firearm”;
Overall length of the weapon which “creates a front-heavy imbalance when held in one hand.”
This confuses me. The director of the ATF was appointed in 2019 and is on the “Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice”.
Which translates to pro enforcement, expansion of criminal statutes, and perpetuating the self licking ice cream cone nature of law enforcement under the guise of expanding public safety targeted policies.
Ah yes, the ATF, a bunch of pathetic bureaucratic cunts held over from the obama administration …fire them all ffs. This is the only “LE” agency that should be defunded.
why they consider themselves a legislative body is beyond me.
F**k the ATF. Seriously. They’re also racist. Like actual racist. At my old store, we had an ATF agent (not inspector; actual criminal investigator) stop in once to “say hi”. He told us flat out that the ATF does NOT trust black gun owners, and keeps a close eye on them. He told us not be afraid to report any black customers to them, as “they’re usually up to no good.” I’m not making that story up.
Fun fact the ATF onboards most all their gun carrier personnel under schedule B authority which basically permits sidestepping a lot of the OPM hiring competitive red tape and EEO laws in practice in order to hire desired candidates with the backgrounds they want, veterans primarily.
They function with little oversight in most field offices and are mostly a bunch of cavalier assholes. So I wouldn’t put your claim outside the scope of not surprising.