Gun Owners Applaud Kash Patel Confirmation To Lead FBI

Kash Patel, new Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, posed for this official portrait in the Army portrait studio at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, Nov. 17, 2020 while serving as Chief of Staff Secretary of Defense (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Keisha Brown).

The U.S. Senate confirmed Kash Patel as the next Director of the FBI, marking a major victory for gun owners and constitutional rights advocates nationwide, according to the nation’s top Second Amendment protection organizations.

“Gun Owners of America (GOA) has proudly supported Patel throughout the confirmation process—despite relentless attacks from Senate Democrats who took issue with his strong ties to GOA and his unwavering commitment to the Second Amendment,” the organization said.

Georgia’s two Senators, Sen. Jon Ossoff  and Sen. Raphael Warnock, both Democrats from Atlanta, voted against confirming Mr. Patel. Neither Sen. Ossoff nor Sen. Warnock responded to GON’s request for comment or explanation for their votes.

Mr. Patel was a featured speaker at GOA’s inaugural GOALS conference in Knoxville this past August.

“He has consistently demonstrated his dedication to protecting gun rights and defending the Constitution against government overreach. GOA remains committed to working with Director Patel and holding the FBI accountable to protect gun owners’ rights and end the agency’s history of unconstitutional overreach,” GOA said.

Tim Macy, Chairman of GOA, praised Patel’s confirmation.

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

Erich Pratt, Senior Vice President of GOA, added, “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. 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.”

Just days after he became FBI Director, Patel was also sworn in at ATF headquarters as acting chief of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Many Americans feel the Federal Bureau of Investigation needs an overhaul. Congressman Jim Jordan said, “Never forget, this is the FBI that went after concerned parents at school board meetings. This is the FBI that equated pro-life Catholics with domestic terrorists. This is the FBI that can’t tell us who planted the pipe bombs at the Capitol, who leaked the Supreme Court’s Dobbs opinion, or who brought cocaine to the White House. This is the same FBI that abused its warrantless surveillance authority to spy on President Trump’s campaign in 2016. The FBI that employed senior investigators who mocked conservative Americans and vowed to stop Donald Trump from becoming president. And this is the FBI that raided President Trump’s home and riffled through his private and presidential records.”

According to the Associated Press, Democrats raised alarm at Patel’s nomination for FBI director over his lack of management experience compared to past directors.

Previously, Mr. Patel served as the former Chief of Staff to Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller and was responsible for leading the Secretary’s mission at the Department, including his executive staff and providing counsel to the Secretary on all matters concerning the Department’s operations.

Prior to that, Mr. Patel served as the Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism (CT) at the National Security Council (NSC). In that capacity, Mr. Patel oversaw the execution of several of President Donald J. Trump’s top priorities, including eliminating ISIS and Al-Qa’ida leadership such as al-Baghdadi and Qasem al-Rimi, and the safe repatriation of numerous American hostages. Mr. Patel also served as Principal Deputy to the Acting Director of National Intelligence, where he oversaw the operations of all 17 intelligence community agencies and provided the President’s Daily Briefing.

Before joining the NSC, Mr. Patel served as the National Security Advisor and Senior Counsel for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), where he spearheaded the investigation into the Russian active measures campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election. Concurrently, he oversaw sensitive programs for the Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Forces and worked to enact legislation to fully fund the multi-billion dollar budgets supporting intelligence and counterterrorism operations worldwide.

Mr. Patel joined the HPSCI following his tenure as a terrorism prosecutor at the Department of Justice (DOJ), where he led investigations spanning multiple theaters of conflict and oversaw the successful prosecution of criminals aligned with Al-Qa’ida, ISIS, and other terror groups. Mr. Patel also served as the DOJ Liaison Officer to Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), working with our nation’s most prestigious counterterrorism units to conduct collaborative global targeting operations against high value terrorism targets.

Mr. Patel began his career as a public defender, trying scores of complex cases ranging from murder, to narco-trafficking, to complex financial crimes in jury trials in state and federal courts.

A native of New York, Mr. Patel completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Richmond before returning to New York to earn his law degree, along with a Certificate in International Law from University College London Faculty of Laws in the United Kingdom. Kash is a life-long ice hockey player, coach and fan.