Dettelbach’s Nomination Widely Supported By Law Enforcement Groups
WASHINGTON –– Today, Everytown for Gun Safety and its grassroots networks, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, released the following statements ahead of tomorrow’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Steve Dettelbach’s nomination to become Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
The hearing, chaired by Senator Dick Durbin, will begin at 10 am tomorrow, Wednesday, May 25, and can be viewed here.
Dettelbach was nominated by President Biden in April. Dettelbach has decades of experience as a prosecutor, including serving as the Senate-confirmed US Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio and in the Department of Justice. He has worked with federal, state, and local law enforcement, and county prosecutors, to put away domestic extremists and violent criminals, including murderers, child predators, and more than 40 human traffickers.
“Depriving a key law enforcement agency of a Senate-confirmed leader for the last seven years has benefitted only two groups: criminals and rogue members of the gun industry,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “The recent mass shooting in Buffalo, which was fueled by hate and enabled by easy access to weapons of war, underscores the need for an ATF Director with a strong track record of partnering with law enforcement and taking on domestic extremists — and Steve Dettelbach has exactly that.”
“A strong, Senate-confirmed ATF director is a critical part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s comprehensive effort to go after violent white supremacists and rogue gun dealers alike,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. “Steve Dettelbach will lead the ATF’s law enforcement agents and investigators to make sure our gun laws are enforced to the fullest extent, and our grassroots volunteers urge the Senate to swiftly advance his nomination.”
A broad coalition of law enforcement and local leaders have come out in support of Dettelbach’s nomination, including the Major County Sheriffs of America, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Women in Federal Law Enforcement Foundation, a coalition of over 100 mayors, and the team of prosecutors who put the Oklahoma City bombers behind bars.
