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.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
With the release of the Office of Inspector General's 500 page report on Operation Fast and Furious, we ...
Thursday, September 20, 2012
The Inspector General of the Department of Justice, whose office published the report on the botched gun probe ...
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
A bombshell report released Wednesday on Operation Fast and Furious faulted a range of federal agencies for the ...
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, issued the following statement on Department of Justice Inspector ...
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, which has jurisdiction over the Justice ...
Friday, September 14, 2012
We reported last month that the Department of Justice's Inspector General's draft report on "Operation Fast and Furious" ...
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Dozens of senior-level U.S. government officials turned a blind eye to public safety as they pursued an ill-conceived ...
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
If you want a perfect picture of the arrogance, dishonesty and political corruption that make Americans sick when ...
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
On June 28, the nation's top law enforcement officer, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, was found in contempt ...
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
GOP lawmakers have expressed come concern whether Horowitz has conducted a thorough or aggressive investigation. Reps. Trey Gowdy ...