Steven Dettelbach, the newly sworn-in director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) and Explosives, said there is no overarching answer to solving the nation’s gun violence, even as guns have become the leading cause of death for children in the U.S.
Dettelbach acknowledged that the problem is “urgent,” but said it’s hard to compare the issue as seen in large cities like New York City and Chicago with places like South, Alaska, and small towns.
“The reason that we’re having a hard time coming up with one solution is that there is no one solution. The solutions are different, based upon where things are,” he said.
Following his confirmation last week, Dettelbach was ceremonially sworn in as ATF director earlier Tuesday, making him just the second Senate-confirmed director in the agency’s history and the first permanent director the agency has had in more than seven years.
Although he has called for an assault weapons ban in the past, when asked Tuesday what laws he would like to see changed to help the ATF stop gun violence, he punted to Congress. But when pressed on what the ATF can do about mass shootings, he did concede part of the focus needs to be on “prevention,” including giving people in the prison system “options other than going back to doing the same thing that got them there.”
