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, January 12, 2012
Prosecutors who asked a federal court to seal the records in the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol ...
Friday, January 6, 2012
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) announced this week that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will testify on Feb. 2 ...
Friday, January 6, 2012
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) announced this week that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will testify on Feb. 2 ...
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. will testify again before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on ...
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Election season is here, and you might think President Obama would be going out of his way to ...
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Following is a chronological presentation of the Fast & Furious scandal from the beginning to present day. Please ...
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox (center) meets with Sen. Charles Grassley (l.) and Rep. Darrell Issa (r.), ...
Thursday, December 22, 2011
This year, NRA-ILA worked with pro-gun legislators to include a provision in the 2012 Commerce, Justice and Science ...
Thursday, December 22, 2011
The American people deserve an explanation of how "Operation Fast & Furious" went from a bad idea to ...
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
In all of my years fighting on behalf of the National Rifle Association to defend the Second Amendment, ...
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