ATF Appoints Gun Law Scholar Robert Leider As Chief Counsel

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives has a new top lawyer. Robert Leider has taken the role of Assistant Director and Chief Counsel at ATF. Mr. Leider is a law professor who has written extensively on issues like government monopoly on use of force, militias, and the right to bear arms.

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Mr. Leider succeeds prior General Counsel Pamela Hicks after her ouster from the ATF. While Ms. Hicks was a longtime government official, Mr. Leider came out of private practice and the world of academia. His CV includes a clerkship for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (this is the lawyer equivalent of getting drafted into the NFL), teaching experience at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, an appellate and Supreme Court litigation in private practice.

Here are some of the articles he has authored to give a sense of the topics he studies:

Deciphering the 'Armed Forces of the United States' - This looks at the distinction between the professional military and the nonprofessional military at the time of the founding, and how the common descriptions of "army" and "militia" are misapplied in common use. The paper argues that "militia" includes all registrants of the Selective Service System, not just members of the National Guard as is often argued.

Taming Self-Defense: Using Deadly Force to Prevent Escapes - Under US law, police officers can terminate the escape of a criminal with lethal force in some circumstances. Though courts consider this a type of self defense, it fundamentally differs from the standard rules of self defense.

The Individual Right To Bear Arms For Common Defense - The American right to bear arms often breaks down into an individual view that common citizens can possess arms for self defense, or the view that the Second Amendment applies to a collective right for a formal militia. This paper argues that there is a third view on the issue of an individual right to bear arms for the common defense.

Clearly, Professor Leider is a man who has thought very deeply about the Second Amendment, separation of powers, use of force, and the relevant historical record. This is his area of expertise.

And check out this tweet post on X about Hawaii's restrictions on firearm carry:

In his new role as Chief Counsel Leider, I would anticipate that the ATF backs away from the very problematic administrative rules of the last few years. We will likely also see changes to the way ATF interprets or applies various federal laws that are more consistent with the view that gun ownership is a right, not a privilege and that restrictions on military-style weapons are fundamentally incompatible with the view that the Founding Fathers intended the average citizen be armed and able to serve in the militia.

These are interesting times indeed, and we will be watching closely to see what new legal changes come to ATF in the future.