The Trump administration proposes merging the ATF with the DEA. Two extrajudicial, unaccountable agencies, the ATF and the DEA, both with long records of abuse and overreach, are now being merged to create a centralized power structure that will oversee and enforce laws affecting the only constitutional right involved: firearms. This isn’t about efficiency; it’s about consolidating control over the Second Amendment with even fewer checks and more force.
A Trump Administration plan that would merge the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Drug Enforcement Agency is drawing fire from gun owners and some gun-rights organizations.
Back in late March, Gun Owners of America (GOA), while reviewing the DEA’s FY 2026 budget proposal, unearthed the merger plan. That section of the budget states: “To most successfully, effectively, and efficiently continue the fight to eradicate the designated cartel FTOs and seek to eliminate violent crime, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) will be incorporated into DEA, addressing both drug and gun crime. This transition will be initiated in FY 2026 and achieve efficiencies in resources and case deconfliction.”
GOA, however, sees the move as one that would strengthen the embattled ATF, famous for persecuting lawful gun owners and gun sellers, giving the group more power than ever before. At the time the proposed merger was discovered, the organization quickly threw up a red flag.
By Mark Chesnut
