DOJ gives new tools to ATF on guns - "Border states" to report assault weapons sales

[Sky]

Their actions actually put a chill on gun purchases. If not a chill it makes you think; wow I bought two guns so now I am on the "Suspicious activity list" and who knows what else..hahahaha some people probably have rather large collection and it would be interesting watching the interview and interactions between the agents and the lawful owner of said weapons..ATF raided a house today and found 4 weapons will be the headline; or worse.....maybe it's all about nothing..choke, cough, and wish. It is a shame that so much trust has been lost and eroded by the actions of a few.

 

[MikeNice]

The house passed something to stop funding for this initiative. I don't know if it passed the senate.

 

[lonegunman]

There is no reason to expect Barry O. or any of his minions to follow the rule of law or behave in an above board manner. Read the Huffington Post diatribe on "operation gunrunner", they have ATF minions saying they had to resort to this behavior because American gun laws are so law it is impossible to get a conviction,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,especially in Arizona where people are radical right.

 

[dogtown tom]

Sky Two guns in 5 days or bulk ammo purchase gets a suspicious activities report and a possible visit from Ice, BATF, and Boarder Patrol.

Nope.
No such Federal requirement (or Texas requirement for a "suspicious activities report"......you can buy a hundred guns and no report is required unless the purchase involves "two or more semi-automatic rifles larger than .22 caliber (including .223/5.56 caliber) with the ability to accept a detachable magazine."

You can buy one handgun, one AR15, five shotguns, two AR lower receivers and 5,000 rounds of ammunition for each on the same day.............no law or ATF regulation requires any of that to be reported.

Used to not be requested but now we have to supply our phone number when a weapon is picked up from the FFL....

No requirement by ATF, FBI NICS or the State of Texas to give the dealer your phone number.

Sounds to me like your FFL is inventing his own regulations.

 

[Shadow 7D]

Anybody else get the J&G newsletter, they are suing over this, I guess they didn't like they being drug in to the gun walker scandal.

I personally liked the one where the had to point out that THEY had never sold (knowingly) a rifle with a Tracking device in it...
I must stop now before I digress.

 

[publius]

NRA and Shooting Sports Foundation are suing over this rule.

NY Times

Fox News

The Times notes something I had not heard before: that the multiple handgun reporting rule was in place before Congress passed a law authorizing it in 1986. For fans of politics, that would be during the Reagan administration.

I found it interesting to see the different ways that the two news outlets commented on the related Fast and Furious scandal, in which ATF was receiving lots of multiple sales reports from cooperating dealers...

NY Times:

In that operation, federal agents monitored straw buyers who bought about 2,000 guns, but did not intervene to arrest them or seize the weapons because they were trying to identify higher-ups in the network. But the bureau then lost track of many of the guns, some of which were smuggled into Mexico and two of which later turned up at the scene of a shootout in Arizona where an American Border Patrol agent was killed.

Uh, yeah, "lost track" is one way of putting it, I suppose. Not particularly accurate, but a way.

Fox News:

The operation's plan was to follow American purchases suspected of buying guns bound for to Mexican cartels in hopes they would lead investigators to the heads of the enterprises. But hundreds of high-powered rifles and other guns ended up in Mexico, and self-described whistleblowers now accuse ATF of letting the guns "walk" to Mexico even after safety concerns were raised. Weapons linked to the program were used in a December attack along the Southwest Border that killed U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

Yeah, I think "letting guns walk" is a better way of describing what happened. For those who have not read it, here is what Agent Dodson says they actually did:



Supervisors ordered them to keep the straw purchaser under surveillance while allowing the guns to walk in the hands of the unknown third party, says Agent Dodson.

ATF lost track of some of the guns, says the New York Times. Pretty much the same thing, I guess.

 

[stevelyn]

The waffen BATFEces creates the contrived crisis so they can offer the contrived solution.

 

[Sky]

Dogtown I really hope you are right....one of the FFLs got a visit by 5 guys from BATF, ICE, and Boarder Patrol and the bulk ammo and 2 gun thing is what he understood them to say. There is also a letter they gave him, which I have not seen, and do not know if he will even let me see it but I plan on asking him. Every region seems to have it's own way of doing things and it is not the first time this region has gone the extra mile on interpretation of some directive. The FFLs I know are good guys just trying to do as directed and stay out of domestic entanglements.