The U.S. Senate’s confirmation of former federal prosecutor Kash Patel as the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is drawing cheers from pro-gun groups and jeers from those who want more restrictions on private firearms ownership.

Patel, a strong gun rights supporter, has been castigated by gun-ban groups since President Donald Trump first mentioned him for the role. One of their biggest grievances was that Patel was a “gun extremist” who might “purge the FBI.”

Now that he has been confirmed, groups like Brady United, formerly known as Handgun Control Inc., are apoplectic that the Republican-led U.S. Senate managed to push Patel through by a 51-49 margin.

“The confirmation of Kash Patel as FBI Director is a devastating blow to public safety,” Kris Brown, Brady president, said in a press release following the vote. “The FBI is responsible for running our nation’s Brady Background Check System on gun sales—a system that has blocked over 5 million illegal gun transfers. Patel’s record suggests he will weaken this system and our safeguards, making it easier for individuals intent on doing harm to obtain firearms.”

Brown criticized the Senate for confirming Patel, without mentioning the fact that his own party’s turn away from Second Amendment rights was one reason Republicans recaptured the Senate last November.

“The U.S. Senate had a choice, and they failed us by confirming a known gun rights extremist and conspiracy theorist to lead the FBI,” Brown concluded. “Now, our work is more urgent than ever. As the Trump administration stacks its cabinet with leaders diametrically opposed to the charges of the agencies they will lead, we must fight to protect the systems and institutions that keep our country safe.”

As most TTAG readers are well aware—but Democrats won’t admit—the Biden Administration weaponized the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) against gun owners through various means. The FBI was part of that weaponization of government, and pro-gun groups like Gun Owners of America are hopeful that now that Patel has been confirmed, he will put the agency back on track.

“For years, we’ve watched the FBI trample on the rights of law-abiding gun owners who the Biden Administration designated as ‘Militia Violent Extremists’ for their belief in the Bill of Rights and use of patriotic imagery like the Gadsden Flag,” Erich Pratt, GOA vice president, said in a news release about the confirmation. “Kash Patel has made it clear that those days are over. He is a true constitutionalist, and we are confident that he will work to rein in the agency’s abuses and ensure the FBI upholds, rather than undermines, the Second Amendment.” 

GOA Chairman Tim Macy also weighed in on the confirmation, saying he hopes the agency will once again work to “serve the American people.”

“Kash Patel’s confirmation is a massive win for gun owners across America,” Macy said. “Unlike his predecessors, he understands that the FBI must serve the American people—not act as a political weapon against them. We look forward to seeing Director Patel restore integrity to the Bureau while standing firm in defense of our Second Amendment rights.”