Girl who performed at Obama's inauguration gunned down a week later in Chicago

[tpeichel]

So instead of making laws that only hurt law abiding citizens why not have stiffer punishment for those who break the laws we currently have?

YES! Please check with Attorney General Holder to see why prosecution of guns crimes are down over 40% during the Obama Adminisration.


Gun prosecutions peaked at 10,937 under Bush in 2004. A current TRAC report shows that the Obama administration is prosecuting about 6,000 weapons cases.

According to an October 2011 TRAC report, "There also has been a shifting emphasis towards drug-related investigations. Since ATF-referred prosecutions peaked in FY 2005, the number of weapons prosecutions actually has fallen by 32 percent, a much higher rate than for ATF prosecutions overall. Making up the difference has been the growing number of drug cases, up by 26 percent during the same period."

In 2011, the Obama gun prosecutions hit a low for the decade, but there has been a slight uptick in prosecutions this year, said another TRAC report.

[Wickabee]

Well why doesn't the ATF do a better job?
A: They're underfunded
B: They're understaffed
C: They have no full time head
D: All of the above due to Republicans and the NRA

[mrveggieman]

The majority of gun crimes are handled by the state, not the US attorney general's office. So your shot at Obama and Eric Holder is completely unfounded.

[centrehice]

Biggest issue for ATF is gun-smuggling, illegal gun trade, and guns purchased by criminals by using law-abiding citizens with low income to make the purchase for them.

I worked for US Tobacco (Copenhagen/Skoal) for 20 years, and we never had one dealing with the ATF in all the time I was there. The only tobacco issues are Duty Free Canadian Cigarettes purchased by First Nations Canadians and motor-boated across the St. Lawrence and sold in Ontario and Quebec illegally at almost double the price.

I have no idea why the word Tobacco is even in their title. There have been some instances of cross-state tobacco smuggling (i.e.) Smokes bought in Georgia (low State tobacco tax), and sold in California where State Tobacco Taxes are ridiculously high. But everything is stamped and retailer gets jail time and lose their businesses if caught selling tobacco with out of state excise stamps on the product.

ATF are kept very busy by Moonshiners, as there are 236 odd counties in the USA where you still cannot purchase alcohol. They are extremely understaffed in this area.

I have no idea how many frustrations they must have with guns, but I can only assume that they are very busy with guns as well, based on the problems they have with Booze.

[Wickabee]

There are an estimated 100,000 gun runners in the US.
To fight this the ATF has a staff of around 4500, or approximately the same number they had at their inception.
You may also want to look into what powers the ATF actually has to track illegal gun sales and why they have such powers (lack thereof)
You may also want to look into exactly why they haven't had a real head of the ATF in 6 years.
You may also want to look into the NRA connections on all of these.

When the NRA says we should just trust the ATF to do their jobs, I laugh. They have no power, they have no numbers and no one is really in charge. Why is that...?

[centrehice]

I'm sure the NRA are hand in glove with the ATF guys, using their lobby money to keep the Gool 'Ol boys at the ATF entertained with freebies.

You can bet that the NRA's fingerprints are all over slowing down anybody with ambition at the ATF.

[Wickabee]

I'm sure the NRA are hand in glove with the ATF guys, using their lobby money to keep the Gool 'Ol boys at the ATF entertained with freebies.

I highly doubt it. The NRA is indirectly responsible for taking away all their power, making sure they never have a full time head and the NRA is basically saying the ATF isn't doing their job now. Doesn't sound hand in glove to me. They don't have a head of the department, so what hand? What glove?

You can bet that the NRA's fingerprints are all over slowing down anybody with ambition at the ATF.

That's for certain.

[tpeichel]

Well why doesn't the ATF do a better job?
A: They're underfunded
B: They're understaffed
C: They have no full time head
D: All of the above due to Republicans and the NRA

When Truscott became ATF Director on April 19, 2004, ATF had approximately 4,659 employees, including 2,313 special agents with a budget of $847 million.

In 2011, there were 5,101 positions and 2,485 special agents with a budget of $1.12 billion.

In 2004, the ATF had fewer agents and a smaller budget yet managed to prosecute more than 40% more weapon cases than in 2011. Tell me again how it is the fault of the Republicans and the NRA?

[Wickabee]

When Truscott became ATF Director on April 19, 2004, ATF had approximately 4,659 employees, including 2,313 special agents with a budget of $847 million.

In 2011, there were 5,101 positions and 2,485 special agents with a budget of $1.12 billion.

In 2004, the ATF had fewer agents and a smaller budget yet managed to prosecute more than 40% more weapon cases than in 2011. Tell me again how it is the fault of the Republicans and the NRA?

So the only powers they had re: guns in 04 was a YouTube page?
Cuz that's what they got now.

[Wickabee]

I'm pretty sure it wasn't a Democrat who slipped "Congress appoints the head of the ATF into a spending bill.
For 6 years, the ATF has not had a full time head. So no, they didnt operate under the same conditions in 04.
Was it a Democrat who said "We shouldn't allow the ATF to require gun dealers to keep proper inventory"?