President Biden’s 2024 budget proposal includes a whopping $1.9 billion for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), a massive increase of millions of dollars over the previous year’s budget.
The proposal comes as the ATF is considering efforts to further regulate firearms, which include the introduction of multiple controversial rules such as a ban on gun lock stabilization, a “zero tolerance” policy for federal firearms dealers and break-in rules. in “phantom gun”.
If passed, Biden’s budget would increase funding for the ATF by about $200 million, or 13.6 percent, compared to the fiscal year 2023 budget. It would also increase $663 million, or 50 percent, from former President Obama’s last fiscal year 2017 budget.
This 2008 file photo shows weapons seized by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on a table at the office’s headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. (Reuters)
According to the White House, the additional funding would go toward further regulating the firearms industry, including implementing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, creating gun trafficking strike forces and enforcing background checks.
NO, BIDEN’S BUDGET IS NOT ‘WACKO’ LIKE REAGAN’S
President Biden speaks on the progress of the administration’s economic agenda at the Belmont Water Treatment Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 3, 2023. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Republican lawmakers have taken steps to challenge the ATF’s rules, including introducing legislation that would expand gun owner rights across the country, such as protecting the gun rights of full-time commuters.
Some lawmakers have also impeached ATF Director Steven Dettelbach before the House Judiciary Committee over the agency’s efforts to implement its new rules.
ECONOMISTS BIDEN’S BUDGET PROPOSAL IS A “FISCAL ACROSS”: “THE WORST BUDGET I HAVE SEEN”
“ATF’s lack of transparency comes after the agency issued its final rule banning gun lock stabilization, and as the agency continues to shut down legitimate businesses through its ‘zero tolerance’ policy for federal firearms dealers (FFLs),” said Rep. Jim. Jordan, R-Ohio, and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., wrote in a letter to Dettelbach earlier this month.
Steve Dettelbach, President Biden’s then-nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), speaks at an event on gun violence in the Rose Garden of the White House, April 11, 2022, in Washington. (Drew Anger/Getty Images)
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Beyond ATF funding, Biden’s $6.9 trillion budget proposal has drawn sharp criticism from congressional Republicans, with some referring to it as “funky voodoo accounting.”
Brandon Gillespie is an associate editor at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @brandon_cg.