Free Republic

Following in the well-worn footsteps of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his Blueprint for Federal Action on Illegal Guns, this week the Council on Foreign Relations released a memo urging the Obama administration to disregard the will of the American people and Congress and unilaterally enact a series of gun controls. Entitled, A Strategy to Reduce Gun Trafficking and Violence in the Americas, and written by CFR Senior Fellow for Latin American Studies, Julia F. Sweig, the memo pins the ills of Central and South America on U.S. gun owners and urges the president to curb our rights to...

“With him being slow, they knew that and they used him. He was too slow to catch on to what was going on. He was saying, ‘These are my good friends. These are my guys. They are looking out for me.’”- Willie Campbell, Chauncey Wright’s grandmother. ATF agents running an undercover storefront in Milwaukee used a brain-damaged man with a low IQ to set up gun and drug deals, paying him in cigarettes, merchandise and money, according to federal documents obtained by the Journal Sentinel. For more than six months, federal agents relied on Chauncey Wright to promote "Fearless Distributing"...

A recent solicitation from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) reveals that the agency is seeking a "massive" online database capable of pulling up individuals' personal information, connections and associates. On March 28, ATF posted the notice on FedBizOpps.gov, entitled "Investigative System." The solicitation was updated on April 5 with a few minor changes. The document says that the system will be utilized by staff "to provide rapid searches on various entities for example; names, telephone numbers, utility data and reverse phone look-ups, as a means to assist with investigations, and background research on people, assets and businesses."

By improperly causing a hearing to be removed from the court calendar, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives prevented a Federal Firearms Licensee from seeking discovery crucial to its case for a scheduled revocation hearing, a motion filed on behalf of Brink’s, Incorporated, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas at Dallas asserted Monday. Requesting either “to reinstate [the court] hearing date or, in the alternative, to reschedule [the] FFL revocation hearing,” the motion points out it “serves as Brink’s only opportunity to obtain discovery for the purposes of defending its license.” This...

Obama Administration Expands ATF’s Power to Seize Property As part of a one-year trial run, the Department of Justice has granted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives the power to “to seize and administratively forfeit property allegedly involved in controlled substance offenses,” which is almost tantamount to saying that on the mere suspicion that one is doing something illegal, the ATF can snatch one’s firearms and property. The Washington Times, among other publications, have explained the implications of this new DoJ decree: It’s a dangerous extension of the civil-forfeiture doctrine, a surreal legal fiction in which the seized...

John Solomon, writing in the Washington Guardian, is reporting today that B. Todd Jones, the Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), released a video last week to all employees. In the video, Jones warns that there would be “consequences” for any employees who report wrongdoing outside their chain of command. Jones was a federal prosecutor when Attorney General Eric Holder asked him to lead the embattled agency after the Fast and Furious scandal. He is supposed to improve morale and instill a new culture in the aftermath of that scandal. Jones' precise words are:...

Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation "Fast and Furious" to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales. PICTURES: ATF "Gunwalking" scandal timeline In Fast and Furious, ATF secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels to go after the "big fish." But ATF whistleblowers told CBS News and Congress it was a dangerous practice called "gunwalking," and it put thousands of weapons on the street. Many were used in violent crimes in Mexico. Two were found at the murder...

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is inviting public comments on its new rule regarding shotguns. It plans to ban them. There will be a ban on imports. (Note: watch prices rise on those already in the USA.) The basis of this ban will be the guns’ semi-automatic status. It the magazine has more than five rounds, the weapon will be banned. Why? Because the BATF designates these as “military.” Somehow, I cannot see Sergeant York with a 7-round shotgun taking on the Germans. Gen. George Patton wore ivory-handled revolvers. I wonder if these are scheduled for a ban....

<p>One of the most compelling arguments against gun control: laws affecting legal gun purchase and ownership put the government on a slippery slope towards gun confiscation. One of the least compelling arguments against gun control: laws affecting legal gun purchase and ownership put the government on a slippery slope towards gun confiscation. Gun control advocates—and those who view the government as a benign entity—dismiss any mention of creeping tyranny as the paranoid ravings of firearms-fixated members of the lunatic fringe. The ongoing Fast and Furious scandal has highlighted the divide . .</p>

Whispers of ATF snitches and U.S. vs. Clark. "Hot topics." During the NFATCA meeting, it was disclosed that the ATF, as of last week, has changed its opinion regarding the proper procedure for deactivating a barrel for importation. Previously, ATF issued a letter stating that drilling three holes into the barrel was sufficient. While destroying the functionality of the barrel, it allowed for the barrel to be used in a dummy-gun for a collector, who basically desired a non-functioning replica of a particular firearm. ATF has now announced that it is requiring any such imported barrel to be torch cut...

Thinkstock/Comstock(WASHINGTON) -- A federal judge has upheld a rule proposed by the ATF to track multiple gun sales in Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico in a lawsuit brought by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and two gun dealers in Arizona. Over the summer the ATF announced that it would seek information in those four states on gun purchasers who buy two or more weapons a week for semi-automatic long guns that have a caliber greater than .22 and a detachable magazine. The ATF would require gun dealers to report the sale of multiple rifles with what ATF was calling...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   Federal Court Upholds Obama/Holder Gun Registration Scheme; Congressional Action Needed   Friday, January 13, 2012   Moments before this alert was to go out, a federal district court in Washington, D.C. issued a ruling upholding an Obama administration policy that requires federally licensed firearms retailers in states bordering Mexico to report multiple sales of semi-automatic rifles.  The case was brought by two NRA-backed firearms retailers and by the National Shooting Sports Foundation acting on behalf of its affected members.  Plaintiffs plan to appeal immediately—but in the meantime, your help is urgently...

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is in charge of determining whether a gun model is legal, but the agency won’t say much about its criteria. Despite overseeing an industry that includes machine guns and other deadly weapons, ATF regulations for the manufacture of weapons are often unclear, leading to reliance on a secretive system by which firearms manufacturers can submit proposed weapons for testing and find out one at a time whether they comply with the law, critics say. The ATF recommends that manufacturers voluntarily submit weapons for case-by-case determination. But those judgments are private and, it...

Had the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in February of 1995 acted upon an its expressed determination to arrest a German national who had overstayed his visa, the Oklahoma City bombing might not have taken place. While the show trial of Oklahoma City bomber Tim McVeigh was being conducted at Denver, Colorado in April of 1997, another federal proceeding was taking place in Tulsa, Oklahoma. But no one seemed particularly interested in this case–the federal prosecution of former beauty queen and Oklahoma debutante Carol Howe for making bomb threats against the government of the United States. No one, that...

It was a very uncomfortable Thursday for Attorney General Eric Holder on Capitol Hill as he testified before the House Judiciary Committee about Operation Fast and Furious. If it wasn’t clear that Fast and Furious was implemented as a way to push more gun control measures without the consent of Congress, it’s crystal clear now. Continued stonewalling from the Justice Department had Rep. James Sensenbrenner talking about impeachment Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee Democrat John Conyers called for the enforcement of new gun control measures pushed through the Justice Department in July without the approval of Congress, requiring...

Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation "Fast and Furious" to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales. PICTURES: ATF "Gunwalking" scandal timeline In Fast and Furious, ATF secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels to go after the "big fish." But ATF whistleblowers told CBS News and Congress it was a dangerous practice called "gunwalking," and it put thousands of weapons on the street. Many were used in violent crimes in Mexico. Two were found at the murder...

Item 1: In March of 2011, President Obama denied knowledge of 'Operation Fast and Furious' -- the Justice Department program that sent thousands of murder weapons to Mexican drug cartels. 25 March 2011 - Under fire for an operation that allowed smuggling of U.S. weapons across the nation’s border with Mexico, President Obama said in an interview that neither he nor Attorney General Eric Holder authorized the controversial “Operation Fast and Furious.” ...Obama told Univision‘s Jorge Ramos that President Felipe Calderon wasn’t informed of the operation because he — the president of the United States — wasn’t informed either. When...

You gotta hand it to those overachievers at the ATF(E and sometimes RBFs). Up to their asses in alligators over Fast & Furious, called in to investigate a local law enforcement peccadillo, and yet they still find time to reach out and touch someone(s). In this case, the someones would be those buyers who made the faux pas of buying more than one gun inside a five-day period. So how does this new Community Outreach Program work?

David Codrea published an article today about an interesting letter one law abiding silencer owner received from the ATF. The silencer owner in question owns an AWC .22lr silencer that uses a material made of tangled copper ropes to slow down the expanding gasses, a material not unlike the common Brillo pad or Chore Boy Pot Scrubber. He wanted to know whether it would be legal to replace the worn out material in his legally owned silencer with some pot scrubber material, an act which seems pretty innocuous to the impartial observer. The ATF, on the other hand… From the...

The new acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced a major shake-up of his agency Wednesday and urged Washington insiders to “calm down” about the latest revelations surrounding a controversial ATF gun operation. B. Todd Jones said calm is needed as he begins rebuilding the beleaguered agency, including shuffling top personnel. He made his comments as his boss, Attorney General Eric J. Holder Jr., came under fire this week from Republican lawmakers, with one calling for a special counsel to investigate Holder’s role in the Fast and Furious gun-trafficking operation.