This week, we're looking at the first-of-its-kind move to make the FBI Director the Acting Director of the ATF.
To do that, we've got Reason Magazine's J.D. Tuccille back on the show. He recently wrote about what Kash Patel's appointment might mean for the gun agency.
He argued it could send a signal the administration plans to merge the two law enforcement arms, if not officially, at least effectively. Tuccille said the move has the potential to reign in some of the worst excesses of the ATF by eliminating its singular focus on gun law enforcement. But, he noted, it could also backfire on gun owners given the FBI's reputation for aggressive enforcement, even over-aggressive at times.
Then there's Kash Patel himself. He has received strong backing from gun-rights groups, who hope he'll wipe out the gun restrictions and zero-tolerance approach, as well as the officials who implemented them. However, Tuccille said his history of comments promising retribution against his and President Trump's opponents in government and media raise concerns about how he might wield his expansive new power over federal law enforcement.
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