Shut down ATF before more Americans die

Examiner
William Heuisler

Thirty years ago the US Senate called Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) enforcement tactics “constitutionally, legally and practically reprehensible.” (US Senate, 1982)

And, for nearly forty years, ATF has been harrassing and killing non-criminal Americans.

In 1982 the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution “received correspondence from two members of the Illinois Judiciary, dated in 1980, indicating that they had been totally unable to persuade BATF (ATF) to accept cases against felons who were in possession of firearms including sawed-off shotguns.” (US Senate, 1982)

The 1982 Subcommittee also reported, “The Bureau's own figures demonstrate that in recent years the percentage of its arrests devoted to felons in possession, and persons knowingly selling to them, have dropped from 14 percent down to 10 percent of their firearms cases.” (US Senate, 1982)

“The Subcommittee received evidence that BATF has primarily devoted its firearms enforcement efforts to the apprehension, upon technical malum prohibitum charges, of individuals who lack all criminal intent and knowledge. Agents anxious to generate an impressive arrest and gun confiscation quota have repeatedly enticed gun collectors into making a small number of sales--often as few asfour--from their personal collections. Although each of the sales was completely legal under state and federal law, the agents then charged the collector with having "engaged in the business" of dealing in guns without the required license.” (US Senate, 1982) Sound familiar?

At Ruby Ridge in 1992 ATF killed a 13 year old boy and a woman with a baby.

At Waco in 1993 ATF triggered an unnecessary siege that killed 82 Americans.

Now we have Operation Gunrunner (Fast and Furious) killing Federal Agents.

Leaders of ATF have admitted allowing nearly 2000 combat weapons to be smuggled to Mexican criminals. Those criminals used some of those smuggled weapons to murder ICE Agent, Jaime Zapata and Tucson District Border Patrol Agent, Brian Terry - not to mention hundreds of Mexican law enforcement and military...

Carlos Canino, ATF Attaché to Mexico, testified before the House Oversight Committee last month,“It infuriates me, that people – including my law enforcement, diplomatic and military colleagues – may be killed or injured with these weapons.” He added, “Sinaloa cartel may have received as many guns as needed to arm the (US Army’s 75thRanger) regiment. Out of these 2,000 weapons, 34 were .50 caliber sniper rifles…approximately the number of sniper rifles a Marine infantry regiment takes into battle.” (Klein 2011)

What has ATF really accomplished since it separated from the IRS in 1972? Do we need a $1.12 billion Federal Agency to regulate our smoking, drinking and guns?

Congress should defund - and shut down - ATF before more guiltless Americans die.


Klein, P. (2011). The Examiner. Beltway Confidential. ATF Official in Mexico “infuriated” by Operation Fast and Furious. http://www.sfexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/07/atf-official-mexico-infuriated-operation-fast-and-furious

US Senate (1982). US Government Printing Office.  Report of the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Committee of the Judiciary. 97thCongress. http://www.atfabuse.com/senate1982.html

Dick Morris: Bill Clinton Personally Orchestrated the 1993 Waco, Texas Tragedy

Canada Free Press

It looks like somebody is going to have to update the Waco Siege page on Wikipedia. Apparently the whitewashed history that former President Bill Clinton would like us to believe regarding the 1993 federal assault on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, is missing important details regarding his own personal involvement.

In response to Bill Clinton’s highly publicized linking of the Tea Party movement to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing in an op-ed piece for the New York Times, former Clinton adviser Dick Morris disclosed on Monday that it was Clinton himself, and not Attorney General Janet Reno, as Americans have been led to believe for the past 17 years, who called the shots during the 1993 botched invasion that led to the death of seventy-six people.

Speaking on the Hannity program on the Fox News Network, Morris criticized Clinton for his Oklahoma City comments: “Let’s understand what was Timothy McVeigh’s motivation …he himself had said that it was the reaction to the Waco takeover. Bill Clinton orchestrated that takeover.”

Morris went on to say, “Clinton in fact was so ashamed about what he did in Waco that he was not going to appoint Janet Reno to a second four-year term. She told him in a meeting right before the inauguration day … ‘If you don’t appoint me I’m going to tell the truth about Waco.’ And that forced Clinton’s hand … It’s never been said (publicly) before.”

For years, Clinton has been criticized for his leadership of the federal government during the Waco crisis, but he has managed to escape personal responsibility for the tragedy. With Morris’s statements, it appears this may no longer be possible. It would seem that Clinton was far more intimately involved with the government response at Waco than previously reported.

While there may be a link between Clinton and the Oklahoma City bombing, I would hardly blame the actions of a psychopath on any one individual or political party.

However, for Clinton to associate such a horrible act of violence with freedom loving Americans, especially given the fact that he must be fully aware that it was his decisions that led to the Waco catastrophe which in turn inspired Timothy McVeigh, is remarkably shameless.