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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.

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News  

Friday, July 12, 2013

"Fast & Furious" Remains Out of Sight and Therefore Out of Mind

With all of the scandals the Obama administration has been involved in of late, it's not surprising that ...

Monday, June 24, 2013

Federal Court Upholds Obama/Holder Gun Registration Scheme

On May 31, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ...

News  

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

BATFE nominee is grilled before Senate panel

The national debate over gun control has died down, but there were moments of high tension Tuesday as ...

News  

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

BATFE nominee faces retaliation inquiry

An independent Justice Department watchdog is probing allegations that President Barack Obama"s nominee to lead the Bureau of ...

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Monday, March 25, 2013

Gun sellers burdened enough

Gun control advocates complain that Congress stopped the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from making firearms ...

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Friday, March 1, 2013

BATFE Reviewing "Sporting Purposes" Exemption to AP Ammo Law

After a series of meetings with the nra and other organizations representing hunters, members of the firearm and ...

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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

The "Tiahrt Amendment" on Firearms Traces: Protecting Gun Owners' Privacy and Law Enforcement Safety

For over a decade, cities and anti-gun organizations sought access to confidential law enforcement data on firearms traces, ...

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Thursday, December 20, 2012

Pistol purchased by ATF agent found at alleged cartel crime scene in Mexico

CBS News has learned that an FN Herstal pistol recovered near the crime scene in November was originally ...

News  

Thursday, December 6, 2012

BATFE Taking Comments on "Sporting Purposes" Exemption to "Armor Piercing Ammunition" Law Until Dec. 31

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is taking public comments on its website until December 31, ...

News  

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

December 2012 Standing Guard: The Truth You’re Not Allowed to Know

The “truth you are not allowed to know” is that the Obama administration’s sanctioned “gun-walking” scheme called "Operation ...

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NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.