On Lee’s Resolution day, I want to state for the record that I am entirely serious about disbanding the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (and Really Big Fires). With the relatively recent revelations about the ATF’s DOJ-approved anti-gun running gun running operations, the ATF is revealed, once again, as a criminal conspiracy. Just in case Waco, Ruby Ridge and other ATF assaults lead you to believe that the ATF only targets “gun nuts,” clock this from cleanupatf.org, the original home of the Gunwalker scandal.
May 2004 – August 2005. Richmond, VA and Pittsburgh, PA. ATF Agents, in conjunction with Virgina State and local police, conducted an operation at some eight gun shows in Virginia. With special attention to female purchasers, hundreds of gun show attendees were stopped by Virginia State Police (VSP) as they returned home, were detained and interrogated by ATF Agents, and many had their purchases confiscated by these ATF agents who failed to cite any legal authorization for confiscation . . .
The purchasers were compelled by an ATF letter (under threat of arrest) to appear later at ATF offices to explain and justify their purchases. ATF provided purchaser names and addresses to the local police who then conducted “residence checks”. ATF task force personnel involved in the operation were Ed Melton, Andrew Stanley, and Ricky Williams. The Resident Agent in Charge, Scott L. Sammis signed the confiscation letter. “One ATF Agent had a t-shirt on which read, “If you can read this, the bitch fell off”. Gun show participants objected. (From an official Virginia State Police Report, dated 22 August 2005)
In addition, in Pittsburgh, Pa., ATF agents showed up at gun show customers’ homes a week after a show, demanding to see the buyers’ guns or sale paperwork and arresting those who couldn’t — or wouldn’t — comply.