Free Republic

Following in the well-worn footsteps of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his Blueprint for Federal Action on Illegal Guns, this week the Council on Foreign Relations released a memo urging the Obama administration to disregard the will of the American people and Congress and unilaterally enact a series of gun controls. Entitled, A Strategy to Reduce Gun Trafficking and Violence in the Americas, and written by CFR Senior Fellow for Latin American Studies, Julia F. Sweig, the memo pins the ills of Central and South America on U.S. gun owners and urges the president to curb our rights to...

In a series of mixed but mostly negative legal messages for embattled defendants Rick, Terri and Ryin Reese, Judge Robert C. Brack of the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico issued rulings last Tuesday on multiple motions related to the case. Arrested almost two years ago for allegedly knowingly selling guns to cartel members while operating a New Mexico gun store, all Reese family members were found not guilty on the most serious charges of conspiracy. Additionally and significantly, money laundering charges against them were dismissed. Husband Rick, wife Terri and son Ryin were convicted on...

One of the reasons gun owners tend to be completely opposed to the passage of any new gun laws – no matter how innocuous or reasonable seeming – is the erratic history of interpretation and enforcement of the current gun laws. This is also why I cringe every time I hear someone who supposedly supports gun rights – from politicians to the head of the NRA – calling for the feds to “enforce the laws already on the books.” The fact is, the gun laws that are already on the books are a labyrinth of confusion and booby-traps full of...

Mohandas Gandhi, the greatest pacifist of the 20th century, is widely quoted as having said, “Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look back upon the Act depriving the whole nation of arms as the blackest.” Gun controllers point to incidents such as the Ruby Ridge and Waco massacres to illustrate how violent gun owners can be, rather than acknowledging that gun control itself means violent confrontation. At trial, the jury acquitted the Davidians of all murder charges, although it convicted five of aiding and abetting the voluntary manslaughter of federal agents. It is telling...

Requesting that the United States Court of Appeals affirm the district court’s decision to grant a new trial and permit oral arguments, attorneys for the Reese family filed an Apellees’ Brief Thursday claiming “suppressed impeachment evidence was both favorable and material and … the decision to grant a new trial was within the sound discretion of the trial court.” Arrested almost two years ago for allegedly knowingly selling guns to cartel members while operating a New Mexico gun store, all Reese family members were found not guilty on the most serious charges of conspiracy. Additionally and significantly, money laundering charges...

SPRING, Texas – A federal agent shot and wounded a burglary suspect while defending his north Harris County home on Sunday morning, deputies said. According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tabacco, Firearms and Explosives shot a male suspect who had entered the man’s home at 4 a.m. in the 5300 block of Brookway Willow Drive. The suspect was in the middle of searching the residence when he was confronted by the ATF agent, who discharged his weapon at him, deputies said.

The choice of Minnesota U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives (ATF) made him the face of a national anti-violence agenda growing from the shock of the schoolhouse shooting massacre in Connecticut. But much like President Obama’s effort to ban assault weapons and expand background checks on gun buyers, Jones’ nomination has become stuck in the mire of congressional politics. On Tuesday, nearly six months after his name was put forward, Jones is expected to face off with some of the most skeptical Republican critics of gun restrictions and the ATF,...

Catherine Engelbrecht’s tale has all the markings of a classic conspiracy theory: She says she thinks that because of her peaceful political activity, she and her family was targeted for scrutiny by hostile federal agencies. Yet as news emerges that the Internal Revenue Service wielded its power to obstruct conservative groups, Catherine’s story becomes credible — and chilling. It also raises questions about whether other federal agencies have used their executive powers to target those deemed political enemies. Before the Engelbrecht family’s three-year ordeal began, Catherine says, “I had no real expectation or preparation for the blood sport that American...

...parsing a press release from the ATF public information office . . Alaskan Congressman Don Young met with ATF Deputy Director Tom Brandon [above] on May 18, 2012. Congressman Young had sent a letter on April 24 which called on the ATF to explain why its agents had been visiting Alaskan gun dealers and asking for copies of their gun sale records . . . During today’s meeting Deputy Director Brandon assured me that this is not an accepted practice at the ATF… Mr. Brandon also used the meeting as an opportunity to affirmatively state that ATF has never maintained...

A recent solicitation from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) reveals that the agency is seeking a "massive" online database capable of pulling up individuals' personal information, connections and associates. On March 28, ATF posted the notice on FedBizOpps.gov, entitled "Investigative System." The solicitation was updated on April 5 with a few minor changes. The document says that the system will be utilized by staff "to provide rapid searches on various entities for example; names, telephone numbers, utility data and reverse phone look-ups, as a means to assist with investigations, and background research on people, assets and businesses."

Twenty years ago, on February 28th 1993, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) launched an assault on the Branch Davidian religious compound just outside Waco, Texas. The resulting siege ended more than seven weeks later, on April 19, but not before claiming the lives of 80 men, women and children -- many burned to death in the final inferno that destroyed the compound. Even today, videos of the burning buildings remain vivid reminders of an assault gone horribly wrong, from start to finish; and, lessons from what has become known as the “Waco Tragedy” should be borne...

Government prosecutors argued against granting bond to Deming, N.M., gun dealer Rick Reese and his son Ryin, painting them as dangerous risks for release, court documents received this evening by Gun Rights Examiner reveal. United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales, nominated by President Obama last November to serve on the U.S. District Court in the District of New Mexico, filed a supplement to the defendant’s motion for release in that court last Tuesday, citing an affidavit he claimed contained “statements relevant to the motion. “[T]hey highlight the Defendants release still pose a danger to the community,” Gonzales wrote in the...

This week the Reese family continues to wait for Rick and Ryin to be released from jail pursuant to Judge Brack’s Memorandum Opinion and Order last week granting a new trial. Underscoring the decision are allegations that Luna County Sheriff Deputy Alan Batts may have had incentive to lie under oath. Rick and Terri Reese and their two sons, Ryin and Remington Reese were arrested in August 2011. They were charged with 30 counts of criminal activity related to making false statements in connection with the sale of firearms, international weapons trafficking related to smuggling weapons to the Mexican cartel,...

Despite two orders from an obviously irked New Mexico U.S. District Court judge that the Reese family will be given a new trial and that father Rick and son Reese are to be released on bond, the pair remain behind bars this weekend because monitoring devices required by the order are not on hand, sources close to the case have confirmed to Gun Rights Examiner. “Yes, bail money is good for now,” the source reveled, explaining “relatives, good friends and well-wishers have donated to the defense fund. “They are waiting for the ankle monitors to get in for the release....

•Requires owners of existing “assault weapons” to register them with the federal government under the National Firearms Act (NFA). The NFA imposes a $200 tax per firearm, and requires an owner to submit photographs and fingerprints to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), to inform the BATFE of the address where the firearm will be kept, and to obtain the BATFE’s permission to transport the firearm across state lines. •Prohibits the transfer of “assault weapons.” Owners of other firearms, including those covered by the NFA, are permitted to sell them or pass them to heirs. However, under...

By Mr. Curmudgeon:While President Obama took to the airwaves in his weekly radio address, urging Congress to "act soon" in passing sweeping gun-control measures, the Phoenix Drug Enforcement Administration announced that it recovered 43 weapons Obama's Justice Department sold to Mexican drug gangs as part of its infamous Operation Fast and Furious.According to ABC's Phoenix affiliate KNXV-TV, Phoenix drug enforcement agents recovered the weapons after arrests were made near the Phoenix-Tolleson border. "Four of the suspects are listed as undocumented immigrants. The fifth suspect had been admitted to the United States under a non-immigrant visa," said KNXV-TV.In a 2011 letter...

The sane reaction to the Sandy Hook shooting might have been to look at the country’s mental illness infrastructure. The shooter in the case was clearly sick, and mental illness is the common denominator among these mass shootings, after all, from Newtown to Tucson to Aurora to Virginia Tech and beyond. Instead, look at what we’re doing. The White House and many in Congress have targeted legal gun owners and guns; at least one lawmaker in Iowa has openly called for confiscation of guns from law-abiding citizens; and several media outlets have even run maps showing the homes, addresses and...

Dear Mr. Security Agent, Federal, state, or local. You, the man or woman with the badge, the sworn LEO or FLEA and those who inhabit the many law enforcement niches in between and on all sides. This essay is directed to you, because in the end, how this turmoil about gun control turns out will depend largely upon your decisions and actions over the coming months and years. I sincerely wish that members of Congress—who may soon be voting on new gun control measures—would read this essay, but I realize that’s a pipe dream, considering the impenetrable bubbles around those...

Heads may roll at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as four key officials involved in Operation Fast and Furious may be fired, two more demoted and one suspended and transferred, sources have confirmed to this column. Word first leaked over the weekend about three of the reported firings at Town Hall and Breitbart, which curiously carried much the same text under two different bylines. UPDATE: Fox News, quoting the Wall Street Journal, is reporting however that these dismissals are only recommendations from an agency review board. This column regrets any error. Former Phoenix Special Agent in Charge...

Double-barrel 1911 lands ATF approval, importation to begin next year The ATF has given Arsenal the green light to import their double-barreled, double-everything 1911. Arsenal turned a lot of heads a few months back when they announced their truly unique handgun, the AF2011-A1, but many assumed that the gun would never wind up for sale in the U.S., because it fires two cartridges with one pull of the trigger, making it a machine gun according to federal law. Arsenal maintained that their double trigger design, and matching pair of sears and hammers, would not raise the hackles of the gatekeepers...

An anti-gun owner initiative considered in Washington could lead to massive civil disobedience and a severe domestic crisis, gun law expert John M. Snyder warned on Friday. "According to confidential information," he said, "forces linked with the administration suggest the government classify semiautomatic firearms and multiple capacity ammunition feeding devices as Title 2 National Firearms Act items under the Gun Control Act of 1968. Americans familiar with federal gun laws understand that under this scenario, semiautomatics and high capacity magazines could be acquired only with great difficulty and at great expense by America's estimated 100 million law-abiding firearms owners, notes...

So I received my renewal notice for my C&R FFL (03) yesterday, as it's due to expire in February. I've been religious with my renewals for years, but this year just feels different. I saw that BATFE seal on the envelope and my heart sank a little knowing that they're under this Marxist administration. My question to FReepers and firearm aficionados is this: should I renew? My feelings are that at some point in the future, firearms are going to be restricted either by international treaty (i.e. UN ATT) or by executive fiat, and I wonder if it would be...

A two-year old news article about Arizona guns falling into the hands of Mexican cartels, that preceded the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and the unraveling of government-sanctioned gunwalking, has been rediscovered by Attorney David Hardy on his Of Arms and the Law blog. The story was filed “[r]ight in the middle of the Fast and Furious gunrunning,” Hardy observes, adding “with SAC William Newell overseeing the operation.” Special Agent in Charge Newell headed the Phoenix field division from which Operation Fast and Furious was executed. “Weapons that trace back to dealers and sellers in Arizona are being...

Watergate is arguably the most sinister crime a Democrat can find to present to the American people when trying to silence a Republican. But it pales in comparison to the lies, illegal gun sales, weapons trafficking, and wholesale slaughter of innocents we've seen as a result of Fast and Furious. Think about it -- Watergate was a break-in, the goal of which was secure some "dirt" on Democrats to help Richard Nixon during his re-election bid in 1972. Nixon, the man vilified for it, didn't even know about it until after the break-in had already happened, and his crime was...

Details released to the media have been minimal so far: a Border Patrol unit that was dispatched to check an alarm triggered by a ground sensor east of Bisbee, Arizona, came under fire shortly after 1:30 a.m. in what appears to have been a hasty ambush. Three agents were part of the patrol. One agent, Nicholas Ivie, a married father of two, was killed at the scene [1]: Capas said the agents reported over the radio that they had come under fire as they were following a trail into the area. Earlier reports from authorities stated erroneously that they were...

Scandal: A Univision special documents how weapons provided by the administration to Mexican drug cartels repeatedly have taken a deadly toll as families on both sides of the border wait for true answers and accountability. We may never know how many deaths, kidnappings and other criminal activities were facilitated by more than 2,000 weapons that were allowed to "walk" into Mexico under the Obama administration's Fast and Furious program, but a Univision special aired Sunday exposes more of the carnage. The special, put together by Univision's investigative unit and aired as a special edition of Univision's "Aqui y Ahora" ("Here...

On January 30, 2010, a commando of at least 20 hit men parked themselves outside a birthday party of high school and college students in Villas de Salvarcar, Ciudad Juarez. Near midnight, the assassins, later identified as hired guns for the Mexican cartel La Linea, broke into a one-story house and opened fire on a gathering of nearly 60 teenagers. Outside, lookouts gunned down a screaming neighbor and several students who had managed to escape. Fourteen young men and women were killed, and 12 more were wounded before the hit men finally fled. Indirectly, the United States government played a...

The Spanish language television news network Univision unleashed a bombshell investigative report on Operation Fast and Furious Sunday evening, finding that in January 2010 drug cartel hit men slaughtered students with weapons the United States government allowed to flow to them across the Mexican border. “On January 30, 2010, a commando of at least 20 hit men parked themselves outside a birthday party of high school and college students in Villas de Salvarcar, Ciudad Juarez,” according to a version of the Univision report in English, on the ABC News website. “Near midnight, the assassins, later identified as hired guns for...

Who are the human faces of the U.S. government's botched "Fast and Furious" gun-walking operation? Often lost amid the rancor in Washington are the stories of dozens of people killed by guns that flowed south as part of the undercover operation, and later slipped out of view from U.S. officials. Univision's Investigative Unit (Univision Investiga) has identified massacres committed using guns from the ATF operation, including the killing of 16 young people attending a party in a residential area of Ciudad Juárez in January of 2010.

WASHINGTON – B. Todd Jones, Acting Director of the ATF, issued the following statement: Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General (grovel) is rightfully critical of ATF's handling of Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious investigations. ATF accepts full responsibility for failure up and down the chain of command... led to a series of "regrettable events" (bumps in the road). I have referred the findings of the OIG report to our Office of Professional Responsibility and Security Operations to determine if any adverse actions are warranted. The Privacy Act prohibits us from discussing any personnel actions related to those named...

Dozens of senior-level U.S. government officials turned a blind eye to public safety as they pursued an ill-conceived and poorly managed investigation into gun trafficking in Mexico, according to a long-awaited inspector general's report on Operation Fast and Furious. Portions of the Justice Department IG report, which has not been made public, were obtained exclusively by Fox News Channel. The report and accompanying accounts cite a failure in leadership and a lack of accountability and oversight up and down the chain of command at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Justice Department itself and other offices....

Obama Administration Expands ATF’s Power to Seize Property As part of a one-year trial run, the Department of Justice has granted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives the power to “to seize and administratively forfeit property allegedly involved in controlled substance offenses,” which is almost tantamount to saying that on the mere suspicion that one is doing something illegal, the ATF can snatch one’s firearms and property. The Washington Times, among other publications, have explained the implications of this new DoJ decree: It’s a dangerous extension of the civil-forfeiture doctrine, a surreal legal fiction in which the seized...

Attorney General Eric Holder has granted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) authority, for a one-year trial period, to seize and administratively forfeit property allegedly involved in controlled substance offenses pursuant to United States Code Title 21 › Chapter 13 › Subchapter I › Part E › § 881. 21 U.S.C. § 881 is, among other things, often invoked to seize and forfeit bulk currency, where no drugs are found, on theories that the currency was furnished, or intended to be furnished, in exchange for a controlled substance.AG Holder’s rulemaking announcement declared that such changes are exempt from the general notice and comment requirements because the department determined that the change does not affect individual rights and...

the DEA here commandeered private property from a law-abiding businessman and ineptly deployed it in an operation that got a man killed and now endangers a family that had nothing to do with the case. There is a term for what the DEA did with that truck: grand theft auto. The DEA is running neck-and-neck with the ATF for the title of most dangerous federal law-enforcement agency; in my view, both should be dissolved and their responsibilities handed over to some more responsible party, such as a group of drunken rodeo clowns or ADD-addled teen-agers. Whoever approved this operation belongs...

Article For Immediate Release July 18, 2012 Grassley, Issa Seek Clarification of ATF Acting Director’s Message to Employees on Reporting Agency Concerns WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley and Rep. Darrell Issa today urged the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to clarify his remarks to employees about reporting concerns within the agency.  Grassley and Issa expressed concern that the remarks are likely to chill whistleblowers from reporting legitimate problems and undermine a necessary function for making improvements.  The concern is significant because whistleblowers recently put their careers on the line to expose the...

Exclusive: Bradlee Dean reveals latest revelation in 'Fast and Furious' scandal As we know, Eric Holder’s “Fast and Furious” scheme has sparked outrage among the American people. The DOJ’s “Fast and Furious” operation placed guns into the hands of drug smugglers who have committed crimes through entrapment, which was directly responsible for the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Holder’s ultimate goal was to circumvent his own criminal activity by blaming gun stores in America for selling the very guns that the ATF put in the hands of smugglers. Of course, his plans were botched before he could blame...

John Solomon, writing in the Washington Guardian, is reporting today that B. Todd Jones, the Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), released a video last week to all employees. In the video, Jones warns that there would be “consequences” for any employees who report wrongdoing outside their chain of command. Jones was a federal prosecutor when Attorney General Eric Holder asked him to lead the embattled agency after the Fast and Furious scandal. He is supposed to improve morale and instill a new culture in the aftermath of that scandal. Jones' precise words are:...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: April 16, 2009. This from CNN's website: "Reviving a ban on assault weapons and more strictly enforcing existing gun laws could help tamp down drug violence that has run rampant on the US-Mexican border, President Obama said Thursday. Speaking alongside Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Obama said he has 'not backed off at all' on a campaign pledge to try to restore the ban. It was instituted under President Clinton and allowed to lapse by President George W. Bush. 'I continue to believe that we can respect and honor the Second Amendment right in our Constitution -- the...

It comes as no surprise that the Obama Administration out out s Statement of Administration Policy saying that President Obama's senior advisors would recommend he veto HR 5326.(Among other things, the bill will prohibit Obama from his desire to back-door reclassify and then ban the sale and possession of C&R firearms). Apparently, one of the reasons the President would veto HR 5326 is because of an NRA-backed provision preventing funding for the new and unauthorized multiple reporting and registration plan proposed by BATFE. On April 26, the House Committee on Appropriations approved this general provision offered by Cong. Rehberg (R-MT)...

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) fired off a biting letter to Attorney General Eric Holder today, rebuking him for misleading congressional investigators even as new documents show that senior Justice Department officials had detailed information about Operation Fast and Furious tactics. Six wiretap applications in the gunwalking scandal were submitted to DoJ officials in Washington for justification and approval. The wiretaps have been sealed by a federal judge, but committee members were able to gain access to them — after Holder refused to turn them over under subpoena. “In a May 15, 2012 letter, the...

Saw this tweeted a few minutes ago. Another sternly written memo or will something finally come out of this? Looks like Issa got hold of some of the wiretap apps and is calling Holder out. From the last paragraph: "With the wiretap applications in possession of the Committee, the Department can no longer push such information away from its political appointees. These appointees were responsible for approving the reckless tactics used during Fast and Furious. Because of the wiretap applications, we now know which senior Department officials made these serious mistakes. It is time for you to honor your commitment...

Savage seems to enjoy something of a double life, with photographs on social networking sites showing her toting guns, riding motorcycles, skydiving - and posing provocatively for the camera. In other photographs on Facebook, the Gainesville State College student dons boxing gloves - before switching to her barely-there bikini to become a ring girl. The profile page also admits to her love of blowing things up - and her loathing of the law. 'I despise all law enforcement and any governing authority,' she writes. 'I am not one for selective targeting but mass destruction.'

The Obama administration is threatening to veto the House Appropriations bill, HR 5326 by Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY) because, among other things, it would roadblock a multiple long gun sales reporting requirement in four southwest states for the embattled Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. This new angle should get the attention of Northwest gun owners who faithfully follow the Fast and Furious scandal at WaGuns, Seattle Guns, Northwest Firearms, Shooters Northwest and GunRights Media forums. A message from the Obama administration on the proposed legislation says this:

WASHINGTON - House Republicans, accusing President Barack Obama of waging a war on gun owners, plan to cut off funding for an rule requiring firearms dealers in border states to report multiple sales of certain rifles. The matter has become a flash point on both sides of the national gun control divide, elevating the debate over the Second Amendment in an election year in which the president is struggling to win again in pro-gun swing states such as New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Virginia. Obama has vowed to veto the House's plan to prohibit the government from enforcing the border-state...

Print Close Rehberg Amendment Protects Gun Owners from Unauthorized Obama Administration Tracking Policy April 26, 2012 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, successfully offered an Amendment to fight an attempt by the Obama Administration to use an obscure regulatory process to track the purchases of firearms in four border states. Rehberg’s amendment to the FY13 Commerce, Justice and Science House Appropriations Bill would prevent the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) from using federal funds to track the purchases of gun owners who buy multiple rifles within a certain time period. “While President Obama and his allies...

Alaska Congressman Don Young today demanded to know why agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have been asking gun shop owners in the 49th State for copies of their gun sales records. As this column reported, ATF agents had contacted gun shops in Anchorage for the bound books which contain information on gun buyers. Federal law prohibits federal agents from doing that, and they know it. Gun rights activists across the Northwest are furious. The situation has caused an uproar in the firearms community, and Young – a member of the National Rifle Association Board of...

<p>One of the most compelling arguments against gun control: laws affecting legal gun purchase and ownership put the government on a slippery slope towards gun confiscation. One of the least compelling arguments against gun control: laws affecting legal gun purchase and ownership put the government on a slippery slope towards gun confiscation. Gun control advocates—and those who view the government as a benign entity—dismiss any mention of creeping tyranny as the paranoid ravings of firearms-fixated members of the lunatic fringe. The ongoing Fast and Furious scandal has highlighted the divide . .</p>

Last night, a reporter from Univision asked President Obama about the subject of a CBS News investigation: allegations that ATF allowed traffickers to send weapons to Mexican drug cartels in an operation called "Fast and Furious." "There may be a situation here which a serious mistake was made and if that's the case then we'll find out and well hold somebody accountable," he added.

The attorneys of Bill Newell, embattled former ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Field Division, and David Voth, Supervisor of Phoenix Group VII (the group that carried out Operation Fast and Furious), are accusing Senator Charles Grassley and Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa of making “many inaccurate and harmful statements� and “factual distortions against� their clients. In a letter obtained by Townhall, attorney and former Department of Justice Prosecutor Paul E. Pelletier, representing Newell, writes on behalf his defendant to “correct the factual distortions in your staff’s ‘memorandum.’ To be clear, this faulty memorandum and...

President Obama's pick for ATF director, anti-gun Andrew Traver, has been transferred from his position as special agent in charge of the ATF Chicago Field Division, to head up the Denver division. According to sources, the move came after Traver felt frustrated his confirmation for ATF director had been stalled in the Senate for nearly a year. The estimated cost to transfer Traver is nearly a million taxpayer dollars, all because his feelings are hurt. Traver chose to specifically to work in Chicago, (where his buddies Obama and Rahm hang out) and instead of forcing taxpayers to foot the bill...