Nation Poised for Supreme Court Gun Ruling, Tussle Over New ATF Chief

Tuesday’s mass shooting may affect the timing of a key Supreme Court ruling should a justice want to reference it in their opinion, but the justices aren’t likely to delay the release due to optics, Bloomberg News reports. 

The case under review, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, is the oldest outstanding case currently pending before the justices and challenges New York’s strict limits on the right to carry a concealed gun. The Court has signaled it will soon limit state and local governments’ ability to enact gun control measures.

Meanwhile, the man intended to champion the enforcement of U.S. gun laws has a tough road ahead as Democrats have failed to pass any firearm restrictions in the decade since Sandy Hook and, despite pressure to do so now, have little sway in a 50-50 Senate where their defeat is all but certain.

Steven Dettelbach, President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, attended a tense confirmation hearing less than 24 hours after the Robb elementary school massacre, reports the Courthouse News Service.

Dettelbach previously spent a decade as a prosecutor, including as a U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. Eight former ATF directors and several former attorneys general from Republican and Democratic administrations have endorsed Dettelbach’s nomination.

However, the candidate’s approval is far from certain and Republicans have been critical in particular of an assault weapons ban for which he advocated during a 2018 failed bid for Ohio attorney general.