Members of the Republican Party angry with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives over a proposed bullet ban now say the heck with it – the agency is so "scandal-ridden," power-hungry and out-of-control it ought to be closed.
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., introduced legislation just recently to abolish the agency and transfer its duties, in part, to the FBI.
"The ATF is a scandal-ridden, largely duplicative agency that lacks a clear mission," he said, The Hill reported. "Its 'Framework' is an affront to the Second Amendment and yet another reason why Congress should pass the ATF Elimination Act."
Sensenbrenner's measure comes on the heels of an ATF try to ban the manufacture and sale of 5.56 mm projectiles for M855 cartridges, effectively stopping owners of AR-15 rifles from firing once they exhaust their existing stocks of ammunition. The proposal was condemned as a back-door gun control measure by Second Amendment activists and certain members in Congress.
House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte from Virginia and 200 other lawmakers wrote to ATF director B. Todd Jones just a few days ago demanding the agency "abandon" the idea, The Hill reported.
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"Under no circumstances should ATF adopt a standard that will ban ammunition that is overwhelmingly used by law-abiding Americans for legitimate purposes," the letter statement.
And Michael Hammond, legislative counsel of Gun Owners of America, told The Hill that the ATF's proposal was little more than an unconstitutional "power grab" that would "take out the gun by taking out the ammunition."
But if abolishing the ATF doesn't sell, there's always Plan B. A separate effort to weaken the agency is underway on Capitol Hill.
Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., has introduced the Protecting Second Amendment Rights Act in direct response to the ATF's crackdown on AR-15 type ammo, stripping the agency of any ability to regulate ammunition.
"We cannot and we will not stand by while the Obama administration tramples on the Constitution, the rule of law and the Second Amendment rights of hunters," he said, The Hill reported.
The bullet ban is just the latest in a long line of grievances Republicans in Congress have expressed with the AFT – a list that includes the agency's handling of Fast and Furious, the gun-walking program into Mexico that left Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry dead.