Amid new calls for gun control measures, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley reiterated concerns that President Joe Biden's nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is not sufficiently supportive of the Second Amendment.
Grassley, who is the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the comments during confirmation hearings for Steven Dettelbach Wednesday, the day after a teenage shooter gunned down at least 19 children and two adults at an Uvalde, Texas elementary school.
Biden nominated Dettelbach to lead the ATF, which is the federal agency in charge of enforcing the nation’s gun laws. He withdrew his previous nominee to lead the agency amid similar pushback over gun control. The ATF has lacked a Senate-confirmed director for the last seven years.
Grassley said Wednesday he wrote a letter to Biden in April outlining his concerns about Dettelbach, and "my concerns remain."
In that letter, Grassley noted that Dettelbach had advocated for universal background checks and bans on assault-style weapons while being endorsed by groups that favor gun control laws.
"The Senate will consider Mr. Dettelbach’s nominations in due course," Grassley wrote in the letter. "However, publicly available information tells us that Mr. Dettelbach is yet another gun control advocate being put forward for a position that requires respect for the Second Amendment."
The hearings have drawn heightened attention as the nation mourns the deaths in Texas and as Biden has renewed his calls for action on gun control.
"As a nation we have to ask ourselves, ‘when in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby,’" he said during remarks Tuesday night.
In a call with reporters Wednesday, Grassley again urged support for legislation he's introduced called the EAGLES Act.
That bill — named for the mascot of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where a former student killed 17 people in 2018 — would direct the Secret Service to work with schools to help recognize warning signs in teenagers to prevent school violence.
"It would help us proactively identify and manage these threats before they occur," Grassley said.
But he stopped short of fully embracing other proposals, including so-called red flag laws. Those laws typically allow family members or law enforcement to limit a person's access to firearms if they are deemed a potential threat to the public, and they have drawn bipartisan support in Congress.
Grassley said he's willing to look at red flag laws, but would weigh them heavily against constitutional concerns.
"I'll have to just look at the legislation at that point," he said. "But it's got to meet the constitutional test of due process."
He voted previously to block passage of H.R. 8, a bill that would have expanded background checks. He offered his own alternative, which was also blocked.
Grassley, who is the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the comments during confirmation hearings for Steven Dettelbach Wednesday, the day after a teenage shooter gunned down at least 19 children and two adults at an Uvalde, Texas elementary school.
Biden nominated Dettelbach to lead the ATF, which is the federal agency in charge of enforcing the nation’s gun laws. He withdrew his previous nominee to lead the agency amid similar pushback over gun control. The ATF has lacked a Senate-confirmed director for the last seven years.
Grassley said Wednesday he wrote a letter to Biden in April outlining his concerns about Dettelbach, and "my concerns remain."
In that letter, Grassley noted that Dettelbach had advocated for universal background checks and bans on assault-style weapons while being endorsed by groups that favor gun control laws.
"The Senate will consider Mr. Dettelbach’s nominations in due course," Grassley wrote in the letter. "However, publicly available information tells us that Mr. Dettelbach is yet another gun control advocate being put forward for a position that requires respect for the Second Amendment."
The hearings have drawn heightened attention as the nation mourns the deaths in Texas and as Biden has renewed his calls for action on gun control.
"As a nation we have to ask ourselves, ‘when in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby,’" he said during remarks Tuesday night.
In a call with reporters Wednesday, Grassley again urged support for legislation he's introduced called the EAGLES Act.
That bill — named for the mascot of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where a former student killed 17 people in 2018 — would direct the Secret Service to work with schools to help recognize warning signs in teenagers to prevent school violence.
"It would help us proactively identify and manage these threats before they occur," Grassley said.
But he stopped short of fully embracing other proposals, including so-called red flag laws. Those laws typically allow family members or law enforcement to limit a person's access to firearms if they are deemed a potential threat to the public, and they have drawn bipartisan support in Congress.
Grassley said he's willing to look at red flag laws, but would weigh them heavily against constitutional concerns.
"I'll have to just look at the legislation at that point," he said. "But it's got to meet the constitutional test of due process."
He voted previously to block passage of H.R. 8, a bill that would have expanded background checks. He offered his own alternative, which was also blocked.
Chuck Grassley reiterates concerns over gun control as Senate considers ATF confirmation
Grassley also discussed other gun control measures, including the possibility of enacting "red flag" laws.
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