By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Ken Melson, the acting director of ATF, who seemed like a goner last month, is now acting as if he might be around for a while. In fact, Melson is making an effort to show more leadership by communicating more with the troops. Last week, he conducted a town hall meeting…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com ATF is upping its game in the technology world. The agency announced Wednesday the release of Apps for Android and Windows Phone 7 devices, and an updated application for Apple iPhone and iPod touch devices. “With the latest release of the iOS ATF app, developed in cooperation with NIC Inc., users…
By Allan Lengel ticklthewire.com The National Rifle Association, which is feared and revered by many on Capitol Hill — and loathed by others — is flexing its muscle in its never ending battle with ATF. The latest: The New York Times reports that the NRA on Wednesday filed a lawsuit challenging a federal regulation that…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com More controversy surrounding ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious. The Los Angeles Times is reporting a discrepancy between what ATF and the FBI have said about the guns that were sold under the operation, which encouraged Arizona gun dealers to sell to middlemen or “straw purchasers”, with the hopes of tracing the…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Darren Gil, the former attache for ATF in Mexico City, apologized Tuesday to his Mexican counterparts for Operation Fast and Furious, the ATF program that encouraged gun dealers to sell to straw purchasers, with the hopes of tracing the guns to Mexican cartels. ATF lost track of many of the guns,…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com ATF earlier this year tried to play down the fact that guns from its highly problematic Operation Fast and Furious program surfaced at the scene of the slaying of Arizona Border Patrol agent Brian Terry last December, the Los Angeles Times reported. The paper reported that the top ATF supervisors in…
By The Los Angeles Times Editorial Page The Obama administration took a concrete step toward curbing the flow of semiautomatic weapons to Mexico last week when it adopted a new regulation mandating the reporting of multiple sales of long guns to federal authorities. Under the regulation, some 8,500 licensed gun shops in Arizona, California, New…
Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Two outspoken politicians are accusing the Justice Department of giving potential witnesses in a Congressional investigation into a controversial ATF program access to information to tailor their responses “to what they think the Committees already know.” The Justice Department on Tuesday afternoon said there was an explanation for what happened. Rep. Darrell…
