The old saw is that Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency, but now New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush tells us that former and future President Trump might not nominate anyone to head it. The article headline, “A.T.F. Braces for a Likely Rollback of Its Gun-Control Efforts,” certainly caught my eye:

A.T.F. Braces for a Likely Rollback of Its Gun-Control Efforts

President-elect Donald J. Trump is almost certain to choose a gun-rights advocate as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives or to simply leave the job vacant.

by Glenn Thrush | Saturday, December 14, 2024 | 1:25 PM EST

Many federal agencies are bracing for the Trump era — but few are likely to face the powerful backlash that awaits the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which pursued an aggressive gun control agenda under President Biden.

The A.T.F., under its Biden-appointed director, Steven M. Dettelbach, has been more proactive on gun control than at any time in its recent history. It has pushed through rules to curb the proliferation of the untraceable homemade firearms known as ghost guns, clamped down on devices that make firearms deadlier and regulated unlicensed firearms sellers who operate at gun shows or online.

That earned praise from gun control groups and drew the enmity of Republicans, including President-elect Donald J. Trump. He is almost certain to pick a proponent of gun rights as director or simply leave the job vacant, as previous presidents have done, leaving the small and embattled bureau rudderless and vulnerable.

But the biggest threat, in the view of Mr. Dettelbach, may come from the Republican-controlled Congress, which is threatening to cut the budget for the federal agency. Its core function is fundamentally apolitical, joining with local enforcement to trace weapons used in crimes and dismantle trafficking rings by providing intelligence and technical assistance.

There’s a pretty big disconnect between, “Its core function is fundamentally apolitical,” and “That earned praise from gun control groups and drew the enmity of Republicans.” If as Mr Thrush wrote, “The A.T.F., under its Biden-appointed director, Steven M. Dettelbach, has been more proactive on gun control than at any time in its recent history,” it has become a clearly political and anti-Second Amendment, anti-Constitutional part of liberal government.

Much further down:

Mr. Dettelbach’s aggressive approach eventually earned him the support of officials in liberal states who have worked closely with A.T.F., and are now bracing for four years of policy reversals and the possibility of even deeper budget cuts.

Yup! Mr Thrush has admitted it: the AFT under President Biden and Director Dettelbach has become a very political agency, pursuing left-wing policies. Perhaps its core functions are “fundamentally apolitical,” but that’s not how the agency has been run over the past almost four years.

The AFT should roll back all of the regulations created the last four years, and then strip down the agency into what it is supposed to be: data gathering and technical support for law enforcement, and not a policymaking arm of government.