ATF director on preventing mass shootings: 'Whatever they give us, we're going to use'
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - In October, four years will have passed since the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue.
On Wednesday, Steven Dettelbach, the director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, was in Pittsburgh speaking about extremism and domestic terrorism at the Eradicate Hate Global Summit at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
He sat down exclusively with KDKA Investigator Andy Sheehan and talked about what can be done to stop mass shootings.
"On the day of the massacre, ATF was on the scene before it was even over," Dettelbach said.
In the wake of the massacre, ATF launched their own investigation of the gunman and his weapons, finding that the AK-47 rifle and the two Glock handguns used in the assault had been legally purchased and registered, highlighting the limits of the bureau's power to prevent such attacks.
Sheehan: "Enforcing existing laws would not have prevented the massacre at Tree of Life."
Dettelbach: "I don't know all the details of what would have and what wouldn't have prevented that from occurring. My job is to do the best we can to identify trigger pullers, shooters, and taking them out of the population."
Since becoming director this summer, Dettelbach has focused on using existing laws and tools to prevent or limit mass shootings. In the Fourth of July attack in Highland Park, Illinois, Dettelbach says ATF was able to quickly trace the weapon used and identify the shooter, helping the police arrest him before another attack planned in Madison, Wisconsin.
Dettelbach: "By identifying trigger pullers and getting information to cops on the ground in real time, we can help prevent further violence."
Sheehan: "Do we need a red flag law?"
Dettelbach: "Other people decide what tools we have. Whatever they give us, we're going to use."
Red flag laws allow law enforcement to confiscate guns from someone shown to be a threat to themselves or others. Nineteen states have them. Pennsylvania does not. While red flags were raised in the case of gunman Robert Bowers, Dettelbach says with or without such laws, his bureau is committed to reining in gun violence and stopping future mass shootings like Tree of Life.
"We need to tell people not just what happened on that day but the constant drumbeat of more than 100 Americans losing their lives every day to firearms violence is unacceptable and something we have to work on," he said.
