ATF’s top lawyer, who oversaw overhaul of its firearms regulations, resigns

Robert Leider, the chief counsel at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who has been overseeing a major overhaul of the agency’s firearms regulations, announced Friday he is stepping down from his role, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.

Leider was appointed as the ATF’s top attorney last year shortly after former Attorney General Pam Bondi abruptly fired the agency’s former chief, claiming without evidence that the bureau was “targeting gun owners.”

Shortly after CBS News sought comment, the ATF said it had released a short press statement announcing Leider’s resignation.

Leider, who previously clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, is expected to return to his previous role as a law professor at George Mason University ‘s Antonin Scalia Law School, the ATF added.

Leider will technically remain employed with the ATF through January until he returns to his teaching post, but will remain on administrative leave starting Monday, a source with direct knowledge said.

Leider could not be immediately reached for comment.

Leider has been in charge of overseeing an overhaul of dozens of different firearm-related regulations that were unveiled by the Justice Department in April, in what it called an effort to “reduce unnecessary burdens on law-abiding citizens and businesses while modernizing regulatory frameworks that no longer reflect current law, agency practice, or court precedent.”

Among the various proposals was one that would repeal a Biden-era “engaged in the business” rule that broadened the definition of who was required to obtain a firearms dealer license and undergo a background check. 

That rule was intended to prevent online sellers and sellers at gun shows from evading licensing requirements that would subject them to background checks.

Although Leider was a political appointee at the ATF and a staunch supporter of Second Amendment rights, he did not always see eye to eye with the Justice Department leadership’s legal positions on litigation brought against the ATF by pro-gun groups, multiple sources familiar with the matter previously told CBS News.

The most recent dust-up inside the Justice Department revolved around a decision by senior leadership not to appeal a court ruling in Texas that loosened regulations for short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns and silencers under the National Firearms Act.

Sources told CBS News in September the decision not to appeal the ruling was directed by President Trump, and ran counter to the legal advice of numerous career and politically appointed attorneys at the Justice Department.

A source familiar with the matter told CBS News that Leider’s decision to step down was not related to the Justice Department’s decision not to appeal the court ruling on the National Firearms Act.