Posted on 04/09/2013 8:38:57 PM PDT by Windflier
...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 database of lawful firearms owners; is not permitted by law to create and maintain such a database; and has no intention whatsoever of collecting any information for such a database.
These are absolute, bald-faced lies. ATF has been copying FFL Bound Books for years – with or without FFL permission. During annual compliance inspections in other states, FFL dealers have reported that ATF industry operations investigators (IOI) brought in digital cameras and photographed the entire dealer “Bound Book” without permission of the FFL holder. Other dealers reported investigators brought in digital scanners and scanned portions of the Bound Book – line by line. Of course, the Bound Book contains the dealer’s full record of lawful firearm sales transaction records.
“ATF has never maintained a database of lawful firearms owners“? Oh, yeah? What about this:
1. All previous firearms traces from all sources,
2. Dealer, Importer, and Manufacturer computer, paper or microfilm “Bound Book” Out-of-Business records (including digital files required by ATF Ruling 2008-2),
3. Dealer “Bound Book” records (computer and/or paper) copied or photographed by ATF during annual inspections.
4. ATF Form 4473 from dealers copied or photographed during annual inspections and in Out-of-Business records.
5. Multiple Firearm Sales reports (ATF F 3310.4)
6. Traditional trace phone calls to the manufacturer, distributor and final selling dealer,
7. Additional data sources, such as some state firearms sales records as required by state law or policy.
8. Dealer “Bound Books” over 20 years old voluntarily sent in to ATF, including some antique firearms allowed to be entered in “Bound Books”.
9. Stolen firearms reported to ATF (Not NCIC).
10. System 2000 automated retrieval system from manufacturers, importers and distributors (100 companies as of 2010)
11. Certain firearms dealers required by ATF to report certain used firearms transaction to ATF for entry into the Firearms Tracing System.
12. For every firearm reported stolen to the NCIC stolen firearms database, New Jersey now automatically submits a trace to ATF (NJ Trace System). ATF is reported as working on a similar program.
13. Some state firearm registration systems are being loaded into the ATF tracing system.
14. In a press release, New Jersey admits tracing (from police records) all of private gun purchases into the ATF Firearms Tracing System through eTrace. By state law, New York and Connecticut also require tracing of all such private purchase firearms.
15. ATF hired private consultants to catalog information on firearms and submit trace requests from police departments to ATF.
16. ATF has imposed a requirement (pilot project) to report all dealer multiple sales (2 or more) of all semi-auto rifles with a detachable magazine greater than .22 caliber. (Currently restricted to California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas – border states with Mexico). This requirement includes 100 year old Model 1907 Winchester rifles, WWII M1 Carbines, German G43 rifles, FN 49 rifles, and many other historic firearms of primary interest to collectors which are not known to be used by Mexican drug catels. Over 7,000 lawful firearm sales reported to date.
This is not an inclusive list, as other sources exist.
Hat tip ping.
All these federal databases will only stop when it becomes a federal offense for agencies to keep them. It will also help if someone in the agency is “assigned responsibility” for any databases, so if they are not purged as required, they will face criminal sanctions.
‘...........so if they are not purged as required, they will face criminal sanctions.”
Yes they should face criminal sanctions but ask yourself, WHO, in the broad scheme of things will be the one they need to face? Certainly not anyone from the current administration (Holder).
You both raise a valid point. About the only possible answer I can imagine is oddly enough, the US House of Representatives and the US Senate.
Constitutionally, the power of impeachment has been limited almost exclusively to corrupt federal judges. However, one time in the past, congress did impeach a cabinet officer, William W. Belknap, president Grant’s Secretary of War. He resigned before his senate trial, yet was acquitted by them.
The Constitution grants the House the power to impeach “The President, the Vice President, and all civil Officers of the United States.”
So all it takes is the political will of a majority of congress, but unfortunately 2/3rds of a majority of the senate, to turn such scoundrels out of office.
In practical terms, the senate does not wish to convict those other than federal judges, because the house is willing to impeach them, and forward the impeachment to the senate.
So what needs to happen is for the house to make it a more common practice to impeach evil and corrupt bureaucrats.
This would be a huge vitamin shot to the power of congress, and would do much to rebalance their branch against the “imperial presidents”.
Eventually even the senate would start to convict the worst of the scoundrels, and it would become a more relaxed process, with the senate willing to do so.
Skip ahead to the near future, could be 10, 20 or 30 years from now but an eventuality.
That firearms can be made at home, printed, bullets will be old school, batteries will advance, and the possibility of Star Trek style phasers a real possibility.
Anyone can get one at anytime, a whole society armed with disintegration guns.
That can be good and bad, mostly good I think as then you get a mutual polite respect knowing that if you are socially disturbing, politically unwanted or you may just smell very very bad you may find yourself nothing but a cloud of disjointed atoms.
And of course none can have any registration numbers, so the Feds are on the edge of the cliff of a historical occasion, they may TRY to confiscate billions of guns, but when they try America will just make unregistered weapons, better, more advanced and more available.
tit for tat.
We're certainly getting there. I think it's interesting that we will come full circle with regards to making weapons. Like cavemen, who sharpened sticks to defend themselves, we'll design and produce whatever weapons suit us.
3-D printing technology is getting us there fast, and the advancements are all due to the radical liberals threatening our basic right of self defense.
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