Posted on 12/13/2007 12:49:33 PM PST by neverdem
Associated Press
Idaho's senators are blocking President Bush's nominee to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, saying the agency has become overly aggressive in enforcing gun laws.
Republican Sens. Larry Craig and Mike Crapo placed separate holds on the nomination of federal prosecutor Michael Sullivan, the acting ATF director for more than a year.
Crapo's spokesman, Lindsay Nothern, said the senator's office has heard from a number of gun dealers, gun owners and others in Idaho who "have concerns about ATF policies regarding gun sales and even (gun) ownership. Maybe the federal government is getting a little too aggressive with people who haven't done anything wrong."
Sullivan, who also serves as U.S. attorney in Massachusetts, was nominated by Bush in March. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved his nomination last month.
Under Senate rules, a single senator, sometimes anonymously, can put a hold on legislative action for months.
The ATF had no immediate comment Wednesday.
Crapo met with Sullivan last week and "had some pointed questions," Nothern said. The senator is still waiting for answers, Nothern said.
Sidney Smith, a spokesman for Craig, said the Craig's intention "was not to throw up a permanent roadblock. We were hearing concerns from people in our state about how ATF was working with law-abiding gun dealers on compliance issues."
Craig also met with Sullivan and awaits answers to his questions, Smith said.
The action comes as an Idaho gun shop wages a high-profile battle with the ATF over its right to buy and trade guns.
The ATF stripped the license of Red's Trading Post, in Twin Falls, Idaho, in March after an audit found numerous record-keeping violations over a five-year period.
A federal judge later ruled the agency had exaggerated and omitted some of the findings it used to revoke the license. U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge allowed the gun shop to continue operating until he decides whether the license revocation was legal. The case is pending.
Sullivan, a former GOP state legislator, has been known for a tough stance on drug and gun cases in his tenure as U.S. attorney. One judge criticized him publicly for burdening the federal system with cases that could be handled by state prosecutors.
Associated Press writer Andrew Miga contributed to this report.
Didn’t there used to be a guy in Congress named Dick Sweat?
‘I bet if the nominee would agree to meet Larry Craig in a men’s public restroom, he’d support him....”
So, if a person you dislike, does a good thing, you find a way to criticize him for it?
Credit should be given where it is due.’
Psssst. Sick, twisted whacko’s lead sexual double lives.
Please make a note of it.
Larry Craig has been right on 2nd Amend maybe because of his voter base but his fake conservative lifestyle (among other issues) has most Idahoans against him. His replacement next year will continue the strong conservative stand everyone expects from the great state of Idaho.
Mike Crapo has earned high marks for his position on most issues, much better than Craig.
Actually, Larry Craig is on the NRA Board and has been strong on the 2nd amendment since 1976.
It is good to know these things, but reading this thread I thought I had entered KOS or DU.
Larry Craig would rather hurt his party and continue to pretend he’s not a closet homosexual than resign.
He’s Mark Foley, without the ‘90 days til we vote’ part.
I don’t care if he discovers how to turn water into 87 octane gasoline, I don’t like this turd, and never will.
That will be a blow to BATFE.
STOP “Maximum Mike” Sullivan! Put the 2nd Amendment FIRST!
It’s probably just my imagination, or maybe wishful thinking, but does it seem to anyone else that the Republicans have gotten a little more “ballsy” of late?
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