Brady Condemns Trump Administration’s Abrupt Firing of Longtime ATF Chief Counsel Pamela Hicks

The disturbing removal is the latest sign of the Trump administration implementing its extremist agenda to empower the gun lobby and gut our nation’s most basic efforts to prevent gun violence.

Washington, D.C., February 20, 2025 — Today, Attorney General Pam Bondi fired Pamela Hicks, the Chief Counsel of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), and had Hicks escorted out of the ATF’s D.C. Building. Hicks, a 23-year veteran attorney at the Department of Justice, served as chief counsel for three years, leading the agency’s efforts to enforce existing gun laws and regulations. 

Brady President Kris Brown said: 

The abrupt firing of ATF Chief Counsel Hicks is chilling. It is also no secret that ATF has historically been woefully under-resourced, and we pay the price in our safety, with guns now the number one killer of children in this country. Now, with this sudden removal at the federal agency charged with preventing gun trafficking and overseeing the gun industry, we are all at greater risk.

Without light being shed on the sources and suppliers of gun crime in America, and enforcement of the laws designed to protect the public from gun violence, we will not be able to stem the flow of firearms that are contaminating and plaguing our nation. This administration's latest move clearly demonstrates its willingness to capitulate to gun lobby interests at the expense of public safety. The American people deserve leadership at ATF that will vigorously enforce our nation's gun laws and hold bad actors accountable — not industry insiders who will protect gun manufacturer profits over American lives. The position must be filled by someone committed to public safety, not industry profits.