Free Republic

President Obama's pick for ATF director, anti-gun Andrew Traver, has been transferred from his position as special agent in charge of the ATF Chicago Field Division, to head up the Denver division. According to sources, the move came after Traver felt frustrated his confirmation for ATF director had been stalled in the Senate for nearly a year. The estimated cost to transfer Traver is nearly a million taxpayer dollars, all because his feelings are hurt. Traver chose to specifically to work in Chicago, (where his buddies Obama and Rahm hang out) and instead of forcing taxpayers to foot the bill...

Attorney General Eric Holder “called to confirm a permanent ATF Director,” Rep. Carolyn Maloney* asserted during her recognized time in the February 2 House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Fast and Furious hearing. Dismissing the proceedings as “a politically-motivated fishing trip,” Maloney used the brunt of her time to demand more “gun control,” and to conflate Fast and Furious with previous investigations. She even referenced a video where American Al Qaeda Adam Gadahn told followers to buy “a fully automatic assault rifle without a background check” at gun shows. That this is untrue and demonstrates profound ignorance of existing...

I just got off the blower with Brent R. Weil [above] 0f Kightlinger and Gray, LLP. The Evansville, Indiana lawyer represents the [as yet unnamed] gun store that sold firearms to ATF-enabled straw purchasers. “The ATF told my client to let the sales go through,” Mr. Weil told TTAG. “He later told me that the guns went to Chicago gangs.” In one case, a straw purchaser failed to pass the FBI’s NICS [National Instant Check System] background check . . . The dealer called an ATF agent in the parking lot; the agent told the dealer to let the sale...

Justice Department Obstructing 'Fast and Furious' Gun Probe, ATF Director SaysBy William Lajeunesse The Justice Department is obstructing the congressional investigation of a U.S. law enforcement operation intended to crack down on major weapons traffickers on the Southwest border, according to the embattled leader of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Ken Melson, the acting director of the ATF, lobbed the accusation when he sneaked in for an interview with congressional investigators on July 4, two days ahead of his scheduled interview with the inspector general about the operation known as "Fast and Furious," Fox News has learned."If...

The Obama administration is in talks this week with the man who could replace the current head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), a man gun-rights groups have railed against as being hostile to their cause. Andrew Traver was nominated in November by President Barack Obama to become ATF director, but the National Rifle Association has stalled his appointment, citing his anti-gun rights stance. Traver, who now heads the ATF’s Chicago field office, is to meet Attorney General Eric Holder and top Justice Department officials this week. Traver’s visit was seen at the Capitol as the...

The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released copies of redacted emails on Wednesday that detail the involvement of the head of the ATF in a controversial gun-tracking program as early as March of 2010. The emails strike a stark contrast to letters the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) have sent to lawmakers in which they denied selling assault weapons to known and suspected straw purchasers for drug cartels and claimed that they made every effort to prevent weapons from going to Mexico. In one of the emails, released by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.),...

As of April 1, there was no schedule for anti-gun zealot Andrew Traver to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to be confirmed as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. But Second Amendment advocates and conservatives far and wide are clanging the alarm bells, signaling that now -- right now -- is a good time to contact your U.S. Representatives and Senators to register a resounding "NO" to his confirmation. There is plenty to be alarmed about regarding Traver. "For 30 years, Chicago banned handguns. The crime rate skyrocketed. Murders soared. Gangs blossomed. Desperate city officials...

For 30 years, Chicago banned handguns. The crime rate skyrocketed. Murders soared. Gangs blossomed. Desperate city officials even considered calling the National Guard to combat the out-of-control violence that all the "community organizing" in the world couldn't curb. The Supreme Court struck down Chicago's individual firearms ownership prohibition last year, but the same anti-gun zealots who put Windy City citizens' lives at risk remain in power. And now one of them may soon be in charge of the scandal-plagued Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Meet Andrew Traver. He's President Obama's nominee to head ATF. The Senate Judiciary Committee...

Anyone remember when President Obama invited Republicans to a sit-down on health care? The Prez proceeded to dominate the “discussions,” completely ignored Republican suggestions and rammed through one of the largest and most unpopular pieces of legislation in United States history. That’s just one example of the President’s bogus bi-partisanship: the Commander-in-Chief’s desire to appear centrist without actually being centrist. Is it any wonder that National Rifle Association jefe Wayne LaPierre greeted Obama’s invitation to meet with the Prez and gun control groups to discuss current gun laws with his own invitation to the President to fuck off and die...

“I’ve noted before that lead times make magazines poor places to discuss developing news,” this correspondent wrote in “When enforcers have an agenda,” the Rights Watch column for the April 2011 issue of GUNS Magazine. The subject was the nomination of Andrew Traver to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the concession was necessary due to the months between writing an article for a magazine and the time that elapses until it is published. By the time this reaches you, it may be a done deal. Obama may even bypass Senate confirmation and make a...

Remember this post from Monday, where Waldo advised us of the ATF SAC memo that reported: SAC Andrew Traver confirmation process was moving forward. Expected to get a Hearing date within the next two weeks at which time SAC Traver will attend numerous briefings on the Hill and at DOJ and ATF will begin the process of getting SAC Traver prepared for the confirmation process. The Chicago Tribune ran a story today on the Chicago Gang's fair-haired boy who they would like to see head of ATF -- Andrew Traver. The story, titled "Gun lobby stands firm in opposing Obama's...

WASHINGTON — Andrew Traver, nominated to lead the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, faces a powerful foe on the road to Senate approval: the National Rifle Association. Traver, 47, who has been praised for his work against Chicago area's street gangs, has led the ATF in Illinois since 2004. Both Illinois senators have applauded President Barack Obama's choice; so have law enforcement officials. Obama nominated Traver in November, triggering strong opposition from the NRA,

President Obama has, in the new Congressional session, again submitted the name of anti-gun extremist Andrew Traver to become the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE). From Main Justice: President Barack Obama on Wednesday re-nominated three Justice Department nominees whom the Senate returned last month after adjourning without acting on them. Obama again tapped James Cole for Deputy Attorney General, Andrew Traver for director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Denise O’Donnell for Bureau of Justice Assistance director. This, frankly, comes as something of a surprise to me. I had fully...

I spoke too soon. It seems like the Obama administration HAS been drinking and IS spoiling for a fight with the NRA, GOA and right-minded gun owners everywhere. All the President’s Men (or at least the ones who think it’s a good idea to stir-up the Democratic party’s far-left base) have renominated Andrew Traver to head the headless Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (and Really Big Fires). mainjustice.com is the bearer of sad tidings: “The ATF has never had a Senate-confirmed leader, as the gun-regulation agency has been buffeted by the fierce politics surrounding firearms ownership . ....

Traver Off TargetObama's ATF pick exemplifies what is wrong with U.S. law enforcement. Pres. Barack Obama has nominated Andrew Traver, an episodically dishonest campaigner against Americans’ right to keep and bear arms, to be head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. ATF is arguably the least competent of our major federal law-enforcement agencies and unquestionably the least impressive of them. The bureau probably ought to be dissolved and its functions dispersed among other agencies before it does more harm to the republic than it already has; it certainly should not be entrusted to a man with documented hostility...

The Senate evaded taking a stand on the controversial nomination of Andrew Traver to head up ATF. From Main Justice: The Senate did not vote on whether to confirm Andrew Traver as the next leader of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives this Congress, sending his nomination back to the White House on Wednesday. The main reason cited was “strong opposition from the National Rifle Association.” NRA did take a lead in the opposition, and as the largest of the “gun lobby” groups was no doubt the most influential in prompting telephone calls, letters and emails opposing Traver’s...

Things had been looking up for gun-rights activists. In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled in D.C. v. Heller that Washington’s handgun laws were unconstitutional. In the summer of 2010, in McDonald v Chicago, the court expanded that ruling to apply to handgun laws in all 50 states. Even President Obama seemed relatively open to Second Amendment rights, saying on the campaign trail: “I believe there is a Second Amendment right. I think it is an individual right. I think people have the right to lawfully bear arms.” Now, it seems that when it comes to Obama and guns, he was...

Assault Weapons and the TruthThe Obama administration has nominated an anti-gun zealot as the U.S.'s top gun cop. The Obama administration is moving into high gear in putting gun-control advocates into important government positions. The administration’s nominee to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), Andrew Traver, should be of particular concern. His attacks on the civilian use of so-called assault weapons raise real questions about his willingness to distort the truth for political purposes. The person nominated to be the nation’s top gun cop shouldn’t use inaccurate descriptions to scare people into supporting gun control. Mr....

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683 The National Rifle Association Strongly Opposes the Nomination of Andrew Traver to Head BATFE, Calls on President Obama to withdraw the nomination Wednesday, November 17, 2010 Statement from Chris W. Cox, executive director, NRA Institute for Legislative Action The National Rifle Association of America strongly opposes President Obama's nomination of Andrew Traver as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE). Traver has been deeply aligned with gun control advocates and anti-gun activities. This makes him the wrong choice to lead an enforcement agency that has almost exclusive oversight and...

BELLEVUE, Wash., Nov. 18, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today is announcing its opposition to the nomination, by President Obama, of Andrew Traver as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Traver is currently special agent in charge of Chicago's BATFE field division, where he has a history of working with gun prohibitionists. He served as an advisor to the International Association for Chiefs of Police on that group's 2007 "Gun Violence Reduction Project," in cooperation with the anti-gun-rights Joyce Foundation. This project involved several high profile anti-gun-rights...