# Rep. Eric Burlison Doubles Down: ‘Real Freedom Means Less Government Interference’ – Time to Shut Down the ATF for Good
As we kick off 2026, Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) isn’t wasting a moment, picking up right where he left off in 2025: waging war on the ATF’s bloated bureaucracy and its insidious registration schemes. In a bold declaration, Burlison proclaims, *Real Freedom Means Less Government Interference,* laying out a clarion call to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives entirely. This isn’t just rhetoric—Burlison has been a relentless force, sponsoring bills like the Abolish the ATF Act and challenging overreaches such as pistol brace rules and forced registries that treat law-abiding gun owners like felons-in-waiting. Fresh off a year of grinding against ATF Director Steven Dettelbach’s empire-building, Burlison’s renewed push signals the GOP’s post-election momentum is translating into real legislative teeth.
Context matters here: the ATF, born from the ashes of Prohibition-era overreach, has morphed into a 2A Frankenstein, issuing 20,000+ pages of regulations that criminalize common configurations like arm braces (struck down by courts but still haunting FFLs) and suppressor ownership via the NFA’s tax stamp racket. Burlison’s crusade exposes the agency’s pattern of rule-by-decree—think the 2022 zero-tolerance policy that shuttered thousands of dealers over paperwork nitpicks, or the ongoing war on private sales disguised as ghost gun panic. With Republicans holding the House, Senate, and White House trifecta, this is the 2A community’s golden window: imagine no more ATF frame-and-receiver reinterpretations turning your 80% lower into a felony, or arbitrary engaging in business tests strangling hobbyists. Burlison’s bill, if turbocharged by allies like Reps. Massie and Biggs, could dismantle the beast piece by piece, redirecting its $1.9 billion budget to actual crime-fighting.
The implications for gun owners are seismic—true deregulation would unleash an innovation boom in firearms tech, from affordable suppressors to streamlined manufacturing, while slashing compliance costs that hit small FFLs hardest. Critics will scream Wild West, but data debunks it: states with minimal federal meddling (think constitutional carry havens) boast lower violent crime rates than ATF-heavy blue zones. Burlison’s fire isn’t lone-wolf; it’s a rallying cry syncing with SCOTUS’s Bruen-era skepticism of historical analogs. 2A warriors, this is your cue—flood Capitol Switchboard, back the Abolish the ATF Act (H.R. 374), and let’s make 2026 the year real freedom prevails over D.C. desk-jockeys. Stay vigilant; liberty’s on the line.
