Gun Owners of America Calls for Dissolution of ATF
The Second Amendment grassroots group Gun Owners of America today called for the dissolution of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, citing work done by the House Oversight Committee over the last several months to expose an ATF program that led to the killing of a Border Patrol agent.
Operation Fast and Furious (previously named Operation Gunrunner) intentionally facilitated illegal trafficking of guns from American shops, across the Mexican border, and into the hands of Mexican drug cartels in order to "track" how the guns were then used. The Oversight Committee's investigation, led by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), revealed that acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson and Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich knew that ATF agents were allowing guns to move illegally into Mexico. Issa has since called for Melson's resignation and for more transparency from the Department of Justice, which is conducting its own investigation of Fast and Furious, but isn't cooperating with Issa's investigation.
Today, Gun Owners for America issued a statement saying that Issa's investigation should spell the beginning of the end for ATF:
News reports have disclosed that many gun stores in the Southwest had suspicions about buyers that were not flagged by the Instant Check. But these gun dealers were told to go ahead and let the sales take place.
So, what did Democrats do in the face of this damning evidence? They wanted to discuss the need for more gun restrictions.
Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) said Congress needed to pass more gun control because, if one massages the numbers just right (and ignores a whole bunch of others), why, 70% of guns used in Mexican crime supposedly come from the U.S. At least that's what a brand new report from the ATF claims.
But Issa would have none of that, and he kept the committee focused on all the guns the ATF is helping send to Mexico.
ATF has a long history of death and destruction. Waco was never adequately addressed at the time. Indeed, ATF got a bigger budget the next year. Innocent people such as David Olofson were convicted with perjured testimony. The Bureau has never published a manual detailing how they determine what is, or is not, a machine gun.
We have to thank the agents who had the courage and integrity to blow the whistle on the corruption being fostered by their superiors. But this is only the tip of the iceberg. The Constitution allows no room for gun control, which is why this agency needs to be done away with and the managers of Fast and Furious (and those who signed off on it in the upper echelons of the Justice Department) need to go to jail.
Previously: Despite opposition from the NRA, GOA supported Sen. Rand Paul's firearms amendment to the PATRIOT Act.
