BATFE, Firearm Importation & Federal Firearm Law Reform
Among its duties, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) monitors firearm manufacturers, importers and dealers for compliance with record-keeping requirements; conducts traces on the commercial paths of individual firearms at the request of law enforcement agencies; interprets firearm importation law; and administers transfers of firearms regulated by the National Firearm Act of 1934.
The BATFE was used by the Clinton administration to reduce the number of firearm dealers, and by the administrations of presidents G. H. W. Bush and Clinton to restrict “assault weapons” by misinterpreting firearm importation law. The agency’s tracing data, sometimes useful in identifying persons involved in illegally trafficking firearms, have been mischaracterized by gun control supporters in the context of their campaigns against “Saturday Night Specials” and “assault weapons,” and in favor of making state gun laws more restrictive.
BATFE has been widely criticized for its role in the “Ruby Ridge” and “Waco” tragedies, and Operation Fast and Furious, in which the agency knowingly allowed firearms to be bought by straw purchasers and other traffickers, and thereafter smuggled from the United States to Mexico, where they made their way to violent drug cartels.
Friday, October 30, 2015
In 1995, Bob Dole said of Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), "[t]he most dangerous place is between him and a camera." Last ...
Thursday, October 22, 2015
A bill entitled the Hearing Protection Act would remove a $200 tax stamp requirement for gun suppressors, more commonly ...
Thursday, October 22, 2015
NRA's support of Congressman Salmon's Hearing Protection Act safeguards hunters and shooting sports enthusiasts while exercising their Second ...
Friday, October 16, 2015
In October, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton announced her gun control plan, promising that if she’s elected, she’ll ban ...
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
We think guns are supposed to be loud. Eardrum-damaging loud. Gunpowder-exploding-next-to-your-ear loud. Well, a lot of manufacturers are ...
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
The claim that 40 percent of gun sales do not go through a federal background check is false ...
Friday, July 31, 2015
In May, I discussed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ varying interpretations of the phrase “sporting ...
Friday, July 17, 2015
Demonstrating why he's rated an "F" by the NRA, anti-gun Representative James Clyburn (D-S.C.) on Tuesday introduced a ...
Friday, June 19, 2015
Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources Rob Bishop (R-UT) introduced H.R. 2710, the "Lawful Purpose and ...
Friday, June 19, 2015
This week, Time magazine published a piece that pushes the narrative that today's firearms laws are permissive in ...
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