By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Apparently Facebook isn’t just for chatting it up with old pals or initiating a discussion about the latest Monet art exhibit. ATF is investigating allegations that a Virginia inmate used Facebook to threaten government witnesses in his upcoming arson case, station WSLS reported. The station, citing a federal search warrant for…
By The Washington Post Editorial WASHINGTON — MANY PRESIDENTS, fearful of alienating the powerful gun lobby, have neglected the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Funding requests are often skimpy, making it that much more difficult for the emaciated agency to crack down on illegal sales and trafficking of firearms. The Obama administration…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Ia.) is voicing concern that guns purchased in an ATF sting in Arizona may have been used by bandits in a gunfight that resulted in the death in December of border patrol agent Brian Terry near the border town of Nogales, the Arizona Republic reported. Grassley…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — Proposed deep budget cuts could undermine some key ATF programs like “Project Gun Runner”, a signature program under the Obama administration designed to crack down on the flow of weapons to Mexico and its cartels, the Washington Post reported. The Post’s James Grimaldi and Sari Horwitz report that the…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com In Arizona, which is locked in an endless battle to keep guns from going into Mexico, comes the latest. Authorities on Tuesday announced indictments in five cases resulting in charges against 34 people accused of assisting Mexican drug trafficking organizations with illegally running firearms from the United States to Mexico. Authorities…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Atty. Gen. Eric Holder Jr. has issued a memo calling for a temporary hiring freeze for all Justice Department employees at least until spring, saying the federal government is “facing unprecedented budget challenges”, ABC News reported. “I anticipate revisiting the Department’s hiring and staff situation in the spring, once we know…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — ATF and the NRA are two acronyms that seldom play together well. So it’s no surprise that the NRA — the National Rifle Association — and other gun rights advocates aren’t happy with the White House’ nomination of Andrew Traver to head the agency. Traver currently heads up the…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Bernie La Forest, who headed up ATF offices in Kansas City, Detroit, Phoenix and Los Angeles before retiring, has just penned his second suspense novel — “In The Red Dragon’s Shadow.” The murder mystery is chock full of international intrigue and involves the ATF, Detroit Police, guns, radical Muslims from Iraq,…
