Austin News

U.S. Senator John Cornyn, along with 29 other Senate Republicans, has sent a letter to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Deputy Director Marvin Richardson. The letter urges the ATF to align with former President Trump's Second Amendment priorities and rescind what they describe as unlawful firearms regulations established during former President Biden's administration.

The senators referenced Trump's recent Executive Order titled "Protecting Second Amendment Rights," which aims to reaffirm Americans' rights under the Second Amendment. They emphasized their request for the ATF to work with Attorney General Pam Bondi in identifying and rescinding policies they consider unconstitutional.

"On Friday, February 7, 2025, President Donald J. Trump took decisive action to reaffirm law-abiding Americans’ Second Amendment rights in issuing his Executive Order, Protecting Second Amendment Rights. We urge you to immediately align ATF’s rules and policies with the President’s strong support for the Second Amendment," the letter stated.

The letter highlights specific regulations such as the "Engaged in the Business" rule, which mandates universal background checks; the pistol brace rule; and the so-called "ghost gun" rule. The senators argue that these rules infringe upon Second Amendment protections.

Underlining their concerns about various regulations and policies adopted by ATF during Biden's presidency, they wrote: “Under former President Joe Biden, ATF adopted numerous policies and rules that infringed upon Americans’ Second Amendment protections."

The group of senators includes prominent figures like Senate Majority Leader John Thune from South Dakota and Senators Thom Tillis from North Carolina and Ted Cruz from Texas.

Additionally, they call for destroying outdated firearm transaction records held by ATF: “In addition to promptly rescinding these rules and policies, we urge you to immediately destroy the hundreds of millions of ATF Form 4473 firearm transaction records and other licensee records that are over 20 years old."

The communication concludes with an appeal for ongoing collaboration between Congress and ATF to enhance processes related to National Firearms Act applications: “Furthermore, we urge you to ‘continue collaboration to improve the process for’ National Firearms Act applications."

This correspondence reflects a significant push by GOP lawmakers towards aligning federal agencies with a pro-Second Amendment stance following policy changes made during previous administrations.