The left gets its panties in a bunch whenever the right uses the term “jack-booted thugs.” They think the expression reveals right-wing paranoia against an inherently beneficent government. Insurrectionism, domestic terrorism, etc. But seriously, the ATF are a bunch of jack-booted thugs. Click here to check out the “controversies” the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (and Really Big Fires) has inflicted on taxpayers; from the murders at WACO to the Fast and Furious anti-gun smuggling gun smuggling operation. And now the ATF are bitching that they can’t enforce the FBI’s NICS background check deal because they’re understaffed . . .
The nation’s gun enforcement agency lacks the capacity to adequately track the outcomes of thousands of investigations involving improperly purchased firearms, a government review concluded.
Although the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives considers the cases a “top priority,” the agency “does not have readily available data to track and monitor the timeliness” of inquiries involving suspects who were allowed to buy guns after background checks initially failed to flag the buyers as ineligible because of past criminal records, mental illness or other prohibited conditions, the Government Accountability Office found.
At the same time, the GAO found that ATF’s staffing is at its lowest level in nearly a decade. There are 2,399 ATF special agents — the fewest since 2005. Personnel concerns extend to a growing number of veteran agents who are near or now eligible for retirement, according to the report.
That’s the best news of the day! Thank you usatoday.com. And thank you NRA for twisting Congress’ collective arm to limit funding to the ATF since Ronald Reagan elevated the IRS division to federal agency status.
The plain truth is that NICS is security theater, nothing more, nothing less. Its impact on reducing firearms-related crime is negligible. Researcher John Lott got into a major pissing match with mediamatters.org on that subject.
Suffice it to say, Lott quotes a 2010 U.S. Department Justice-funded study that concludes that the system has a 93 percent false positive rate (defended on his website here).
America should ditch NICS – it’s a cumbersome, expensive, ineffective system that’s a clear violation of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution that creates an illegal federal gun registry (the form 4473). We should also send the ATF back to the minor leagues (if not disband it entirely).
As for the ATF’s staffing problems, I’ll quote my old high school pal’s favorite expression: my heart pumps piss for them. Just sayin’ . . .