PA Bill Number: HB335

Title: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons.

Description: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons. ...

Last Action: Removed from table

Last Action Date: May 1, 2024

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ATF director steps down following days of rumors :: 03/21/2015

UPDATED (2:20 p.m. PDT): B. Todd Jones, director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, confirmed Friday morning that he is leaving that post, nine days after a leading national gun rights organization called on him to step down or be fired primarily because of the controversy over the agency’s recent proposal to ban a popular type of ammunition for modern sport-utility rifles.

Jones, who is departing March 31, was appointed director of the scandal-plagued agency in 2013. Last week, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms called for his resignation or dismissal in the wake of a major debacle over a proposal to ban the M855 cartridge by changing its classification to an "armor piercing" round because it can also be used in certain handguns.

The proposal caused an uproar, and the ATF was deluged with more than 80,000 comments, most of them opposing the proposed ban. The agency has temporarily withdrawn the idea, but has not officially scrapped it.

CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, who expressed clear disappointment in Jones’ performance, culminating in the “colossal blunder” of the proposed ammunition ban, told Examiner via telephone that he is not confident the departure will quickly change things at the embattled agency.

“This gives ATF another chance to clean up its act,” Gottlieb observed. “However, based on their past behavior, I still don’t have confidence that they will now suddenly improve their performance. That remains to be seen, and Congress needs to keep the agency on a tight leash.”

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Attorney General Eric Holder released the following statement: "Throughout his tenure as Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Todd Jones has cemented his reputation as an exemplary leader, a consummate professional, and an outstanding public servant. Since 2011, when I asked Todd to serve as Acting Director of ATF, he has made bold changes, advanced forward-looking policies, and taken innovative steps to strengthen ATF’s investigative capabilities—including ballistic imaging technology that recently played a critical role in the investigation of the shooting of two police officers. With his guidance, ATF has implemented its Frontline business model—a data-driven approach designed to ensure the agency can focus its resources to achieve maximum impact. The agency has developed groundbreaking law enforcement initiatives across the country to combat violent crime and bring dangerous criminals to justice. And as a result of Todd’s leadership, ATF has built a proactive, creative, and effective team that is well-prepared to drive the agency into the future.

“As a former officer in the United States Marine Corps, a highly talented prosecutor, and a proven leader who has been named a U.S. Attorney by two different presidents, Todd Jones has never hesitated to answer the call to serve his community and his country with exceptional integrity and uncommon distinction. As the first ever Senate-confirmed Director of ATF, his indelible legacy will serve as an inspiring example for all those who follow him. On behalf of the Department of Justice, I thank him for his extraordinary service and wish him all the best as he takes the next steps in his already remarkable career.”

Late Friday afternoon, Sen. Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement: “My concerns regarding Mr. Jones’ leadership have been well-documented ever since he was nominated by President Obama to head the ATF. There’s no question he took the reins of the ATF during a time of great turmoil following the Fast and Furious scandal, but it appears that he failed to address many of those problems. We have clear differences regarding his leadership and tenure, but I wish him success in his next endeavor. I look forward to seeing the ATF once again regain its footing in its own ranks and withthe American people.”

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Jones became acting director of the agency in August 2011 at the height of the Fast and Furious scandal. A series of public hearings before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that revealed a horribly mismanaged operation resulting in the trafficking of an estimated 2,000 guns to Mexican criminal elements.

But under Jones, nobody was fired for the mismanaged operation. Some people retired or resigned, others were reassigned.

There was the Operation Fearless scandal in Milwaukee that was exposed by the Journal-Sentinel newspaper. That operation resulted in what the newspaper called “a string of mistakes and failures, including an ATF military-style machine gun landing on the streets of Milwaukee and the agency having $35,000 in merchandise stolen from its store…”

The newspaper found similar operations had run in other cities, including Portland, Ore. While not on the same scale as Fast and Furious, these operations inspired Wisconsin Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner to introduce legislation to dissolve ATF.

Sources had tipped Examiner that Jones’ departure was in the works, and yesterday, Chris Chiafullo, national coordinating counsel for FFL Guard, described as “the Gold Standard in Legal Services and Compliance Solutions” serving more than 500 licensed firearms dealers, blogged about an unconfirmed rumor that Jones was leaving. In a telephone conversation with Chiafullo this morning, he told Examiner that this is not a surprise.

“I think that no matter what they said, he was always a temporary head (of the agency),” Chiafullo said.

He said the man coming in to replace Jones as acting director, Thomas E. Brandon, is “very amendable to working with federal firearms licensees.” Brandon has been the ATF deputy director under Jones, and has been with the agency more than 26 years.

It was Brandon who was transferred from Detroit to the Phoenix office following the Fast and Furious revelations. In Phoenix, he was the special agent in charge of a field office that appeared to have gotten out of control with the gun running sting operation.

Last week when Gottlieb called for Jones’ resignation, he noted, “When Jones took over the agency, first as an acting director in 2011 and then became the permanent director in 2013, the public, and especially the Second Amendment community, had high hopes that he would straighten out the ATF. The ammunition ban blunder clearly shows that he hasn’t.”

Late yesterday afternoon, National gun rights Examiner David Codrea initially reported on what was then a rumored but imminent departure by Jones, and this morning, sources confirmed to this column that it was happening.

This article contains updated information added to the original story.

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