Senator Murray: “After a years-long vacancy, the ATF will finally have a permanent director that will help enforce the gun laws on the books and give law enforcement the tools they need to prevent and prosecute gun crimes.”
ICYMI: Senator Murray Helps Pass Bipartisan Gun Safety Bill, Calls to Do More to Keep Students, Families Safe – MORE HERE
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee issued the following statement following the confirmation of Steve Dettelbach as the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The ATF, the primary government agency charged with regulating the firearms industry, has been without a permanent, Senate-confirmed director since 2015.
“After a years-long vacancy, the ATF will finally have a permanent director that will help enforce the gun laws on the books and give law enforcement the tools they need to prevent and prosecute gun crimes. I am proud to help confirm Steve Dettelbach as ATF Director and know that he will do everything in his power to curb gun trafficking, hold the gun industry accountable, and fulfill the ATF’s duty to publicly release critical gun tracing data,” said Senator Murray. “I fought hard to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and now, with Director Dettelbach’s leadership, we can work together to protect students and families across the country from gun violence.”
As Chair of the HELP Committee and a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray has repeatedly fought to invest federal resources in gun violence prevention research—notably, in 2020 Murray helped usher in the first federal funding for gun violence prevention research in decades and has successfully fought to sustain that funding every year since. Murray has been a strong supporter of common-sense gun safety reforms. For years, Senator Murray has pushed for popular reforms such as universal background checks, an assault weapons ban, extreme risk protection orders, and more. Senator Murray voted to help pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act last month.
While Washington state already has many of these measures in place at the state level, Senator Murray has made clear that the epidemic of gun violence in America cannot be fully addressed without federal action. Senator Murray has cosponsored important firearm legislation proposals in this Congress. Murray is a cosponsor of the Background Check Expansion Act, the Assault Weapons Ban Act, and the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act (ERPO is another term used for red flag laws). Senator Murray also applauded President Biden’s decision to treat ghost guns as the deadly weapons they are and is a cosponsor of the 3D Printed Gun Safety Act. Following the Uvalde school shooting, Senator Murray delivered a speech on the Senate floor, calling on Republicans to answer the call of the American people and come to the table to make progress on gun violence prevention.
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