My Questions for the Current BATFE Nominee (2022)

By Scott Jensen

1)    How important do you believe it is to ensure citizens and government agencies know the definition of terms used in the U.S. Constitution, laws, and federal agencies?

2)    How important do you believe it is that federal agencies clearly and transparently define those terms?

3)    How important do you believe clarity and consistency are in the definitions of those terms?

4)    How do you define "firearm"?

a)    Do you believe that definition can be changed?

i)     If so, under what circumstances?

(1)  By order of a single person?

(2)  Is Congress required to change the definition?

(a)  Why or why not?

b)    What is to stop the BATFE or the President from expanding the definition of “firearm” even further?

c)    What gives you the authority to define what a "firearm" is?

i)     Are you an armorer?

(1)  The latest SCOTUS justice nominee informed us that she couldn’t define “woman” because she wasn’t a “biologist”, so shouldn’t you have to be an armorer to define firearm terms?

ii)    Do you believe the BATFE or the POTUS have the authorization to define a firearm as even smaller parts, such as a slide, a bolt, a magazine, a barrel, a pin, a spring, etc.?

(1)  If so, where does it stop?

5)    Do you believe the current BATFE definitions are accurate?

a)    Do you believe they should be changed?

i)     If so, how and to what, exactly?

ii)    If not, will you enforce changes by anyone other than Congress?

6)    How do you define "machine gun"?

a)    Do you believe that definition can be changed?

i)     If so, under what circumstances?

(1)  By order of a single person?

(2)  Is Congress required to change the definition?

(a)  Why or why not?

b)    What is to stop the BATFE or the President from expanding the definition of “firearm” even further?

c)    What gives you the authority to define what a "machine gun" is?

i)     Are you an armorer?

(1)  The latest SCOTUS justice nominee informed us that she couldn’t define “woman” because she wasn’t a “biologist”, so shouldn’t you have to be an armorer to define firearm terms?

7)    How do you define “semi-automatic”?

a)    Are you willing to enforce a definition change, rule, regulation, etc. that changes what is currently classified as a “semi-automatic” firearm into a “machine gun” or similar?

i)     For example, if an AR-15 is ever to be classified as “machine gun” or other National Firearms Act (NFA) item, will you enforce that?

8)    How do you define “well regulated”?

9)    How do you define “militia”?

10) How do you define “necessary”?

11) How do you define “free State”?

12) How do you define “right”?

13) How do you define “the people”?

14) How do you define “keep”?

15) How do you define “bear”?

16) How do you define “arms”?

17) How do you define “infringe”?

18) How do you define “assault”?

19) How do you define “weapon?”

20) How do you define “assault weapon”?

21) How do you define “weapon of war”?

22) How do you define “common sense”?

23) How do you define “gun safety”?

24) How do you define “crack down”?

25) How do you define “mass shooting”?

26) How do you define “high capacity”?

a)    If confirmed, are you willing to create and / or enforce actions that limit the capacity of firearms / magazines withOUT imposing those SAME restrictions on the Secret Service, Capitol police, FBI agents, BATFE agents, and any other “law enforcement” agency?

i)     If not, why not?

(1)  What makes them “more equal” than innocent, peaceable, responsible American citizens?

27) How do you define “loophole”?

a)    What actions are you willing to take in order to close the “boyfriend loophole”?

b)    What actions are you willing to take in order to close the “Charleston loophole”?

c)    What actions are you willing to take in order to close the “gun show loophole”?

28) How do you define “red flag”?

a)    Do you believe they are a good way to “end gun violence”?

i)     If so, why is the “suspect” guilty of being so dangerous to society that the government must seize one type of their property (firearms), WITHOUT A TRIAL, yet still “allow” them to remain in society and still purchase, trucks, crockpots, nails, fertilizer, timers, wiring, etc.?

b)    If the POTUS directs “red flag” rules, definitions, orders, etc., are you willing to enforce them?

29) How do you define “gun-free zone”?

a)    If a peace officer (a.k.a. “law enforcement”) has a gun in that area, is it still a “gun-free zone”?

b)    If a criminal has a gun in that area, is it still a “gun-free zone”?

c)    How does a rule, regulation, law, etc. prohibiting peaceable, responsible, innocent citizens from being armed “end gun violence”?

d)    Can you compare the rate that peace officers (a.k.a. “law enforcement”) commit crimes and concealed carry permit holders?

e)    Can you state the percentage of public “mass shootings” that have occurred in “gun-free zones”?

30) How do you define “gun registry”?

31) Which term more accurately describes your opinion of the job of the police and why?

a)    Law Enforcement

b)    Peace Officer

32) If confirmed, do you guarantee to delete the nearly one billion firearms records currently on file?

a)    How does having a “photo” of a record “end gun violence”?

i)     If they are NOT “searchable”, what good are they to the BATFE?

(1)  Do you have thousands of people looking at them to find out who bought a firearm?

ii)    Does the technology exist to “search” or “scan” photos for text?

(1)  Do you guarantee to remove any such software in the BATFE to ensure the innocent, peaceable citizens that the BATFE does not now, nor ever will, possess a “gun registry”?

33) If confirmed, will you be willing to change the current laws (“rules”) or enforce an Executive Order that would outlaw online sales of firearms, or firearms parts?

34) How do you define “weapon of choice”?

35) How do you define “extremist”?

36) How do you define “supremacist”?

37) How do you define “white”?

38) How do you define “black”?

39) How do you define “person of color”?

40) How do you define “community”, “terrorism”, “information sharing”, “equity”, “underserved”, “race”, “domestic violent extremism”, “ethnicity”, “religion”, “gender”, “sexual orientation”, “gender identity”, “political views”, “racial bias”, “extremist”, “white”, “supremacist”, “white supremacist”, and “homeland”?

a)    “ATF is a law enforcement agency in the United States’ Department of Justice that protects our communities from… acts of terrorism…  We partner with…law enforcement, and public safety agencies to safeguard the public we serve through information sharing, training, research, and use of technology.” (https://www.atf.gov/)

i)     Does that mean you partner with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)?

(1)  “Delivering equity through DHS”:
“DHS is focused on addressing the threats that underserved communities face, especially from racially motivated domestic violent extremism.”
“DHS is committed to combatting all forms of terrorism and targeted violence, including terrorism and targeted violence meant to intimidate or coerce specific populations on the basis of their ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or political views.” (https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/DHS-EO13985-equity-summary.pdf)

(2)  “Counter Domestic Violent Extremism (DVE) and targeted violence”:
“DVEs are motivated by various factors, including racial bias, and among DVEs, racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists, including white supremacists, will likely remain the most lethal DVE movement in the homeland.”

ii)    If confirmed, what are you willing to do to fulfill DHS’s stated policies?

(1)  How can you help them fulfill their policies if DHS and BATFE have different definitions of those terms?

41) Do you believe a federal agency is necessary to control alcohol and tobacco?

a)    Why or why not?

42) How do you define “Ethnicity”, “Hispanic”, and “Latino”?
BATFE Form 4473 (May, 2020), Block #18.a. https://www.atf.gov/file/61446/download

a)    How can a BATFE Director enforce the law about filling out this form correctly, if the Director doesn’t know the definition of the terms for the form blocks that are REQUIRED by citizens to fill out correctly?

b)    If the BATFE Director cannot define those terms, how are citizens expected to do so?

i)     If the Director gets it wrong, nothing happens to the Director.

ii)    If citizens get it “wrong”, they go to prison as a FELON!

c)    Why are those choices, and ONLY those choices, are necessary to transfer a firearm?

43) How do you define “Race”, “American Indian”, “Alaska Native”, “Asian”, “Black”, “African American”, “Native Hawaiian”, “Other Pacific Islander”, AND “White”?
BATFE Form 4473 (May, 2020), Block #18.b. https://www.atf.gov/file/61446/download

a)    How can a BATFE Director enforce the law about filling out this form correctly, if the Director doesn’t know the definition of the terms for the form blocks that are REQUIRED by citizens to fill out correctly?

b)    If the BATFE Director cannot define those terms, how are citizens expected to do so?

i)     If the Director gets it wrong, nothing happens to the Director.

ii)    If citizens get it “wrong”, they go to prison as a FELON!

c)    Why are those choices, and ONLY those choices, are necessary to transfer a firearm?

44) Why MUST “Ethnicity” AND “Race” be provided for a citizen to transfer a firearm?
See Block #18.b.: “Both 18.a. and 18.b. must be answered.”

45) How do you define “universal background checks”?

a)    How much will that cost?

i)     To taxpayers?

ii)    To citizens directly?

b)    Can you guarantee it will be instantaneous or will it likely take days, weeks, or maybe months?

c)    Can you guarantee there will be no mistakes?

i)     How would a mistake effect a mother who is being stalked here and now, but can’t pass the UBC solely because she has a name similar to a “prohibited person”?

ii)    How would the cost effect a family that is struggling to make ends meet but wants to “feel safe”?

d)    If “universal background checks” becomes law, how can you properly enforce it without a “gun registry”?

e)    If “universal background checks” becomes law, do you believe that will “end gun violence”?

i)     What would be next?

46) How do you define “gun violence”?

(1)  Is it “gun violence” if a person uses a gun to defend their children?

47) How do you define “ghost gun”?

a)    Where does that definition come from?

i)     Does it include firearms that have had their serial numbers removed / altered?

(1)  If so, what is the percentage of “ghost guns” that have been “recovered” are truly homemade guns?

b)    Where did that term come from?

c)    How does having a serial number on a piece of plastic or metal “end gun violence”?

i)     If this does not “end gun violence”, what do you propose to be next?

d)    How many crimes have been solved by mandatory gun registration?

i)     See John Lott’s questions about Hawaii.

e)    How many otherwise innocent, peaceable citizens and FFL business owners have been charged, prosecuted or otherwise intimidated, oppressed, bullied, and harassed due to minor violations of those laws?

f)     How do these laws “end gun violence”?

g)    What are the costs of mandatory gun registration?

h)    How long has it been legal in these united States to make homemade guns?

i)     What law has been passed by Congress that makes homemade guns illegal?

j)     How many years were guns NOT REQUIRED to have serial numbers?

i)     Started in 1968

(1)  1968-1776 = 192 (years withOUT serial number requirement)

(2)  2022-1968 = 54 (years WITH serial number requirement)

k)    How many guns were produced BEFORE the serial number requirement?

l)     How many illegal guns have been trafficked across our southern border?

i)     Do you believe it is more important to redefine the term “firearm” to “crackdown” on innocent, peaceable American citizens or is it more important to “crackdown” on dangerous criminal illegal arms traffickers with the laws, properly passed by Congress, that are already in place?

48) If you had one “magic bullet” that would “end gun violence”, what would it be?

49) What is your “line in the sand” for how far you are willing to go to “end gun violence”?

a)    What orders from the POTUS are you willing to NOT enforce?

50) If confirmed, what will you do to recover all the “firearms” that were left in Afghanistan?

51) If confirmed, what will you do to “crackdown” on Second Amendment Sanctuaries?

52) If confirmed, what will you do to “crackdown” on States nullifying anti-constitutional firearms laws within their borders?

53) If confirmed, how do you plan to speed up the FOIA requests?

a)    How is it that it takes months for a FOIA request to be completed, if at all?

b)    Does it take that long for the BATFE to do a search in their efforts to “end gun violence”?

54) Your prospective new boss has said that his homemade gun “crackdown” is just the beginning of what he wants to do to stop “gun violence”.

a)    What else does he want to do?

b)    What else do you believe needs to be done?

55) How do you define “criminal”?

a)    Do criminals abide by the law?

b)    Do criminals abide by the “rules” of the BATFE?

c)    How does placing more restrictions and increasing costs on innocent, peaceable citizens stop criminals?

56) Do you believe the Second Amendment applies to individual citizens?

57) According to the Constitution, what is the role of government?

58) Are the following statements true?

a)    “Certain people, from the very beginning weren’t ALLOWED {emphasis NOT mine} to purchase guns.” (President Joe Biden, your prospective new boss, said that on April 11, 2022)

i)     Who were those people?

ii)    Do you believe our government is supposed to “allow” anything?

iii)   Has our government been delegated certain powers to “prohibit” certain things?

b)    “You couldn’t buy a cannon when, in fact, the Second Amendment passed.”

i)     Are you aware that President Biden has publicly stated that at least twice?

59) Do companies in the firearms industry have “liability immunity”?

a)    What is the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA)?

i)     Does it prohibit anyone form suing a firearms company for a defective product?

ii)    Does it merely prohibit a firearms company from being sued for a person using their product in an illegal manner?

b)    Can a citizen sue Ford if a person uses an F150 to kill people?

c)    Can a citizen sue Ford if a person is killed while driving an F150 is the brakes were defective?

d)    What is the difference?

60) Do you believe that “gun manufacturers have more immunity than any other American industry” as stated by your prospective boss on April 11, 2022?

61) Does it “sound bizarre” to you that President Biden supports the Second Amendment as he stated on April 11, 2022?

62) Are you willing to enforce the president's “crackdown” on homemade guns?

63) If confirmed, would it be your responsibility to enforce the Constitution and all laws passed by Congress in pursuance thereof?

a)    Is it a crime to give arms to an enemy?

64) What, according to the Constitution of these united States, is the only way to create a law?

a)    Where, in the Constitution, does it state the BATFE has the authority to define terms that have the effect of law?

65) Do you believe defining a piece of plastic with no moving parts or orifices as a "machine gun" to be correct?

66) What is the Article, Section, and Clause of the U.S. Constitution that authorizes the POTUS or BATFE to change those definitions?

a)    If you can't cite the EXACT Article, Section, AND Clause, how do you square it with Amendments IX & X?

67) If the POTUS directs you to do something you know to be wrong ("wrong" by the LAW, not your personal opinion), what will you do?

68) Do you believe the current attempted changes to those definitions are under the purview of the POTUS or BATFE?

a)    What, EXACTLY, is that authorization?

69) What is the Article, Section, and Clause of the U.S. Constitution that authorizes the BATFE to exist?

a)    If you can't cite the EXACT Article, Section, AND Clause, how do you square it with Amendments IX & X?

70) What actions of the BATFE in the past do you believe were outside the bounds of the BATFE?

a)    Do you believe the BATFE should provide letters to American companies specifically stating that a product they are considering to manufacture is legal to produce and possess?

i)     After that company then manufactures that product, say a piece of plastic with no moving parts or orifices, and has been sold to tens of thousands of citizens, is it right for the BATFE to change their mind, rescind the letter, effectively forcing that company out of business, and force innocent, peaceable citizens to choose between confiscation or becoming a felon?

71) Do you believe the POTUS has the authority to do what he's done about "ghost guns"?

a)    If so, what is that authority?

72) Do you believe it should be illegal to make homemade guns altogether?

a)    If so, is it because the kits make it "too easy"?

i)     If so, define "too easy".

b)    If so, is it for the safety of the greater good?

73) Do you believe the mission of the BATFE is “public safety”?

a)    That is what your prospective future boss said on April 11, 2022.

i)     What Article, Section, and Clause of the Constitution authorizes the Executive Branch, including any of its subsidiaries, to do anything for the “safety” of the greater good?

(1)  The ONLY time “safety” is even mentioned in the Constitution or any of the Amendments is Article I (Congress), Section 9, Clause 2: “The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”

74) Do you believe that the estimated tens of thousands of gun control laws are worth it “if it saves just one life”?

a)    What if those tens of thousands of gun control laws cause innocent, peaceable citizens to die?

75) Would you be concerned about a subordinate under your purview, or even a boss of yours, if that person repeatedly said things were not true and consistently referred to your agency by the wrong name? (e.g., "AFT" instead of "ATF")