February 24, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, congratulates Kash Patel who President Donald Trump appointed on Monday as the Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). In addition to serving as Acting ATF Director, Patel was recently sworn in as the Senate-confirmed Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
“President Trump nominated Kash Patel as FBI Director for his unswerving dedication to protecting the Constitution and the adherence to the rule of law. Those same traits serve him well as he carries out President Trump’s plan to reform ATF,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “Like the FBI, the ATF was weaponized by the previous administration. In the case of ATF, it was to carry out a radical gun control agenda. President Trump’s appointment of Acting Director Patel to lead the ATF will return the bureau to its proper role as a law enforcement agency laser focused on combatting violent crime and illegal firearms trafficking, and to act as a non-partisan regulator of the firearm industry.”
NSSF is confident Acting Director Patel will view members of the firearm industry, including licensed retailers, as ATF’s partners on the front lines of keeping firearms out of the wrong hands, combatting illegal firearms trafficking and preventing violent crime involving the misuse of firearms.
The firearm industry hopes Acting Director Patel will move quickly, in consultation with Attorney General Pam Bondi, to carry out President Trump’s Protecting Second Amendment Executive Order. Thirty U.S. senators, led by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), sent a letter to Deputy Assistant Director Marvin G. Richardson last week imploring him to swiftly roll back the punitive and unconstitutional policies and final rules the Biden administration used to target the lawful firearm industry and gun owners. NSSF strongly supports the senators’ requests and President Trump’s swift action to refocus ATF to its Congressionally mandated role of combatting violent crime.
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About NSSF
NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org.
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Media contact:
Mark Oliva
202-220-1340
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