[ad_1]
FIRST ON FOX: One Republican lawmaker is pulling no punches going after President Biden’s “gun-grabbing” Department of Justice (DOJ) after it took nearly two years to reply to her questions associated to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive’s (ATF) controversial “knock and talk” firearm enforcement policy.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, first wrote to the ATF in August 2022, demanding it answer for its strategies in cracking down on firearm straw purchases — the unlawful follow of a person buying a firearm on behalf of another person — that she apprehensive could possibly be infringing on Americans’ rights. In her letter, she acknowledged that whereas imposing legal guidelines in opposition to straw buying firearms was necessary, the DOJ should be clear about its strategies.
“For nearly two years, Biden’s ATF has failed to answer my questions; instead, they are continually harassing law-abiding gun owners in their homes,” Ernst instructed Fox News Digital. “Biden ATF’s ‘knock and talk’ policy is unlawful, and by stonewalling me, they continue to hide the truth, pointing the finger at so-called ‘violence’ without addressing the law-abiding Americans that I clearly asked about.”
Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst and the skin of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)
“Biden’s ATF must stop bending the law to fit their gun-grabbing policies,” she added.
Ernst despatched her 2022 letter only one month after the ATF started its straw buying crackdown. In it, she detailed experiences and movies that had surfaced displaying ATF brokers participating in such investigations. Ernst famous that these interactions concerned ATF brokers knocking on the entrance doorways of personal residences and asking residents to show the not too long ago bought firearms to show they didn’t commit a straw buy.
“In all of the ‘knock and talk’ incidents brought to my attention, none involved the presentation of a warrant,” Ernst wrote.
Ernst stated ATF brokers typically arrive on the home in full gear, sporting bulletproof vests and don’t inform residents on the houses that producing the firearm was non-obligatory.
“The combination of these factors calls into question whether the ATF’s actions are meant to harass or coerce firearm purchasers into, at best, legally questionable ‘investigations,’” she acknowledged.
The senator requested that Attorney General Merrick Garland present particulars concerning the ATF investigations, together with how the group establishes possible trigger to conduct these visits, in addition to whether or not they acquire a warrant. She additionally referred to as on the ATF to reveal what number of “knock and talks” they’ve performed for the reason that ramp-up started in late July.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) talks to reporters following the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon within the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 14, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The letter requested that Garland reply inside 30 days.
Footage from one knock and discuss incident in July confirmed ATF brokers arriving at a Delaware man’s dwelling. The man had reportedly bought seven firearms since January.
Agents on the scene admitted to the person that they didn’t have a warrant. They additionally supplied some perception into how they select to make a go to.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“The idea is that when you purchase more than two guns at a time it generates a multiple sales report, and it comes to us, and we have to check them out,” the agent stated to the citizen. “That’s all that is. You did nothing wrong – absolutely zero.”
The man in the end produced one of many firearms. The brokers then matched the serial quantity and left.
Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for remark.
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source hyperlink