(The Center Square) – Republican Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert is co-sponsoring legislation in the U.S. House to abolish the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
“The time has come,” Boebert said in a statement from the floor of the U.S. House. “We don’t trust the ATF because of their overreaching actions . . . Instead of providing regulations that keep our communities safe, this agency has made our communities more dangerous.”
On Tuesday, the opening day of the 2025 legislative session, the one-page bill was introduced in the U.S. House and was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary for consideration.
It has received support from a number of other Republicans, including Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo.
“The ATF is a disastrous agency that uses its unelected deep state power to go after law-abiding citizens,” Burlison said. “It should absolutely be abolished. My bill, the Abolish the ATF Act, does just that.”
The legislation was first proposed by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., in 2023, but received little momentum at the time. Burlison assumed sponsorship of that legislation in December.
When asked if she believes the legislation might move forward this time, Boebert said she hopes it does.
“There are many agencies that we need to cut in Washington D.C.,” Boebert said in an interview with One America News on Wednesday. “For far too long, rogue, partisan bureaucrats at the ATF have run amuck, infringing and trampling on the Second Amendment rights of the American people.”
Vice President-elect J.D. Vance has previously supported the abolishment of the ATF, potentially lending it more support now that Republicans have a trifecta in Washington D.C.
According to the ATF, its goal is to protect “our communities from violent criminals, criminal organizations, the illegal use and trafficking of firearms, the illegal use and storage of explosives, acts of arson and bombings, acts of terrorism, and the illegal diversion of alcohol and tobacco products.”
ATF Director Steven Dettelbach, who will be stepping down as the Trump Administration takes office, said it would be a mistake to cut back the ATF.
“People would be killed,” Dettelbach told CBS News in an interview.
Supporters of the proposal have pointed to a number of high-profile instances over the years of what they call “relentless bureaucratic overreach” by the ATF.
“The ATF’s history is a damning chronicle of overreach, incompetence, and tragedy,” a press release from Burlison’s office said. “From its unconstitutional rulings on pistol braces to targeting gun store owners with vague compliance demands, the agency has betrayed the American public’s trust time and again. The ATF has also left a trail of destruction and unnecessary deaths in its wake from Waco to Ruby Ridge and Operation Fast and Furious.”
Ultimately, supporters of the bill to abolish the ATF do not believe its mission is consistent with the Second Amendment.
“I cannot imagine under any circumstances or administration where the ATF serves as an ally to the Second Amendment and law-abiding firearm owners across America,” Boebert said. “ATF should be abolished before they eventually abolish our Second Amendment.”
