GOA Exposes How ATF is Up to Its Old Tricks

Today's ATF isn't supposed to be the same agency it was a year ago. There's a new/old president in the White House, and he's not anti-gun like the last guy or whoever was pulling that guy's strings. The attorney general of today is supposed to be cracking down on unconstitutional gun control. We're not supposed to have to worry.

Yet there have been cracks along the way. The Trump administration has taken some positions that are less than thrilling, to say the least, but for the most part, things are better.

Unfortunately, the ATF, which is supposed to be much improved, isn't, as Gun Owners of America discovered when one of its members got a letter from the ATF saying his 80 percent frame prototype was properly classified as a firearm

Well, that's troubling as hell.

So the ATF that isn't issuing letters on 80 percent receivers issued a letter on an 80 percent receiver. It didn't correctly apply its own rule, and it didn't even seem to follow the Supreme Court's ruling on it.

We know that last part because SCOTUS ruled that if it was too easy to convert, it counted, but the ATF didn't even know how to convert it. They had to ask the manufacturer after they claimed it was a receiver. The manufacturer doesn't even quite know how it will go together, either. It's purely theoretical.

And the ATF said it was a receiver just the same.

Then, when called on it, they said the letter was sent by mistake, then failed to retract it.

In my mind, the fact that they wrote the letter at all tells us what's going on behind the scenes at the ATF.

See, when the Trump administration stepped back into office, I suspect a lot of agents held their breath to see what kind of leash they'd be given, not expecting much. Now, they don't have a full-time director, so they probably figure they can get away with a lot more. They pull this stuff, give some lip service to the pro-gun groups, but don't correct the mistakes.

This is the same anti-gun agency it always has been.

GOA exposed this, but only because a member who submitted a potential product for review--years ago, mind you--was finally told that nope, it's a gun, even though it's not remotely a firearm in any meaningful way.

And yeah, the whole thing about the sear is absolute bollocks. Like is shown in the video, if someone just milled that part into a block of steel and submitted it for review, by this interpretation, it's a gun, even though that's not a viable frame for your average American.

In fact, I kinda want someone to do just that. I think it would be almost as hilarious as when a buddy of mine submitted a male sexual toy attached to the pistol brace and made the ATF issue a letter on it.

A lot of you know the fleshy toy I'm talking about.

Anyway, the ATF is up to its old tricks. Considering how deadly some of those tricks can be, this is concerning, to say the least.

This one doesn't look to be potentially lethal, but it's a clear indication that someone needs to rein in the ATF and get some control over what they're doing. This is beyond stupid, and while I expect it from them, I shouldn't. I shouldn't have to. No one should.

This is supposed to be the Land of the Free.

Let's make it free. You know, just to shake things up.

Editor's note: The ATF is often involved in questionable activities, and we make it our mission to expose these machinations to the public.

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