If we can't trust ATF under oath, when can we trust them?

April 11, 11:56 AMGun Rights ExaminerDavid Codrea

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From trailer for "The Gang"

Gun owners who are active in protecting their rights may know of this--a lot of you may not.

The following transcript is from Oct. 1995. The speaker was Thomas Busey, then chief of ATF's National Firearms Act Branch. The subject was the NFRTR, the National Firearms Registry and Transfer Record. It's the official record the government keeps on all National Firearms Act-registered weapons, such as machine guns, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, suppressors, destructive devices and AOWs, or "Any Other Weapons" the agency deems taxable/requiring registration. Here's what Mr. Busey said about it:

Let me say that when we testify in court, we testify that the data base is 100 percent accurate. That's what we testify to, and we will always testify to that. As you probably well know, that may not be 100 percent true.

You can read the entire transcript here.

I've told WarOnGuns readers before about statistician Dr. Fritz Scheuren informing the 10th District Court that "NFRTR is insufficient for criminal proceedings," and his letter to to the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science,and Related Agencies Committee on Appropriations about "inaccuracies in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR) data system maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)." In that same journal entry, I linked readers to a report showing how convictions based on missing NFRTR records violate due process.

This is fundamental stuff. Think of the implications for fairness, justice, the law...and, of course, individual rights and property, the protection of which is why we authorize government in the first place.

Some of you may have even seen this video--for those who have not, ain't nothin' like seeing and hearing things for yourself. Mr. Busey leads off in this trailer for "The Gang," produced by Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership:

And here is ATF's "damage control" statement:

Mr. Busey's statement that NFA specialists testify that the data base is 100 percent accurate was a misstatement of the facts. I have never testified that the data base is 100 percent accurate nor, to the beat of my knowledge, has any other of the NFA Branch personnel, including Mr. Busey.

See, rephrasing things so specifically leaves pretty wide latitude. And it doesn't address why such a seed was planted...I mean, why the facts were misstated in the first place.

I said at the beginning of this column some of you may have seen some of this information before. Here's something you probably haven't seen:


It's an actual copy of the incident report that resulted from the training session. And here is the official follow-up from the Office of Inspection. I guess if you're inclined to have faith in such things, "Oops, my bad" pretty much covers it.

Gee, I'm glad that settles everything. Aren't you?

Still, I'd feel better if I knew why, if it was a misstatement, Busey felt it necessary to repeat himself:

Like I told you before, we testify in court and, of course, our certifications testify to that, too, when we're not physically there to testify, that we are 100 percent accurate.

Ah well--nothing to see here. Move on.

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A warning from Oregon

OFF tells us "Mental Health Records To Be Sent To Obama Administration."

Click on the link to find out what that could mean to Oregon gun owners.