BATFE

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White House Delays “Two-A-Day” Implementation – Again

February 5, 2011 by

The White House has again delayed implementation of the multiple rifle purchase reporting requirement in the Southwest border states. According to an article in the Washington Post, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has extended the comment period until February 14th to give the public more time to comment on the proposal.

Meg Reilly, spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Budget, said the decision follows President Obama’s directive to curb excessive regulation and “is consistent with the president’s call for more transparency and opportunities for public participation in his recent executive order.”

ATF had planned to use a demand letter requiring the reporting of multiple sales within a 5-day period.  It would require the reporting of sales of semi-auto rifles with a caliber greater than .22 which also had detachable magazines. This emergency requirement would have only applied to FFL’s in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. ATF hoped to get OMB approval for their “pilot project” by early January.

Requiring the reporting of multiple semi-auto rifle sales was a suggestion in the Department of Justice Inspector General’s report on Operation Gunrunner. At the time, ATF Deputy Director Kenneth Melson said he was unsure whether the Bureau had the authority under the Gun Control Act of 1968 to require this.

As I posted in early January at the first delay, it seems that pressure from gun rights groups and Congress was behind the first delay. Three Senators and 35 Congressmen have sent the White House a letter opposing the requirement. I have no doubt that this sort of pressure was behind the second delay of the mult-rifle reporting requirement.

ATF was thrown a bone by the OMB when proposed budget cuts of over 12% to the agency’s budget were restored.

ATF received good news earlier in the week, however, when the OMB made an unusual announcement that ATF had won a budget battle. Early budget documents obtained by The Washington Post showed that ATF would get a cut of nearly $160 million out of a $1.25 billion budget request – a 12.8 percent reduction that would be 3.6 percent below the current budget.

“Even as we make tough choices across the government,” Reilly said, “the 2012 budget includes robust support for Southwest border security, including an increase above current funding levels for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.”

I am sure that ATF cares more about their budget than they do about Mexico, Mexican cartels, and semi-auto rifles crossing the border. Can you say “Operation Gunwalker”? Money, not effectiveness, is the life blood of any modern bureaucracy.

In the meantime, we have until Valentine’s Day to send comments about the multiple-rifle reporting requirement. Let’s use it. NSSF has suggestions on what to include in your letter here. Make sure to send a copy to your Senators and Congressman as well.

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NSSF On The ATF Shotgun Study

February 1, 2011 by

The NSSF released this today. I think they got it right where they say it isn’t for the Federal government to decide an event is sporting if the participants consider it a sport.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) is currently reviewing the recently released study by ATF on the importability of shotguns. NSSF will be submitting comments to ATF by the May 1, 2011 deadline. NSSF’s initial reaction to the study is that if the shooting public deems a certain activity to be “sporting” through participation, even if that sport is new and seems unconventional to the uninitiated, NSSF does not believe the federal government should say that the firearms law abiding citizens use to participate in that shooting sport activity are neither “particularly suitable for nor readily adaptable to generally recognized sporting purposes” pursuant to the Gun Control Act of 1968. Many new sport shooting disciplines have arisen since 1968 and have enjoyed significant participation. The federal government ought not to be making subjective decisions about what lawful shooting activities it considers a sport.

The safe and responsible participation in new and evolving sporting events does not result in injury. The possession of firearms in the hands of law abiding Americans for any lawful purpose, including but not limited to sports shooting, does not cause crime.

The Supreme Court’s decisions in Heller and McDonald make clear that the exercise of the fundamental individual right to keep and bear arms for self defense protected by the Second Amendment does not hinge on whether one will use the firearm to participate in an activity the government deems to be sufficiently sporting. The shotguns this study would ban from importation are also suitable for self protection including home defense.

NSSF believes the time has come for Congress to re-examine the so-called “sporting purpose” test as a criteria for importing a firearm into the United States.

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Wah!

February 1, 2011 by 1 Comment

The Brady Campaign is upset that budget cuts may be coming for their favorite Federal agency ATF.

ATF, Strong Gun Laws Needed to Fight Illegal Guns
by Paul Helmke on January 31st, 2011

According to a recent report in the Washington Post, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) could suffer budget cuts of almost 13 percent, which would effectively eliminate Project Gunrunner, a program designed to combat gun-trafficking from the U.S. to Mexico.

Any cuts to the already under-staffed and under-funded ATF would be a setback, but the kinds of cuts that are rumored would be devastating to the ATF’s ability to interrupt the flow of illegal guns across America and Mexico. Worst of all, though, would be for the Obama Administration to pursue these cuts without pushing to implement strong, commonsense gun laws, such as those to ban large-capacity , assault weapons, and closing the gun show loophole.

These laws would be more effective and efficient because they offer a pro-active means — instead of a reactive one — to stemming the flow of guns to Mexican drug cartels and to criminals and gangs on America’s streets. Not having an ATF director in place is also problematic. If we don’t get these new laws and the ATF has to absorb substantial cuts, our nation will have effectively surrendered to the purveyors of the most massive gun violence in the U.S. and Mexico.

From the sounds of it, ATF isn’t trying to interrupt the flow of arms to Mexico but rather are behind some of it. I wonder what Mr. Helmke has to say about that.

H/T Sebastian

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Project Gunwalker Heats Up

January 31, 2011 by

The heat on the ATF just got hotter.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) just released letters sent from his office to Kenneth Melson, Deputy Director of ATF, regarding allegations of misconduct in Operation Gunrunner. The biggest allegation is that ATF facilitated the smuggling of 500 semi-automatic rifles into Mexico without the Mexicans’ knowledge. Further, it is alleged that one of these rifles was used in the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

Grassley’s second letter, which he copied to Attorney General Eric Holder, concerns retaliation taken by Asst SAC George Gillette of the Phoenix Field Division against one possible whistle blower. Under Federal law, whistle blowers within an agency are protected from retaliation.

I think the last thing ATF wants are Congressional hearings into their agency and their actions. However, I don’t think they are going to get their wish.

Mike Vanderboegh has more on this at Sipsey Street Irregulars.

UPDATE: The political news website Politico has picked up the story. It will be interesting to see where it goes from there.

UPDATE II: Now it is really starting to get interesting. The story has been picked up by the AP and the Miami Herald. It will be hard to keep this bottled up now.

UPDATE III: I was right. Instapundit just linked to it from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

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Why Is ATF Involved And Not DEA?

January 25, 2011 by 4 Comments

I’ve subscribed to the press releases from BATFE headquarters and certain of their field divisions. I think it is smart to keep tabs on what they are doing. I got the following press release sent out by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.

McHenry County Man Charged with Federal Drug Trafficking Charges

ROCKFORD — PATRICK J. FITZGERALD, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, together with ANDREW L. TRAVER, Special Agent-In-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and KEITH NYGREN, McHenry County Sheriff, today announced:

A federal grand jury in Rockford yesterday returned an indictment charging BRIAN M. BLUM, 31, of McHenry, with two counts of distributing cocaine. If convicted of the offenses charged, Blum may be sentenced up to 30 years of imprisonment, as well as a fine of up to $2,000,000, for each count. Blum will be arraigned on January 19, 2011, at 10:30 a.m. before Magistrate Judge P. Michael Mahoney in the federal courthouse in Rockford.

The case was investigated by Special Agents of the Rockford Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department with the assistance of the United States Marshals Service. The case will be prosecuted in federal court by Assistant United States Attorney Joseph C. Pedersen.

Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving that defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Beyond the self-serving nature of this press release, why is ATF involved in a drug case and not the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration)? It would seem outside of their assigned mission of alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives. Am I missing something here?

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White House Puts Hold On New ATF Multi-Rifle Sales Reporting

January 7, 2011 by 5 Comments

According to a story from Reuters, the White House and the Office of Management and Budget are delaying the implementation of the ATF’s new “two-a-day” reporting rule that was supposed to start at the beginning of the year in the border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.

The White House Office of Management and Budget was expected to approve the emergency rule change on Wednesday. But an official with direct knowledge told Reuters that “ATF’s information collection request is still under review,” and declined further comment until the “deliberative phase is concluded.”

Of course, Paul Helmke of the Brady Campaign expressed disappointment and hoped that this was only a temporary delay. He termed it a “common-sense” policy and added:

“Dealers are already required to report multiple sales of handguns and this is just implementing the same thing for long guns,” Helmke told Reuters.

“It shouldn’t be that much more of a burden on anyone in terms of paperwork and data collection, and it could help save lives … It seems like a measure that should be fairly noncontroversial.”

At the heart of this “delay” is stiff opposition from gun rights groups and their allies – including Democrats – in Congress. The Montana delegation has been particularly vociferous on the issue.

The Gunleaders.com Blog has the documents submitted by ATF to OMB in justification of their reporting rule. The ATF estimated that the cost to FFL’s would be nil since most would fax it in and that the new reporting rule would have no impact on small businesses. Unless the ATF is providing a toll free number there is a cost. Moreover, the overwhelming majority of gun shops in this country are not the “big box” stores but rather small businesses.

If the White House is wavering on this, now is time to put more pressure on them. Call, fax, write, or email both your Senators and your Congressman opposing this “emergency” requirement that is only supposed to last 6 months if one believes the Federal Register. Note that in the documents submitted to the OMB by ATF, they are saying one year.

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He’s Baaaaack!

January 6, 2011 by 1 Comment

Among a whole list of re-nominations sent by the White House to the Senate is that of Andrew Traver to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. I guess Obama really does think he can poke us in the eye again with this anti-gun nominee.

The website Main Justice notes that Traver’s nomination is opposed by the NRA and other gun rights groups as well as that the agency has not had a permanent director since 2006.

No word yet from the Brady Campaign on this nomination. However, Dennis Hennigan praised it last December as the beginning of the end of Obama’s “appeasement” of gun rights forces.

While I really don’t think Traver can get approved by the Senate given his record of anti-gun activism, I think his renomination actually can serve a useful purpose for gun rights. The confirmation hearings will be an opportunity to air much of ATF’s dirty laundry which has been ignored by the mainstream media. These range from gross mismanagement in the upper levels of the bureau to allegations of looking the other way to AR’s being smuggled into Mexico so that they could be traced back to the U.S.

David Codrea’s Gun Rights Examiner has a number of columns dealing with these issues as does Mike Vanderboegh’s Sipsey Street Irregulars blog. Sources within ATF are now sending substantive leaks to both of these sites because they are so disgusted with what is going on.

The dissident ATF agent website, CleanUpATF.org, is also full of details about how the bureau is being mismanaged. If one wants to get a feel for how the rank and file in the ATF are suffering under the mismanagement, this is the place to go.

Given all the dirt that can and will come out at Traver’s confirmation hearings, one must wonder if this is some sort of end game to abolish ATF which has served as lightning rod for the gun rights movement and then reconstitute its gun control functions in a less public part of the Federal bureaucracy. That would be truly Machiavellian if true!

H/T Sebastian

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More From NSSF On Proposed ATF Long Gun Reporting

December 30, 2010 by

The NSSF posted this yesterday on their blog:

More on ATF Multiple Sales Reporting

December 29, 2010 By Larry Keane

An editorial in today’s Washington Post discussed the recent decision by ATF to require federally licensed firearms retailers along the Southwest border to report multiple sales, or other dispositions, of most semi-automatic rifles. Specifically this would impact .22 caliber or larger semi-automatic rifles that are capable of accepting a detachable magazine and are purchased by the same individual within five consecutive business days.

Though the Post supports this ill-advised proposal, it did acknowledge the legitimacy surrounding one of industry’s objections:

“When reports of its plan surfaced, the administration came under immediate attack from the gun rights lobby. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry trade association, argued that the administration lacked the legal authority to demand data on rifles and shotguns. It has a point: While Congress authorized the ATF to collect information on handgun sales, it declined to extend the requirement to long guns. A court is likely to be asked to decide whether demand letters may be used to shake loose this information …”

NSSF continues to oppose multiple sales reporting of semi-automatic rifles. Such reporting requirements will actually make it more difficult for licensed retailers to help law enforcement as traffickers modify their illegal schemes to circumvent the reporting requirement. Traffickers will go further underground, hiring more people to buy their firearms. This will make it much harder for retailers to identify and report suspicious behavior to law enforcement.

NSSF would also like to remind all members of industry, sportsmen and gun owners to voice their concerns by doing the following:

1. Call the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulation Affairs, Department of Justice, Desk Officer at (202) 395-6466.

2. E-mail Barbara A. Terrell, ATF, Firearms Industry Programs Branch at Barbara.Terrell@atf.gov

3. Call your Senators and Representative: United States Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121

4. Send an already formatted cap-wiz letter.

Points to make:

1.Multiple sales reporting of long guns will actually make it more difficult for licensed retailers to help law enforcement as traffickers modify their illegal schemes to circumvent the reporting requirement. Traffickers will go further underground, hiring more people to buy their firearms. This will make it much harder for retailers to identify and report suspicious behavior to law enforcement.

2.Long guns are rarely used in crime (Bureau of Justice Statistics).

3.Imposing multiple sales-reporting requirements for long guns would further add to the already extensive paperwork and record-keeping requirements burdening America’s retailers – where a single mistake could cost them their license and even land them in jail.

4.Last year, ATF inspected 2,000 retailers in border states and only two licenses were revoked (0.1%). These revocations were for reasons unknown and could have had nothing to do with illicit trafficking of guns; furthermore, no dealers were charged with any criminal wrongdoing.

5.According to ATF, the average age of a firearm recovered in the United States is 11 years old. In Mexico it’s more than 14 years old. This demonstrates that criminals are not using new guns bought from retailers in the states.

6.Congress, when it enacted multiple sales reporting for handguns, could have required multiple sales of long guns – it specifically chose not to.

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Melson Addresses FFL’s On The “Two-A-Day” Requirement

December 22, 2010 by 1 Comment

The ATF obviously wants to get the message about about their new “emergency” initiative to require Federal Firearms Licensees (FFL’s) to report the purchase of two or more semi-automatic rifles in calibers greater than .22 and with a detachable magazine.

ATF put a video up on their website with a message from Deputy Director Kenneth Melson on the proposed requirement as well as the transcript of the video. Thanks to David Codrea it is now on YouTube.

Transcript of ATF Acting Director Melson — Webcast
December 20, 2010

Acting Director Announces Demand Letters for Multiple Sales of Specific Long Guns in Four Border States
Hello, I’m Ken Melson, the Acting Director of ATF.

A recent initiative by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has caught the attention of national media outlets. I wanted to make sure everyone heard from me about this law enforcement initiative so there isn’t any confusion.

Recently, ATF announced through the Federal Register our intent to initiate a new Demand Letter requiring the reporting of multiple sales of certain long guns by Federal Firearms Licensees, known as FFLs, in the four Southwest Border States. We took this step as a way to help gain actionable law enforcement intelligence which we believe will help reduce criminal firearms trafficking along the Southwest border.

Before we can actually issue the Demand Letter we must receive approval from the Office of Management and Budget for purposes of the paperwork reduction act. We expect to receive that approval in early January, 2011.

As many of you already know, the goals of ATF’s Southwest border firearms trafficking strategy are:

•: To prevent violent crime;
•: Ensure the safety of the communities and law enforcement situated along the Southwest Border;
•: And to disrupt and dismantle the firearms trafficking networks responsible for the diversion of firearms from lawful commerce into the hands of the Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs)
Since 2006, there has been a significant increase in drug and firearms-related violence in Mexico and along our Southwest border. In response to this increased violence, ATF has deployed focused resources nationally to prevent the firearms trafficking along the Southwest Border and into Mexico.

According to ATF trace data, investigative experience, and Mexican law enforcement officials, a large number of rifles are being used in violent crimes in Mexico and along the border. Our new Demand Letter will implement a limited reporting of multiple sales of certain long guns that functions similarly to the current practice of reporting on the multiple sales of handguns. Currently, all FFLs in the country are required to submit a report of multiple sales to the National Tracing Center when an FFL sells two or more handguns to the same purchaser within five consecutive business days.

The proposed Demand Letter, which is narrowly circumscribed to meet our objectives, will apply a similar reporting requirement to certain long guns, but with these distinct differences:

First, the reporting requirement will apply only to FFLs doing business in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, which are major source states for crime guns seized in Mexico and traced to federal firearms licensees.

Secondly, the reporting requirement applies only to those rifles having all of the following characteristics:

•: A semi-automatic action;
•: A caliber greater than .22; and
•: The ability to accept a detachable magazine.
These specific characteristics subject a very narrow group of long guns that have been identified by ATF and the Government of Mexico as being involved in violent crimes in Mexico to the reporting requirement.

This reporting requirement would apply to the disposition of all rifles in the inventory of the FFLs exhibiting these characteristics, both new and used.

Third, we propose to implement this initiative as a pilot project for a period of one year.

Taken together, limiting the geographic scope, impacting a limited number of licensees, affecting a specific group of rifles, and limiting the duration of this reporting requirement, form a tailored, discreet, responsible and proactive response to a significant law enforcement issue.

Let me be absolutely clear. The purpose of requiring FFLs to report the specified multiple long gun sales in these four source states is to identify criminal firearms traffickers, not to prevent the full and free exercise of our Second Amendment rights, or to encumber the FFLs with burdensome paperwork.

These reports will give ATF real-time leads for the investigation of gun trafficking. ATF’s experience in these source states proves that multiple purchases of the described rifles are strong indicators of firearms trafficking to Mexico. By obtaining information about these multiple sales, ATF increases the likelihood of uncovering and disrupting trafficking schemes before the firearms make their way into Mexico.

I know that FFLs are good citizens who share ATF’s interest and commitment in keeping guns out of criminal hands. Working together we can do that without infringing on the rights of law abiding Americans.

I guess when you are pushing an initiative that contravenes the authority given to your agency by Congress as well as a shorter than required comment period, you really need to get your propaganda ducks in a row.  Too bad we are on to him if not the mainstream media.

H/T David Codrea for the video. Make sure to read his column on this.

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Bradys All For ATF Reporting Requirement

December 20, 2010 by 3 Comments

The Brady Campaign is very much in favor the ATF’s proposed “temporary” requirement that sales of more than one semi-automatic rifle with certain characteristics in a five day period be reported to ATF. I know that surprises no one. Here is their (as usual) misleading press release on the proposal:

Brady Campaign Applauds ATF Plan to Collect Reports of Bulk Weapons Sales
“A step toward battling Mexican gun violence”

Dec 17, 2010

Washington, D.C. – The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence today applauded the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for its plan to issue an emergency rules change to require that federally-licensed gun dealers near the Mexico border report multiple sales of assault weapons.

Under the proposal published in the Federal Register today, certain gun dealers would be required by a “demand letter” issued by the ATF to alert the agency when they sell two or more semi-automatic rifles greater than .22 caliber with detachable magazines to the same person within five consecutive business days

“It makes sense that law enforcement should be alerted if someone is buying 5, 10, or 100 assault weapons, when it’s likely that those guns could be headed to drug cartels in Mexico,” said Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign. “It will give ATF the same amount of information about people who buy military-style assault weapons in bulk that they already have had for more than 40 years about people who buy handguns in bulk. It’s the kind of crime-fighting information that our law enforcement officials ought to have if we want to reduce the number of assault weapons being trafficked illegally to Mexico, as well as to American cities.”

While the National Rifle Association and other gun lobby groups have already expressed strong opposition to this attempt to stop illegal gun trafficking and curb gun violence in Mexico, the Brady Campaign noted that the Obama Administration has clear legal authority to require the bulk sales reports. “Demand letters” were used during the Clinton administration to force dealers with high crime gun traces to submit additional information to the ATF and the courts have upheld their use. For example, in 2001, the 4th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a challenge to this authority by former NRA Board member and gun shop owner Sandy Abrams, whose license was eventually revoked for massive violations of federal gun laws.

The Brady Campaign also urged the Obama Administration to develop a comprehensive approach to gun violence by advancing policies to require background checks on all gun sales at gun shows, limit the bulk sales of guns and restrict access to military-style weapons. “Steps like these will improve our border security and our ‘hometown security’ in neighborhoods and communities of the United States,” added Helmke.