With President Obama's nomination of rabid forcible citizen disarmament advocate Andrew Traver as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE), and with the very real possibility that Obama, seeing the difficulty of getting the Senate to confirm the nomination, will bypass that process with a recess appointment (thus making Traver "acting director" for almost two years), gun owners can expect two years of the heaviest of heavy-handed hostility from that agency. Given BATFE's recent history without such a committed anti-gun zealot at the helm, that's a daunting prospect.
To what "recent history" do I refer? Here's a small sampling of what National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea has discussed:
- Law-abiding gun owners facing prison sentences based on the BATFE's inaccurate records
- The BATFE lying--under oath--about the accuracy of said records
- The BATFE calling toys "illegal guns," based on some very shaky police work (to put it politely)--and then suddenly (and quietly) "changing their minds"
- The BATFE sending a man to federal prison because his rifle malfunctioned
- A BATFE ruling that would seemingly transform millions of heretofore legal shotguns into illegal "destructive devices"
- The BATFE sending a threatening "cease and desist" letter to a legal manufacturer of unregulated parts
- A recent BATFE ambition to reclassify some ammunition as "explosives"
And as I said--that's a small sampling.
Frankly, a "house cleaning" is not my first choice of what to do with the BATFE. We're talking about a house so filthy that it should be condemned and bulldozed, as an agency whose very existence has no Constitutional justification. That, unfortunately, is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future--so a "house cleaning" (an epic, Augean stables-like effort) is going to have to do.
One part of that endeavor would be something that has been advocated here before--legislation along the lines of H.R. 1923, the "Fairness in Firearms Testing Act," to protect people like David Olofson from malicious prosecution, and Len Savage from predatory economic harrassment.
More importantly, though, we need stringent congressional oversight of the BATFE's activities. As it happens, former congressman Jim Lightfoot has recommended just that. Having once been chairman of the committee that approved the BATFE's budget, he has some knowledge of that agency, and what he knows about it ain't pretty. From a letter he sent to the incoming Congress (pdf file):
ATF was recently featured on CNN regarding an agent who blew the whistle on an illegal wiretap and was rewarded with exile to an office with nothing to do for two years.
One of their Special Agents in Charge (SAC) was found by a local reporter to be driving a brand new Cadillac with all the bells and whistles plus a police package. His punishment was to move him to DC Headquarters with a promotion.
Check the millions of dollars paid out in settlements to employees as well as the huge backlog of employee complaints being ignored. Compare this to other larger agencies and you will be shocked at the level of abuse and waste.
With an incoming Congress supposedly committed to more responsible governance, and an incoming House Judiciary Committee Chairman who has promised to run a tight ship, the 112th Congress, which commences next year, could be the best chance in a very long time to bathe the BATFE in the disinfectant of intense congressional (and public) scrutiny.
To make that happen, we must do our own part, and demand that Congress holds hearings to investigate the BATFE's seemingly inexhaustible cacpacity for lurching from one corrupt, incompetent shenanigan to the next. Our elected officials are our servants, and it's a servant's job to do what he is told. If we don't tell Congress to get started on the dirty work of bringing accountability to the BATFE, we'll have no one to blame but ourselves.
See also:
- Help vindicate R.A. Bear. -- IT IS TIME TO DEMAND CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT HEARINGS INTO THE ATF'S SCANDALS.
- Andrew Traver: "No more Mister Nice Guy." The Gun Grabber Cometh.
- Former Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Jim Lightfoot urges ATF oversight hearings
- Former congressman urges ATF oversight hearings
Comments
But not the only need, that's for sure.
Definitely, Terry--but I think intense congressional and public scrutiny of the BATFE offers the best combination of feasibility and urgency.
Kurt I want to encourage you to continue to write these type of article as often as you can.
My family at one time was a police and military, I believe that what the prohibited persons laws have done to veterans and others is criminal.
I have family members that were in battles in Korea in which they were over-ran by the Chinese.
The fighting became so intense that they were shooting each other while shooting the enemy.
The horror of this battle has been in their minds for years, had they sought help for their sleepless nights they would be prohibited persons today, yet these family members have never committed a crime or been involved in illegal activity.
Sadly some gun groups believe that supporting gun control in the name of being tough on crime is reasonable.
It doesn’t mater that people suffering from PTSD or other health issues are no more likely to commit a crime than any other demographic group to these so called pro-gun groups.
Kurt, I thank you for your work/efforts
Madashell
We need to turn up the heat on Congress. The BATFE has way more power than it should have.
It is absolutely long over due to bring the BATFE into the light of accountability. For years they have run roughshod over the Gun Industry and Gun Dealers, looking for or inventing infractions to shut down small dealers. Far to often there have been reports of raids based upon a complaint issued by a Citizen simply because a misunderstanding existed, someone seen something or overheard a part of a conversation, or just discovered that their new neighbor was collecting guns and made them nervous. If you think there has been no abuse, think back to the Entrapment of Randy Wheeler of the Ruby Ridge incident, or the Wako disaster when the feds could have taken Davis Koresh at any time with out the show of a standoff. Or what about an House raid where a man’s collection of weapons was trashed and thrown about on the floor looking for Machine gun parts, and or weapons when they discovered they were in the wrong house and left leaving the guns scattered all over the floor and the door to the house hanging on one hinge and open, with out a Gee Were Sorry. YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK! Hitler would be proud of these jack booted thugs we pay to serve. The BATFE should be abolished and if any enforcement is to be done it should be through the Treasury Department and then only with Congressional oversight, and accountability.
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