BATFE, Firearm Importation & Federal Firearm Law Reform
Among its duties, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) monitors firearm manufacturers, importers and dealers for compliance with record-keeping requirements; conducts traces on the commercial paths of individual firearms at the request of law enforcement agencies; interprets firearm importation law; and administers transfers of firearms regulated by the National Firearm Act of 1934.
The BATFE was used by the Clinton administration to reduce the number of firearm dealers, and by the administrations of presidents G. H. W. Bush and Clinton to restrict “assault weapons” by misinterpreting firearm importation law. The agency’s tracing data, sometimes useful in identifying persons involved in illegally trafficking firearms, have been mischaracterized by gun control supporters in the context of their campaigns against “Saturday Night Specials” and “assault weapons,” and in favor of making state gun laws more restrictive.
BATFE has been widely criticized for its role in the “Ruby Ridge” and “Waco” tragedies, and Operation Fast and Furious, in which the agency knowingly allowed firearms to be bought by straw purchasers and other traffickers, and thereafter smuggled from the United States to Mexico, where they made their way to violent drug cartels.
Sunday, September 3, 2023
The National Rifle Association responded this week to the Biden administration’s proposed rule requiring more background checks to ...
Friday, September 1, 2023
NRA-ILA Executive Director Randy Kozuch released the following statement regarding the Biden ATF's action to sidestep Congress with ...
Monday, August 21, 2023
Political observers expect the Washington Post and the New York Times to carry water for Joe Biden’s Department ...
Monday, July 3, 2023
The National Rifle Association of America (“NRA”) today announced it filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Alcohol, ...
Monday, July 3, 2023
The National Rifle Association of America slapped the ATF with another lawsuit over a rule that regulates stabilizing ...
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
The National Rifle Association of America (“NRA”) today announced it is intervening in a pending case to protect ...
Monday, May 1, 2023
Steven Dettelbach – Joe Biden’s appointment to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) – ...
Monday, April 24, 2023
On April 19, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted 23-15 to advance H.J.Res.44, which would reign in ...
Thursday, February 9, 2023
The National Rifle Association announced the filing of an NRA-backed and supported lawsuit challenging the Bureau of Alcohol, ...
Monday, January 30, 2023
On Monday, January 30, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) published the final Factoring Criteria for ...
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