West Bend, WI – The U.S. Concealed Carry Association (USCCA), which is one of the fastest growing organizations in the country advocating for responsibly-armed Americans, released the following statement after President Biden unveiled a new regulation aimed at so-called “ghost guns” and nominated Steve Dettelbach as the next director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF):

“It is deeply troubling to see President Biden once again nominate someone with an anti-gun record to serve as the new ATF Director. This, along with the Administration’s proposals with respect to so-called ‘ghost guns’ are just the latest evidence that the Biden Administration is more focused on restricting Americans’ God-given right to self-protection than targeting criminals and reducing violent crime. Nothing that the President is proposing today will make Americans safer in the face of skyrocketing crime because criminals by definition do not abide by the law. It’s disappointing that the President is doubling down on ineffective policies instead of supporting law-abiding Americans who simply want to protect themselves and their families,” stated Tim Schmidt, president and founder, the U.S. Concealed Carry Association.

President Biden’s previous choice for ATF Director, David Chipman, was withdrawn seven months ago after receiving major criticism from Senate Republicans and some moderate Democrats. The USCCA was outspoken in their opposition, noting how Chipman’s leadership could lead to further restriction of Americans’ inalienable right to self-defense. As the last two years saw record numbers of first-time gun owners, it is more important than ever for leaders to stand up for the rights of law-abiding gun owners.

“We believe the President and Congress should turn their attention to the real threat facing our communities: the explosion of violent crime and increasingly emboldened criminals. We challenge this Administration to start enforcing the laws we already have instead of creating new regulations that cripple law-abiding gun owners. The USCCA will continue to stand with and advocate for policies that empower more responsibly-armed Americans to be their family’s first line of defense, such as national concealed carry reciprocity,” concluded Schmidt.

As record numbers of Americans are awakened to their Second Amendment right, the USCCA has seen a simultaneous increase in demand for firearm safety, education and training courses, reaching over 625,000 members and more than 10,000 instructors across the country in the last year alone.

To learn more about the USCCA, visit their website here. To understand more about what the term “ghost gun” means, check out the USCCA’s blog post.

About the USCCA. The US Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) is an association of responsible, armed Americans whose members get exceptional self-defense education, lifesaving training, and self-defense liability insurance, preparing them for the before, during and after of a lawful act of self-defense. The USCCA is the largest, fastest-growing self-defense association dedicated to responsible gun owners.”

Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) has released the following statement regarding President Biden’s new ban on self-built firearms and nomination of Steven Dettelbach, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF):

Today, President Biden continued his siege on the Second Amendment by announcing gun-control regulations targeting self-manufactured arms and confirming his intention to nominate Steven Dettelbach, an Everytown for Gun Safety-endorsed, anti-Second Amendment zealot to lead the ATF.

Biden’s proposed rule to eliminate so-called “ghost guns” would create an entirely new class of highly regulated items by redefining the term “firearm” to include a host of parts, and collections of parts ATF now considers “readily” convertible into functional firearms. This move calls into question the legality of an unknowable number of parts and kits purchased by peaceable people for decades.

The rule, which raises serious concerns about executive overreach and separation of powers, is yet another assault by the Biden administration on the rights and liberties of everyday gun owners. FPC condemns in the strongest terms this attack on the American tradition of home gunmaking and any effort to disarm or criminalize peaceable people.

Far from “clarifying” anything, the rulemaking tortures simple terms from law into multi-part definitions, with newly injected sub-terms like “readily” having their own lengthy definitions. This is clearly an attempt to sidestep Congress, as Biden even indicated in his remarks today.

The FPC legal team is evaluating the final rule for litigation options and will be seeking plaintiffs in the near future.

FPC also unequivocally opposes Biden’s nomination of Steven Dettelbach to lead the ATF. Dettelbach has led a career marked by proposals of radical gun-control measures, including semiautomatic firearm bans, the absurd expansion of mythical “gun-free zones,” and universal background checks. Dettelbach’s support comes from anti-rights organizations, and his nomination is nothing short of a stealth attempt by the Biden Administration to appoint someone with the same radical values as David Chipman, but without the extensive public paper trail.

Individuals who wish to help overturn the Biden administration’s abusive overreach of executive power and help defeat Dettelbach’s nomination can visit StopATF.org and join the FPC Grassroots Army at JoinFPC.org. Read more

NSSF is committed to a thorough examination of Dettelbach’s record and qualifications and will listen carefully to his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. NSSF has significant concerns regarding Dettelbach’s previous public statements supporting bans on Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs), or AR-15 semiautomatic rifles, universal background checks, which are unworkable without a national firearm registry that is already forbidden by federal law, and extreme-risk protection orders, or so-called “red flag” laws, without protections for Due Process considerations. Dettelbach was also previously endorsed by the gun control group, Everytown for Gun Safety, for his support for policies restricting Second Amendment rights.

NSSF is also closely monitoring the submission of the Final Rule by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to redefine frames and receivers, which would significantly alter the sale and possession of not only personally-made firearms (PFMs) but numerous other types and models as well. NSSF will review the Final Rule carefully to see if DOJ listened and took into consideration the industry’s comments that were submitted. As proposed, this rule radically alters the manufacturing and compliance processes for manufacturers of traditional firearms, not just the making of incomplete, unfinished parts Congress has not chosen to regulate. Read more