Thomas Brandon, the ATF’s Deputy Director, has been the agency’s Acting Director since 2015. The agency has been without a confirmed Director for nine out of the last 13 years. Now Brandon has announced his retirement as the end of this month. TTAG hears other departures may be in the works for the agency as […]
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ days look numbered. Once more, under its 2020 budget proposal, the Trump administration seeks to transfer the ‘alcohol’ and ‘tobacco’ duties from the BATF. The U.S. Treasury Department would take those duties if the administration gets its way. Today’s BATF would also get a new name: Bureau of […]
The Eugene, OR police department found explosive devices planted outside their headquarters building Monday. That followed the release of police body cam video showing the death of a local Antifa member. Charlie Landeros drew a gun on officers attempting to arrest him at his daughter’s middle school and they shot him to death. With the […]
An oldie but a regulatory goodie: ATF agent: “With minimal work (an airsoft gun) can be converted to a machine gun.” That isn’t how it works. That isn’t how any of it works. And you wonder why we have trust issues with you, ATF.
As we reported, Adam Kraut and the Firearms Policy Coalition have filed suit challenging the Trump bump stock ban. But they’re not alone. I have been in contact with Erich Pratt and Gun Owners of America over these past months and they will be joining the fight against President Trump’s violation of the Second Amendment. GOA stated […]
Earlier this week the President asked for and received Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ resignation. It probably won’t be the only personnel move the administration makes after the midterm elections. Like almost all top cabinet level and agency officials, Sessions served at the pleasure of the commander-in-chief. Anyone in those jobs can be fired if the […]
The ATF’s jackbooted and illegal raid on Ares Armor has made headlines for days, but it doesn’t seem to have intimidated the National City, CA manufacturer one bit. Instead of bowing and scraping to the ATFE’s scofflaws with badges, they’re using the ATFE’s notoriety to help them move some of their (remaining) inventory.
We’ve heard plenty about the ‘seepage’ of arms from the Mexican army and police forces into criminal hands, but we’re not quite so used to it happening here at home. When twenty-six AK-74 rifles and one Dragunov sniper rifle went missing from a U.S. Army storage depot at Fort Irwin, California, however, Army officials knew […]
Forget what we said earlier, about ATF Acting Head (case) Kenneth Melson going gently into that good night. Apparently, he’s circled the wagons, barricaded himself in his bunker, and put out a call to Ava Braun. That’s right, campers. The embattled head of the Agency Most Likely To Commit A Crime In The Name Of […]
The Wall St. Journal is reporting this AM that, according to the proverbial “unnamed sources,” BAFTE (and sometimes Really Big Fires) acting director Kenneth Melson will be joining the history team sometime within the next week or so. Melson, who’s been taking his title of “acting” head a wee bit too seriously since April of […]
You know, here at TTAG, we treat the ATF with the same reverence and respect that we used to treat GM back in the early days of TTAC. Which is to say “with none,” or to be a little more prosaic, we have all the enthusiasm for the behavior of the ATF that we’d have […]
While I write about guns here on TTAG, my main gig is as a marketing guy. As such, I have a little different perspective on a lot of news stories. I often-times see scandal-type stories through the prism of press releases, spin doctoring, and manufactured consent. And lemme tell ya, there’s two ways you can […]
