San Francisco Chronicle Editorial One of the gun lobby’s favorite mantras is that the nation doesn’t need any more laws to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals; it needs to start by enforcing those that are on the books. But that argument evaporates upon closer inspection of the federal government’s systems for tracking and…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The ATF’s ability to curb gun violence is severely hampered by legislative restrictions and loopholes in federal gun laws, the New York Times reports, citing law enforcement officials. Making matters worse, the agency has been without a permanent director for six years. To start, current law bars ATF from creating a federal…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Following the mass shooting in a Connecticut elementary school, attention has shifted to the ATF, the federal agency responsible for regulating the gun industry. A Washington Post investigation found that ATF is inadequately resourced and so beleaguered that it hasn’t had a director in years. Sources said the gun industry, particularly the NRA,…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Four senior ATF managers behind the botched Fast and Furious gun-smuggling investigation face termination after a disciplinary board recommended they be fired, the Washington Times reports. The ATF Professional Review Board recommended the termination of the four managers, William Newell, former special agent in charge of the ATF’s Phoenix office; George Gillett,…
Reno Gazette-Journal Editorial The ongoing dispute between the Reno offices of the U.S. Attorney and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — a dispute that should have been resolved months ago in the interest of effective law enforcement — has gone from the absurd to the downright dangerous. The rift, more than a…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mi. — Authorities said today that a 43-year-old man they arrested last night in Wixom, a suburb of Detroit, in connection with the I-96 shootings is a prime suspect and could be charged, possibly tomorrow. “The arrest was the result of the information received during the investigation over the…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com ABC7 News takes a tour of one of the country’s three ATF labs to show how evidence is examined. The lab in Walnut Creek, Calif. – the others are in Maryland and Atlanta – has state-of-the-art equipment used to help investigate fires, explosives and weapons. At the heart of the lab is…
