By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
One way to cut back on enforcement of the nation’s gun laws is to reduce funding to the top agency tasked with that job.
On Wednesday, Thomas Brandon, head of ATF, broke with the White House on the administration’s 2020 budget proposal that calls for ATF cuts, saying it would further damage the agency, which is already straining for resources, the Washington Times writes.
Brandon told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the proposed budget would results in ATF losing 377 positions to attrition.
“You hear people say, ‘trim the fat.’ Then we trimmed into muscle and now we’re trimming into bone,” Brandon testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee. “ATF won’t be able to do what it can do today.”
Brandon also said discussed benefits of a bill the White House opposes that extends the amount of time the FBI can get to perform gun-purchase background checks, the Times reports.
