But is it truly? Is it not the purview of Congress to pass laws? Does BATF have the authority to so radically revise firearms laws absent any accountability to or on the part of Congress?
It is the purview of Congress to pass laws.
The ATF is not changing any LAW.
The ATF is changing their regulations, NOT any law. It may seem like a distinction without a difference, but there is a significant difference in the words and what they mean, legally.
Regulations are created by each govt enforcement agency, specific to their area of responsibility under the authority granted the Executive branch.
This is our system, for better and for worse....Congress writes laws that may be quite specific in some areas and more general in others, but none of the laws contain the massive amount of detail needed to operate an enforcement system day to day, day in and day out.
that is intentionally left to each department of the Executive branch to carry out. Congress has the opportunity to review and approve or deny, but it seems that only in rare cases do they do anything but rubberstamp approval.
Some believe that is the purview of the courts, but of course the courts can only act on things that are already in place, not proposed.
And the courts seem to usually take the position that while ruling on the cases before them, and the law as it applies in those cases, it is not the function of the court to correct or even educate Congress or anyone else, if that does not apply to the case before them.
While the rule change about what is, and isn't going to be legally a firearm is a big deal to us, for most of the rest of the US its a matter they don't really understand, don't care about, and has no effect on their lives.
Numerically, the firearms enthusiasts who are most affected are a tiny minority of the voting population, and therefore, what we want is quite low on the priority list of neutral government actors and there are a great many who are far from neutral on the matter of private firearms ownership.
As far as I can see at the moment it seems to be just one more example of govt screwing with a minority group falsely claiming that it will reduce crime.
I can't say if we really get the government we deserve, but we absolutely do get the government we elect.
Expanding the authority of government agencies, no matter which route is taken always comes "from the top, down".