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Stephen Gutowski
September 17, 2025
The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) told Congress on Tuesday that he believes a so-called assault weapons ban could prevent some high-profile shootings.
FBI Director Kash Patel expressed his view to the Senate Judiciary Committee during a wide-ranging oversight hearing. In an exchange with Senator Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.), Patel agreed that an “assault weapon ban,” which commonly targets popular firearms like the AR-15, could stop some killings. However, he stopped short of endorsing any specific legislative proposals.
“I think there are instances on this legislation that could prevent future attacks, but I’m not going to weigh into the creation of legislation,” Patel said.
The comments come after Department of Justice (DOJ) officials said the Trump Administration is exploring plans to blanket strip trans people of their gun rights, and the administration emphasized gun seizures during its takeover of Capitol policing–both of which have drawn backlash from gun-rights groups. If the administration continues to flirt with imposing broad new gun restrictions, it risks alienating a key voting bloc that has generally been happy with the other actions it has taken on guns to this point. Conversely, if Patel offers concrete support to an assault weapons ban, it could signal a coming shift in the dynamics of gun politics on Capitol Hill and boost gun-control activists’ longstanding efforts to resurrect the prohibition.
Senator Klobuchar brought up the Annunciation School shooting and the Charlie Kirk assassination during her questioning of Patel. She advocated for either an outright ban on assault weapons, which she didn’t define but usually includes AR-15s and other firearms, or raising the age of gun ownership as high as 25 in order to prevent similar attacks in the future. Patel responded that he is open to discussing any idea that could save even a single life.
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When Klobachar again asked Patel directly about his view on the effectiveness of a potential “assault weapon ban,” that’s when he conceded it could work but he didn’t want to weigh in on legislation.
Patel didn’t elaborate on how he plans to work with Congress on potential gun restrictions during the exchange. The FBI did not respond to a request from The Reload for more information on Patel’s views on assault weapons bans or other new gun restrictions.
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Still, Patel is not the only one in the Trump Administration who has expressed some openness to a ban. In fact, President Donald Trump has backed the idea on at least two occasions. Before he ran for office, he wrote a book endorsing an assault weapon ban revival.
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Patel, who was also very briefly the acting head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) earlier this year, has also sought out and enjoyed support from some prominent gun-rights groups. Most of that support is derived from a 2024 speech he gave to a Gun Owners of America conference.
In that speech, he described his “mission set” as “destroying the deep state.” He attacked former ATF Director Stephen Dettelbach, who was appointed by Joe Biden, for backing the bumpstock ban, even though President Trump is the one who instituted the ban before the Supreme Court subsequently struck it down as unconstitutional.
“The director of the ATF basically came out the other day and said he’s all for a bumpstock ban,” Patel said. “This is a political appointee in Washington, DC, who’s supposed to be in charge of our constitutional rights. This guy wants to take it away.”
“If you want your rights protected and if you want to wipe out the deep state in one fell swoop, you, the gun owners of America, have that unique opportunity,” Patel said.
Later, Patel gave some further insight into his thinking on gun rights. During his FBI confirmation hearing, California Democrat Alex Padilla pressed Patel for his position on the constitutionality of background checks on gun sales and the federal machinegun ban. He said he’d defer to the federal courts.
“Whatever the courts rule in regards to the Second Amendment is protected by the Second Amendment,” he told the senator.
Full article:
thereload.com
Stephen Gutowski
September 17, 2025
The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) told Congress on Tuesday that he believes a so-called assault weapons ban could prevent some high-profile shootings.
FBI Director Kash Patel expressed his view to the Senate Judiciary Committee during a wide-ranging oversight hearing. In an exchange with Senator Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.), Patel agreed that an “assault weapon ban,” which commonly targets popular firearms like the AR-15, could stop some killings. However, he stopped short of endorsing any specific legislative proposals.
“I think there are instances on this legislation that could prevent future attacks, but I’m not going to weigh into the creation of legislation,” Patel said.
The comments come after Department of Justice (DOJ) officials said the Trump Administration is exploring plans to blanket strip trans people of their gun rights, and the administration emphasized gun seizures during its takeover of Capitol policing–both of which have drawn backlash from gun-rights groups. If the administration continues to flirt with imposing broad new gun restrictions, it risks alienating a key voting bloc that has generally been happy with the other actions it has taken on guns to this point. Conversely, if Patel offers concrete support to an assault weapons ban, it could signal a coming shift in the dynamics of gun politics on Capitol Hill and boost gun-control activists’ longstanding efforts to resurrect the prohibition.
Senator Klobuchar brought up the Annunciation School shooting and the Charlie Kirk assassination during her questioning of Patel. She advocated for either an outright ban on assault weapons, which she didn’t define but usually includes AR-15s and other firearms, or raising the age of gun ownership as high as 25 in order to prevent similar attacks in the future. Patel responded that he is open to discussing any idea that could save even a single life.
.
When Klobachar again asked Patel directly about his view on the effectiveness of a potential “assault weapon ban,” that’s when he conceded it could work but he didn’t want to weigh in on legislation.
Patel didn’t elaborate on how he plans to work with Congress on potential gun restrictions during the exchange. The FBI did not respond to a request from The Reload for more information on Patel’s views on assault weapons bans or other new gun restrictions.
.
Still, Patel is not the only one in the Trump Administration who has expressed some openness to a ban. In fact, President Donald Trump has backed the idea on at least two occasions. Before he ran for office, he wrote a book endorsing an assault weapon ban revival.
.
Patel, who was also very briefly the acting head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) earlier this year, has also sought out and enjoyed support from some prominent gun-rights groups. Most of that support is derived from a 2024 speech he gave to a Gun Owners of America conference.
In that speech, he described his “mission set” as “destroying the deep state.” He attacked former ATF Director Stephen Dettelbach, who was appointed by Joe Biden, for backing the bumpstock ban, even though President Trump is the one who instituted the ban before the Supreme Court subsequently struck it down as unconstitutional.
“The director of the ATF basically came out the other day and said he’s all for a bumpstock ban,” Patel said. “This is a political appointee in Washington, DC, who’s supposed to be in charge of our constitutional rights. This guy wants to take it away.”
“If you want your rights protected and if you want to wipe out the deep state in one fell swoop, you, the gun owners of America, have that unique opportunity,” Patel said.
Later, Patel gave some further insight into his thinking on gun rights. During his FBI confirmation hearing, California Democrat Alex Padilla pressed Patel for his position on the constitutionality of background checks on gun sales and the federal machinegun ban. He said he’d defer to the federal courts.
“Whatever the courts rule in regards to the Second Amendment is protected by the Second Amendment,” he told the senator.
Full article:
FBI Director Says ‘Assault Weapon Ban’ Could ‘Prevent Future Attacks’ in Some Instances, Declines to Endorse Legislation
The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) told Congress on Tuesday that he believes a so-called assault weapons ban could prevent some high-profile shootings.
thereload.com
