Democrat Congressman Elijah E. Cummings’ “minority report” on gunrunning and Operation Fast and Furious offers a set of “solutions” to issues raised by an on-going probe of the failed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ sting operation that follow the gun control agenda, and it also contains a reference to a Washington gun maker, Olympic Arms.
Cummings is ranking member on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chaired by Republican Darrell Issa. Congressman Issa has held two formal hearings relating to Operation Fast and Furious, which have produced revelations that Democrats have tried to deflect away from the Obama administration and Eric Holder’s Justice Department.
Buried in the report on page 21 is a reference to current “weapons of choice” presumably among Mexican drug cartel gunmen, and a secondary list that includes .223-caliber semi-auto rifles manufactured by Olympic Arms. That company’s facility is located on the Nisqually flats southeast of I-5, and a source there confirmed that they occasionally get trace requests from the ATF, but the agency never explains where the trace request comes from or what case it may be related to. That’s accurate, according to ATF sources, who told this column Thursday that the agency does not disclose the details of any gun trace they are conducting.
Keeping this in perspective, it must be noted that also on that list as primary choices are rifles from Bushmaster, Colt, DPMS, Romarm and Barrett, and handguns from Taurus, Beretta and Colt. Translation: Criminals will get their hands on whatever firearms are available, and the manufacturer of those guns is no more responsible for crimes committed by Mexican criminals than Ford or Chevrolet is responsible for traffic deaths caused by recidivist drunk drivers, especially if they drive on suspended licenses.
Olympic Arms has been in business for decades, producing firearms that have been used by law enforcement and the military, competitors and sportsmen. The company is currently on the leading edge of development of big game hunting rifles built on the traditional AR platform. This column has test fired some of these rifles.
Olympic’s mention in this document is symptomatic of what the report, and this morning’s “forum” – discussed by this column yesterday – may really about, according to critics: Distracting public attention away from the growing Operation Fast and Furious scandal. This column is not alone in that analysis. HotAir.com also weighs in here.
There appears to be a concerted effort to shift the focus, and ultimately the blame, for the Fast and Furious debacle away from the Obama administration. The Washington Post ran a story several days ago, discussed by this column, alleging that Issa and his staff were briefed on Fast and Furious last year. The Houston Chronicle is also talking about gun laws here.
Yesterday, fired ATF whistleblower agent Vincent Cefalu, during an interview with NRA News’ Ginny Simone, had this to say:
“There’s going to be a large push to discredit anyone who attempts to exposed abuses within senior leadership at ATF…They know it’s only a matter of time before everything I’ve reported publicly and privately comes to light. I think it’s just a knee-jerk, panic decision.”—Fired ATF whistleblower Vincent Cefalu
The 26-page Cummings report calls for new legislation to crack down on gunrunning, including a requirement to report multiple sales of long guns to the ATF. Missing from the recommendations is a call for renewal of the ban on so-called “assault weapons.” Here are the recommendations:
1. Congress Should Increase the Criminal Penalties for Illegal Straw Purchases.
Straw purchasers are the principal source of firearms acquired in the United States and illegally trafficked to Mexico. Multiple law enforcement officials told the Committee that existing penalties for illegal straw purchases are too weak. They do not adequately deter drug cartel members from engaging in illegal straw purchasing, and they do not provide law enforcement officials with sufficient leverage to “flip” low-level cartel members or encourage their cooperation in ongoing investigations. U.S. Attorneys’ offices frequently decline to prosecute these cases. Stronger sentences for illegal straw purchasers would help law enforcement officials build better cases against firearms trafficking networks.
2. Congress Should Enact a Dedicated Firearms Trafficking Statute.
Multiple law enforcement agents told the Committee that there is currently no federal statute that specifically prohibits firearms trafficking, and as a result prosecutors often charge traffickers with “paperwork violations” such as dealing in firearms without a license. The agents testified that these cases are difficult to prove and that U.S. Attorneys’ offices frequently decline to prosecute them because they lack jury appeal. They stated that a federal statute specifically dedicated to prohibiting firearms trafficking would help them disrupt, defeat, and dismantle firearms trafficking organizations.
3. ATF Should Implement a Multiple Long Gun Sales Reporting Requirement.
Law enforcement agents told the Committee that obtaining reports on multiple purchases of long guns, including AK-47 variant assault weapons and .50 caliber semi-automatic sniper rifles, would provide them with timely and actionable intelligence to help identify firearm trafficking rings. They testified that these long guns are the “weapons of choice” for Mexican drug cartels and, unlike for handguns, they have no regular way to proactively track large-scale purchases of these weapons until they end up at crime scenes. Real-time reporting on multiple long gun sales would be a crucial tool to enable law enforcement to identify trafficking rings early.
There are already laws on the books prohibiting straw purchases of firearms and the transport of firearms across international borders. Gun dealers who cooperated with the Fast and Furious operation expressed concerns to the agency about high-volume transactions, but were told to allow the sales. Critics wonder why more laws are the answer, while remembering that early in 2009, the Obama administration was blaming gun dealers for the illegal trafficking.
One might also argue that the worst offenses in recent history involving multiple sales of long guns to suspected straw buyers happened under the watchful eye of frustrated ATF field agents who were ordered to allow those guns to be “walked” into the illegal gun pipeline under Fast and Furious.
It is not this nation’s gun laws or firearms dealers who are at fault, critics argue. Even Cefalu noted that to Simone during his interview:
“Everything …that the inspectors and the special agents within this bureau could do, which is become a partnership with a lawful industry has been destroyed by the acts of a few leaders and a mismanaged program and has created them to be the enemies and the bad guys.
It’s not against the law to sell guns in this country
It’s against the law for bad people to have guns.”—Vincent Cefalu
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