Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

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.

Issue Articles
SECTION
FROM
WITHIN
Biden Administration Continues Push to Target Firearms with Attached Stabilizing Braces

News  

Monday, December 12, 2022

Biden Administration Continues Push to Target Firearms with Attached Stabilizing Braces

It seems like we have been warning about the Biden Administration’s intent to reclassify handguns equipped with braces intended to help ...

Border Brouhaha?

News  

Monday, October 24, 2022

Border Brouhaha?

There seems to be some controversy brewing near our border, but not the one you might be thinking ...

Brace Yourself: Biden Administration Reinterprets “Firearm,” Prepares Crackdown

News  

Monday, August 29, 2022

Brace Yourself: Biden Administration Reinterprets “Firearm,” Prepares Crackdown

When we say “brace yourself,” we’re not kidding. The pistol brace rule is coming as well. But first, ...

Supreme Court Signals It May Rein In Federal Rulemakers

News  

Monday, August 8, 2022

Supreme Court Signals It May Rein In Federal Rulemakers

While most of the attention from the end of the United States Supreme Court’s last term focused on ...

Busting ATF’s “Myth”-Busting

News  

Monday, August 1, 2022

Busting ATF’s “Myth”-Busting

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives appears to understand that it has an image problem. According ...

ATF Partners with Anti-gun Researchers to Expand Agency’s Power

News  

Monday, May 23, 2022

ATF Partners with Anti-gun Researchers to Expand Agency’s Power

On May 17, the Department of Justice announced the release of a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives publication ...

Gun Owners Must Stop (Another) Anti-Gun ATF Nominee

News  

Monday, May 2, 2022

Gun Owners Must Stop (Another) Anti-Gun ATF Nominee

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from humiliated Biden nominee David Chipman. That is, of course, a ...

Biden Administration Announces New Firearm Rule

News  

Monday, April 18, 2022

Biden Administration Announces New Firearm Rule

On April 11, the Biden Administration announced the finalization of a new firearm rule, and a new nominee to head ...

Biden Chooses to Rinse and Repeat with New ATF Nominee

News  

Monday, April 11, 2022

Biden Chooses to Rinse and Repeat with New ATF Nominee

Today, the Biden Administration announced the nomination of Steven Dettelbach as the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, ...

ATF Reinterprets the Term “Machinegun,” Again

News  

Monday, April 4, 2022

ATF Reinterprets the Term “Machinegun,” Again

On March 22nd, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) released an open letter on “forced reset triggers” ...

More Like This From Around The NRA

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.