Abolish the ATF?: Rep. Burlison wants to eliminate ‘disaster agency’ he says has been violating 2nd Amendment

Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., wants to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and plans to put forward a measure that would do just that.

“The ATF is a disaster,” Burlison, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told Fox News Digital on Thursday, adding that “for decades they’ve been a disaster agency” which has “been violating the… Second Amendment.”

The congressman suggested that states should be allowed to handle matters themselves, without federal interference.

“There’s very few ATF officials,” he said, accusing the agency of “co-opting or commandeering [local] law enforcement to enforce laws” which state lawmakers did not pass.

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Left: Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 25, 2023; Right: The letters “ATF” are seen on a Department of Justice ATF Explosive and Fire Investigation vehicle at the Marine Corps Air Station Airshow in San Diego, California, on Sept. 28. (Getty Images)

The legislator plans to introduce a proposal previously put forward in 2023 by then-Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.

Burlison, a freshman who took office last year, was one of the Republicans who joined Gaetz’s measure as a cosponsor.

GOP Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Mary Miller of Illinois, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Cory Mills of Florida, Mike Collins of Georgia, Barry Moore of Alabama, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Bob Good of Virginia also joined as cosponsors, according to congress.gov.

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A vest worn by special agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is seen during a training session near San Marcos, Texas, on Aug. 19, 2010. (Michael Paulsen/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to the ATF for comment on Friday.

“ATF provides enormous benefits to the American public through all of its efforts fighting violent crime every day,” ATF spokesperson Kristina Mastropasqua said in an emailed statement.

Burlison also thinks the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should be abolished.

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