Long-time Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Deputy Director Marvin Richardson has been dismissed from his post after being forced to retire. His other option was to be forcibly removed from his position.
Richardson served in the ATF for decades under multiple Presidents. Previously, he was Acting Director from 2021 to 2022. Richardson was the driving force behind the ATF’s war on pistol braces and privately manufactured firearms (PMFs). In 2020, AmmoLand News learned through a source inside the ATF that Richardson and then acting head Regina Lombardo met with the Biden Transition team without the knowledge of President Trump to discuss the ATF’s focus. Mr. Richardson was particularly interested in going after the stabilizing devices.
Even before the meeting with the Biden transition team, Mr. Richardson had been no fan of pistols equipped with braces, which he saw as a National Firearms Act (NFA) loophole. At his direction, ATF’s enforcement side issued cease and desist letters to Q, LLC, regarding its Honey Badger pistol, which was equipped with an SB Tactical brace. The ATF claimed that the Honey Badger was a short-barreled rifle (SBR) even though it was classified as a pistol by ATF standards. ATF’s enforcement side issued the letters even though the Trump Justice Department (DOJ) had ordered ATF’s industry side not to move on pistol braces. Q, LLC wasn’t the only company to receive a letter; multiple companies producing braced pistols also received them. But eventually, the ATF was forced to back down after pressure from the Trump DOJ.
Before President Biden took office, Richardson complained that the ATF didn’t have the “political capital” to go after pistol braces, but he was hopeful that it would have the political capital once Biden started issuing anti-gun proclamations. Mr. Richardson was right. After Biden entered office, the President ordered the ATF to change the pistol braces and PMF rules. Sources say the White House used the meeting between the Biden transition team and the ATF to develop their anti-gun road map.
Mr. Richardson has been the latest removal under the Trump Justice Department. Earlier, ATF Chief Counsel Pam Hicks was removed. Ms. Hicks was the darling of the anti-gun movement for targeting of Second Amendment rights. Under Richardson and Hicks, the ATF targeted the firearms industry with new questionable regulations and oversaw the prosecution of Americans for questionable “crimes.”
During Richardson’s reign, the ATF was a political tool instead of a law enforcement and regulatory agency. Under Richardson’s leadership, the ATF also targeted gun dealerships with its non-defunct zero-tolerance policies that saw a 500% increase in Federal Firearms License (FFL) revocations. That policy has been rolled back. Other anti-gun policies also seem to be on the chopping block thanks to President Trump’s executive order on Second Amendment Rights.
Mr. Richardson’s departure is seen as a positive step for Second Amendment Rights. Mr. Richardson was a career bureaucrat who put politics over the rights of Americans. With Hicks and Richardson out, many wonder who will be next on the chopping block? A replacement is expected to be announced later today.
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About John Crump
Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
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