In recent years, Republicans in Congress have had a disturbing habit of wanting to defund government agencies that they find to some extent disruptive. For example, several GOP members wanted to defund the FBI. Others tried to defund the Internal Revenue Service.

There have been similar calls from Republicans to defund the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, and a few years ago a conservative congressman even suggested defunding the Food and Drug Administration.

And then, of course, there is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — better known as ATF — which Republicans targeted with similar rhetoric in the last Congress. In the new Congress, however, several GOP members not only want to strip the ATF of its resources but also want to abolish the agency entirely. The conservative Washington Times reported:

In addition to Burlison and Boebert, the bill has seven other Republican co-sponsors: Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mike Collins of Georgia, Robert Onder of Missouri, Andrew Ogles of Tennessee, Mary Miller of Illinois, Keith Self of Texas and Paul Gosar of Arizona.

Boebert said in a written statement that she believes the ATF “should be abolished before they ultimately abolish our Second Amendment.” (To date, the ATF has never attempted to repeal the Second Amendment or any other law – because it is unable to do so.)

Of course, there is no reason to believe that this legislation will gain traction any time soon. Abolishing entire federal agencies is incredibly difficult, and even if GOP leaders in the House showed interest in abolishing the ATF Act, it would be subject to a Senate Democratic filibuster that Republicans could not realistically break.

But the fact that several Republican members of the House would even introduce such a bill is reminiscent of some Republicans’ approach to gun policy. For years, much of the right clung to a familiar principle: There was no need for new gun laws, they said, officials just had to enforce the gun laws that were already in effect.

But we are occasionally reminded that this view no longer holds true for many in the party: Too many Republicans not only oppose new gun laws, they also want to abolish the agency responsible for enforcing existing gun laws.

As for the current state of the ATF, acting Director Steven Dettelbach — one of only two people ever confirmed by the Senate to head the department — is stepping down next week ahead of Donald Trump’s second term.

It is unclear who the new Republican president might nominate to replace Dettelbach, and there is no guarantee that his pick will be confirmed: In Trump’s first term, his decision to lead the ATF was rejected by a Republican-majority Senate. In fact, virtually every Republican senator for a decade and a half has opposed every nominee to lead the agency, regardless of merit.

Dettelbach told CBS News this week that he was concerned about the Republican-led Congress cutting the ATF’s budget, adding that “people would be killed if Republicans managed to eliminate the ATF.”