Two ATF sources who spoke with Empower Oversight say a 1,300-page document on the new policy is being overseen by Senior Policy Counsel Eric Epstein, who worked as the Phoenix Field Office’s Division Counsel during Operation Wide Receiver (a precursor of Operation Fast and Furious). “The fact that inside ATF sources are blowing the whistle on this draft rule is an indication of what a difficult position it would put the ATF in. ATF agents did not sign up to go after law-abiding citizens for private sales protected under the Second Amendment of the Constitution,” Tristan Leavitt, President of Empower Oversight, said in a statement. Empower has submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain more documentation on the language the Biden administration is crafting, which he says would be a clear violation of the Second Amendment. Leavitt wrote:A government watchdog organization has learned that the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives (ATF) is drafting a rule to prohibit the private sale of firearms.
Such an expansive rule that treats all private citizens the same as federal firearms licensees would circumvent the separation of powers in the Constitution, which grants “all legislative Powers” to Congress while requiring that the President “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” To the extent such a rule prevents the private sale of firearms, it would also clearly violate the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which declares that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Leavitt advised that the new rule would not impact crime but would only hurt law-abiding firearm owners. “The lessons of the Ruby Ridge and Waco standoffs should make clear that attempting to enforce such an expansive regulation could endanger countless ATF field agents who are forced to serve as the face of the Biden Administration in enforcing this against private firearms owners,” he said. In a post on social media platform X, Leavitt said, “such a sweeping rule seems almost certain to be struck down in the courts. It's thus hard to view it as anything other than a cynical p[l]ay to energize [President Joe Biden’s] base in a presidential election year.”
