Alphecca

ATF Criticized In Report

In a report that I'm sure will have the gun-grabbers howling, the Justice Department has found the ATF deficient in routine inspections of FFL licensed gun dealers. From Reuters:

The U.S. agency charged with licensing gun owners is not conducting adequate checks of licensed gun dealers and does not properly investigate gun law violations, a Justice Department audit showed on Monday.

The department's inspector general released a report that showed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducts inspections on about 4.5 percent of the 104,000 federally licensed firearms dealers each year.

At that rate it would take the ATF more than 22 years to inspect all dealers -- far below its goal of inspecting dealers at least once every three years.

The inspections are aimed at determining whether dealers can account for all guns they have bought and sold, and whether they have reported all multiple handgun sales and firearms thefts to the ATF.

The review showed that the inspection program is not fully effective in ensuring the dealers comply with federal laws because the inspections are infrequent and of inconsistent quality.

I won't argue the merits of the ATF here, I'll just say that if enforcement of regulations is lax, or they need more manpower, then maybe funding should be increased. Again, it's about enforcement of the 20 thousand gun laws currently on the books. But watch some politicians decide that this means we need 20 thousand more...