From time to time I feel compelled to comment on the ever-increasing corruption and outright fraud in the various federal “alphabet” agencies.  Recent events have inspired me to take a turn at the ATF, more properly known as the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

This rogue agency has been conducting an assault on honest, legitimate gun owners for years, under both Republican and Democratic presidential Administrations.

Let’s begin with a little history, courtesy of Wikipedia:

The ATF was formerly part of the United States Department of the Treasury, having been formed in 1886 as the “Revenue Laboratory” within the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Internal Revenue. The history of ATF can be subsequently traced to the time of the revenuers or “revenoors”^[6] and the Bureau of Prohibition, which was formed as a unit of the Bureau of Internal Revenue in 1920, was made an independent agency within the Treasury Department in 1927, was transferred to the Justice Department in 1930, and became, briefly, a division of the FBI in 1933.  Let’s have a brief history of this sordid agency from Wikipedia:

When the Volstead Act was repealed in December 1933, the Unit was transferred from the Department of Justice back to the Department of the Treasury where it became the Alcohol Tax Unit of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Special Agent Eliot Ness and several members of The “Untouchables”, who had worked for the Prohibition Bureau while the Volstead Act was still in force, were transferred to the ATU. In 1942, responsibility for enforcing federal firearms laws was given to the ATU.

In the early 1950s, the Bureau of Internal Revenue was renamed “Internal Revenue Service” (IRS), and the ATU was given the additional responsibility of enforcing federal tobacco tax laws. At this time, the name of the ATU was changed to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division (ATTD).

In 1968, with the passage of the Gun Control Act, the agency changed its name again, this time to the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Division of the IRS and first began to be referred to by the initials “ATF”. In Title XI of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, Congress enacted the Explosives Control Act, 18 U.S.C.A. Chapter 40, which provided for close regulation of the explosives industry and designated certain persons and bombings as federal crimes. The Secretary of the Treasury was made responsible for administering the regulatory aspects of the new law, and was given jurisdiction over criminal violations relating to the regulatory controls. These responsibilities were delegated to the ATF division of the IRS. The Secretary and the Attorney General were given concurrent jurisdiction over arson and bombing offenses. Pub.L. 91-452, 84 Stat. 922 October 15, 1970.

In 1972 ATF was established as a separate Bureau within the Treasury Department when Treasury Department Order 221, effective July 1, 1972 transferred the responsibilities of the ATF division of the IRS to the new Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Rex D. Davis oversaw the transition, becoming the bureau’s first director, having headed the division since 1970. During his tenure, Davis shepherded the organization into a new era where federal firearms and explosives laws addressing violent crime became the primary mission of the agency.^[8] However, taxation and other alcohol issues remained priorities as ATF collected billions of dollars in alcohol and tobacco taxes, and undertook major revisions of the Federal wine labeling regulations relating to use of appellations of origin and varietal designations on wine labels.

In the wake of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush signed into law the Homeland Security Act of 2002. In addition to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the law shifted ATF from the Department of the Treasury to the Department of Justice. The agency’s name was changed to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. However, the agency still was referred to as the “ATF” for all purposes. Additionally, the task of collection of federal tax revenue derived from the production of tobacco and alcohol products and the regulatory function related to protecting the public in issues related to the production of alcohol, previously handled by the Bureau of Internal Revenue as well as by ATF, was transferred to the newly established Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), which remained within the Treasury Department. These changes took effect January 24, 2003.”

Wikipedia goes on to laud the successes of the ATF, but when it comes to the section entitled “Controversy,” always politically correct Wikipedia blandly states that “The neutrality of this section is disputed…”  Wikipedia; gotta love ‘em!

The recently disclosed Operation “Fast and Furious” is just the most recent in a long string of offenses that have been committed by employees and agents of this rogue federal bureaucracy.

Let’s look at just some of the more prominent offenses committed by this agency:

In 1973 ATF Inspector Calvin D. Rahn and his superior Karl Terlau were convicted of the theft of firearms in ATF possession which were taken from a questionable seizure at a Denver, Colorado gun show.  Thinking themselves above the law, these agents were stupid enough to pawn the guns at local pawn shops, and the weapons were immediately recognized by local collectors.

Because of complaints, Congress was pressured into conducting hearings in the late 1970’s and again in the early 1980’s which received citizen testimony concerning the tactics employed by the ATF nationwide.  A Senate subcommittee concluded that:

ATF enforcement tactics made possible by current federal firearms laws are constitutionally, legally, and practically reprehensible.” ["THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS REPORT OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION* OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY UNITED STATES SENATE NINETY-SEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION". United States Senate (U.S. Government): pp. 6. 1982, February. http://www.firearmslaw.info/FOPA. ]

Evidence received at the above cited hearing demonstrated that ATF agents tended to concentrate upon collector’s items rather than “criminal street guns.”

In subsequent Congressional appropriations committee hearings, expert evidence was presented that showed that approximately 75% of ATF gun prosecutions were aimed at ordinary citizens who had neither criminal intent or knowledge, calling them “constitutionally improper.” [Report of the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, 97th Congress, Second Session (February 1982)]

Why am I not surprised at this?

The result was the 1982 Firearm Owners Protection Act (Public Law 99-308) which attempted to reel in some of the AFT abuses.

The law forbade the ATF or any givernment agency from keeping a registry directly linking non-National Firearms Act firearms to their owners, specifically:

No such rule or regulation prescribed after the date of the enactment of the Firearms Owners Protection Act may require that records required to be maintained under this chapter or any portion of the contents of such records, be recorded at or transferred to a facility owned, managed, or controlled by the United States or any State or any political subdivision thereof, nor that any system of registration of firearms, firearms owners, or firearms transactions or disposition be established. Nothing in this section expands or restricts the Secretary’s authority to inquire into the disposition of any firearm in the course of a criminal investigation.

Nonetheless, the ATF Firearms Tracking System (FTS) contains hundreds of millions of records, consisting of:

1. Multiple Sale Reports. (ATF F 3310.4 – a registration record with specific firearms and owner name and address – increasing by about 140,000 per year). Reported as 4.2 million records in 2010.

2. Suspect Guns. All guns “suspected” of being used for criminal purposes but not recovered by law enforcement. This database includes (ATF’s own examples), individuals purchasing large quantities of firearms (including collectors of older firearms rarely used in crime), and dealers with “improper” record keeping. May include guns “observed” by law enforcement in an estate, or at a gun show, or elsewhere. Reported as 34,807 in 2010.

3. Traced Guns. Over 4 million detail records from all traces since inception. This is a registration record which includes Name and Address, height, weight, date of birth, place of birth, drivers license number and Social Security number of the first retail purchaser, along with the identity of the selling dealer.

4. Out of Business Records. Data is manually collected from paper Out-of-Business records (or input from computer records) and entered into the trace system by ATF. These are registration records which include name and address, make, model, serial and caliber of the firearm(s), as well as data from the 4473 form – in digital or image format. In March, 2010, ATF reported receiving several hundred million records since 1968.

5. Theft Guns. Firearms reported as stolen to ATF. Contained 330,000 records in 2010.  Contains only thefts from licensed dealers and interstate carriers (optional).  Claims not to have an interface to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) theft data base, where the majority of stolen, lost and missing firearms are reported.  (Can’t have any of that darn inter-agency co-operation, can we?)

Undaunted by those pesky Senators, some time in early 1975, the ATF decided sua sponte (A nifty little Latin “Lawyerspeak” term that I use that term quite frequently when describing tyrannical governmental decision-making) without any force of law or regulation, that a registered firearms dealer may be subjected to prosecution if it is known that the purchaser intends to later transfer the weapon to an ineligible or otherwise non-qualified person, sometimes called a straw purchase.  While this position seems sound at first blush, the problem arises insofar as that this “regulation” was never published in the Federal register, notwithstanding of the fact that ATF officials had stated in testimony to Congress.  This tactic is very typical of out-of-control agencies who thumb their collective noses at any type of oversight.  They “push the envelope” further and further, just to see how far they can get, the Constitution be damned.

In 1990 the infamous Ruby Ridge Siege began in June, starting from when Randy Weaver was entrapped by ATF informant Kenneth Fadeley into shortening the barrels of two shotguns, which were subsequently found to be shorter than allowed by federal law and required a $200.00 tax payment and registration.  Charging Weaver with a crime, the ATF attempted to enlist him as an informant.  Upon Weaver’s refusal to do so, the ATF deceived other federal agencies by providing misleading and outright false information about Weaver, such as that he was a felon, had booby traps, bunkers, and tunnels around his home, etc.  This culminated with an FBI siege upon Weaver’s home and the murder of Weaver’s 14 year old son and wife.  Weaver was subsequently acquitted of the weapons charge and won a wrongful death civil suit against the government.  The State of Idaho attempted to prosecute FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi for the deaths, but was prohibited from doing by the Federal Courts.

In 1993 another incident which has come to be known as the Waco Siege of the Branch Davidian religious sect near Waco, Texas began on Febuary 28th, leaving 82 adults and 20 children dead.

One would think that the FBI is a little tired of trying to clean up the ATF’s messes.

In 1994 two AFT supervisors, Phillip J. Chojnacki and Charles D. Sarabyn were suspended for a botched raid and were reinstated in December of 1994, in spite of a Treasury Department report that accused them of gross negligence.  Both received full back pay and benefits and the incident was removed from their personnel files.

During the years 2004 to 2005, ATF Agents conducted harassment of gun purchasers from some 8 gun shows in Virginia.  Atendees were stopped as they returned home and had their purchases confiscated.  They also showed up at the homes of gun show patrons in Pennsylvania, demanding to inspect sale transaction paperwork and arresting those who could not— or would not comply. The ATF stated that this was a “pilot” program that they intended to implement nationwide.  At a subsequent Congressional hearing, witnesses testified of harassment, intimidation and verbal abuse by ATF Agents. [GUN SHOW ENFORCEMENT HEARING". U.S. Congress (U.S. Congress). 2006-02-28. http://www.nfaoa.org/documents/26053.pdf.]

In 2006, an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Oversight and Review Division, revealed that Carl J. Truscott, Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), mismanaged government funds, committed travel abuse, engaged in improper hiring practices, and created a hostile work environment. Truscott, who had been a Secret Service executive before being named ATF Director, was reported to OIG for investigation by an anonymous letter. [http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0610/final.pdf Report of Investigation Concerning Alleged Mismanagement and Misconduct by Carl J. Truscott, Former Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Office of the Inspector General Oversight and Review Division.]

In 2008, after a 59 month audit by the Justice  Department’s Office of the Inspector General, it was determined that 76 firearms and 418 laptop computers were lost, stolen or missing from ATF. [The BATFE's Controls Over Its Weapons, Laptop Computers, and Other Sensitive Property". U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (U.S. Government): p. 112. 2008 September. http://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/ATF/a0829/final.pdf.]

In 2009, Russell Vander Werf, Director of Industry Operations (DIO) for Houston ATF (responsible for overseeing inspection of all federal gun and explosives licensees in the area), was arrested while in New Orleans, after damaging a hotel room in Metairie, Louisiana for sex-related purposes while admittedly on official business.  He was subsequently reassigned to ATF Headquarters in Washington, DC. [Hunter, Michelle (2009-12-08). "Federal gun regulator accused of damaging Metairie hotel room". The Times-Picayune (The Times-Picayune). http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2009/12/atf.html.]

In 2010, veteran ATF Agent Agent William Clark, was charged with second-degree murder and tried in a 2008 killing of his neighbor Marcus Sukow in the U.S. Virgin Islands when he intervened in a domestic dispute.  Similar to the Lon Horiuchi murder of the Weavers, the government found its employees violated no criminal or administrative laws or policy guidelines, and attempts were made to quash the state case presented by the Court of the Virgin Islands by moving the case to the United States District Court of the Virgin Islands, a request which was denied by the Virgin Islands in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution. Subsequently, the United States government pulled all Special Agents for all Departments from the Islands and withheld millions of dollars in federal support.

Umm, why are these guys exempt from prosecution even when they are committing a crime while off duty?  Is it any wonder why they think that they can literally get away with murder… when they can and do?

So, in January 2011 William (Bill) Newell, Special Agent in charge of the Phoenix ATF Office was quoted by ABC News in May 2008:

When 90 percent-plus of the firearms recovered from these violent drug cartels are from a U.S. source (a false statement according to the Department of JusticeOffice of the Inspector General), we have a responsibility to do everything we can to stem the illegal flow of these firearms to these thugs.”

Nonetheless, under Operations  “Fast and Furious,” (During the operation, the sale of at least 2,000 guns were facilitated by ATF knowing most would be trafficked to Mexico. Of the 2,000 guns knowingly released by ATF agents, only 600 are reported as recovered by officials. The remaining 1,400 guns have not been recovered.) “Too Hot to Handle,” and “Wide Receiver,” indictments filed in federal court show that the Phoenix ATF Office, over protests from the gun dealers and some ATF agents involved, and without notifying Mexican authorities, allowed and facilitated the sale of over 2,500 firearms (AK-47 rifles, FN 5.7mm pistols, AK-47 pistols, and .50 caliber rifles) to traffickers destined for Mexico.  Many of these same guns are being recovered from crime scenes in Arizona and throughout Mexico, which is artificially inflating ATF’s eTrace statistics of U.S. origin guns seized in Mexico. One specific gun is alleged to be the weapon used by a Mexican national to murder Customs and Border Protection Agent Brian Terry on December 14, 2010. ATF and DOJ denied all allegations. After appearing at a Congressional Hearing, three supervisors of ‘Fast and Furious’ (William G. McMahon, William D. Newell and David Voth) were reported by the LA Times as being transferred and promoted by ATF. ATF, of course, denied that the transfers were promotions.

In June 2011, ATF Special Agent for 24 years, Vince Cefalu, who spoke out in December, 2010, exposing ATF’s “Project Gunrunner” scandal, was served with termination papers. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, two days before Cefalu’s termination, sent a letter to the ATF warning officials not to retaliate against whistleblowers. Cefalu’s quick dismissal followed a string of allegations that ATF retaliates against whistleblowers. ATF spokesman Drew Wade denied that the bureau is retaliating, but declined to comment about Cefalu’s case. [O'Reilly, Bill (2011-06-30). "ATF Whistleblower Speaks Out About Botched Gun Operation". Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/2011/07/01/atf-whistleblower-speaks-out-about-botched-gun-operation; Lott, Maxim (2077-06-27). "'Project Gunrunner' Whistleblower Says ATF Sent Him Termination Notice". Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/06/27/atf-to-fire-gunrunner-whistleblower/.]

The Obama Administration was briefed about Operation Fast and Furious and The Attorney General, Eric H. Holder Jr., has been caught lying to Congress about it.  When are we going to have an honest Attorney General?  The only one that I think was somewhat forthcoming in recent memory was Ramsey Clark (and no, for you Republicans reading this, John Ashcroft was not the decent Christian person that the general public image perceives of him).

United States Attorney in Phoenix Dennis K. Burke fell on his sword for Holder.  Look for him to resurface soon in some reward job.  Acting Director of the ATF Dennis K. Burke was reassigned.

The Washington Times reported:

The Justice Department blocked senior ATF leaders from cooperating with Congress in its investigation of the “Fast and Furious” weapons operation, ordering them not to respond to questions and taking full control of replying to briefing and document requests, the agency’s top boss told congressional investigators.

“Kenneth E. Melson, the embattled acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told Senate Judiciary Committee and House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform investigators during a secret interview designed to circumvent Justice Department attorneys that he was “sick to his stomach” when he learned about problems with the controversial operation.” [Washington Times, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/6/atf-chief-says-higher-ups-blocked-replies-congress/.]

Both Operations “Fast and Furious” (Mexico) and “Gunwalker” (Hondouras) were similar in their scope.

There are five key accusations against ATF and DOJ made by ATF whistleblowers and other sources within the government:

1. That they instructed U.S. gun dealers to proceed with questionable and illegal sales of firearms to suspected gunrunners.
2. That they allowed or even assisted in those guns crossing the U.S. border into Mexico to “boost the numbers” of American civilian market firearms seized in Mexico and thereby provide the justification for more firearm restrictions on American citizens and more power and money for ATF.
3. That they intentionally kept Mexican authorities in the dark about the operation, even over objections of their own agents.
4. That weapons that the ATF let “walk” to Mexico were involved in the deaths of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and ICE Agent Jaime Zapata, as well as at least hundreds of Mexican citizens.
5. That at least since the death of Brian Terry on 14 December, the Obama administration is engaged in a full-press cover-up of the facts behind what has come to be known as the “Gunwalker Scandal.”

To add insult to injury, the ATF actually CELEBRATED their thwarting Congressional inquiries (see Sipsey Street Irregulars).  And now they are determined to do what?  Get to the bottom of the scandal?  Apologize?  NOOOOO.  They are determined to find out where the leaks of information within their agency came so they can take additional punitive action!

Eliot Ness is undoubtedly rolling over in his grave!

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