Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

“ Rather than to go into the proper area of enforcement against criminal misuse, they have focused on arrest of the law-abiding citizen.
While we have no love for the evil way in which this agency has enforced the firearms law, we believe that any other agency assigned to enforce such a poorly written law as the Gun Control Act of 1968 would face enormous temptations to behave in much the same manner. The Federal laws are surprisingly limited in theireffect upon the criminal misuse of firearms. ”

“ Trapped between the obsolescence-of its traditional enforcement function, and the desire to expand manpower, budget, and powers, the Bureau chose the role of creating artificial criminals within the scope of its firearms enforcement function. Since undercover penetration of genuine firearm criminals – organized crime, radical groups, black market operations, and so forth -takes much time, expertise and training generally lacking within the Bureau, and a considerable amount of agent risk, the Bureau chose to ignore such an effort. Instead, it focused upon the harassment of law-abiding citizens. ”

“ Each year, thousands of firearms are reported lost or stolen. The owners’ ability to adequately identify these firearms is central to law enforcement’s ability to investigate these crimes and losses. Insurance claims and reacquisition of recovered firearms will also hinge on the ability to correctly identify these firearms. ”

“ Because State laws differ, these questions must be addressed on a case by case basis if States are going to engage in the interstate use of National Guard personnel.
b. the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms' request for military assistance and the military assistance actually provided The pre-raid military assistance in Waco was provided through active duty and National Guard counterdrug units based on an alleged drug nexus. Much of the post-raid military assistance to the FBI and ATF also came from counterdrug units and funds. ”

“ We have discovered outrageous destructions of the lives, livelihoods, and well-being of countless respected, law-abiding citizens. Only a fraction of our evidence can be presented during these hearings, but I urge you to fully explore the activities of this agency, and offer the help and assistance of the NRA and its membership, who have most frequently been the victims of this rogue agency, and the travesty of law under which they function. ”

“ Senator DECONCINI. I have contradictory evidence that the Attorney General's organized crime unit in Arizona, a prosecuting attorney in Phoenix, where they had dealings with ATF, they indicate in the area of smuggling guns, particularly into Mexico in trade for drugs, they have had good relations and good effective law enforcement with ATF.
Mr. EARL. Two things in closing I would like to say. No. 1, I do feel I stand a great risk of retaliation in what I am telling you people regardless of what you say and regardless of what they say. These people do not play fair. ”

“ Gun violence issues differ in each community, and no single program or approach works everywhere. In response to a directive I issued last year to help reduce gun violence and save lives, United States Attorneys and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Field Division Directors for each of our Nation's 94 Federal judicial districts have developed locally coordinated gun violence reduction strategies. ”

“ The BATF has concentrated its enforcement efforts upon technical violations, all of which are Federal felonies, by normally law-abiding citizens, because even those cases are too infrequent to necessitate such a large agency, BATF has justified its existence by artificial inflation of arrest statistics for Federal gun law violations and crime gun seizures through entrapment schemes and other abuses. The witnesses will mention some of the various types of abuses that we have encountered.
There are basically three types. The first type is dealing without a license. ”

“ The Bureau's own figures demonstrate that in recent years the percentage of its arrests devoted to felons in possession and persons knowingly selling to them have dropped from 14 percent down to 10 percent of their firearms cases.
To be sure, genuine criminals are sometimes prosecuted under other sections of the law. Yet, subsequent to these hearings, BATF stated that 55 percent of its gun law prosecutions overall involve persons with no record of a felony conviction, and a third involve citizens with no prior police contact at all. ”

“ I have a very, very tiny bit of information that I brought here out of probably 40 or 50 pounds of FOIA records from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. You see it is pretty well blocked Out. But one notation in here says, and I quote, "As much as Mr. Earl is a legitimate dealer in weapons with a license from the U.S. Treasury Department to buy and sell automatic weapons, and especially in view of the fact that he is an informant for the FBI and ATF, the Phoenix Division will make no further investigation concerning the matter." ”

“ The people of the state have a right to bear arms for the defense of themselves and the state. *** The result is that Ordinance No. 10, so far as it relates to the carrying of a pistol, is inconsistent with and repugnant to the Constitution and the laws of the state, and it is therefore to that extent, void. ”

“ The few sections of the law which might be effectively used to reduce criminal violence, such as the provision prohibiting convicted felons from possessing firearms or the provisions providing stiff punishment for possession of machineguns or sawed-off shotguns, those provisions are not enforced. ”

“ As an example, we note that this ordinance would prohibit gunsmiths, pawnbrokers and sporting goods stores from carrying on a substantial part of their business. Also, the ordinance appears to prohibit individuals from transporting guns to and from such places of business. Furthermore, it makes it unlawful for a person to possess a firearm in a vehicle or in a place of business for the purpose of self-defense. ”

“ I believe that the Constitution gives every American the right to own and bear arms. That right is contained in the same document that guarantees our right to freedom of expression and due process of law. Consequently, it is the duty of every Federal agency-and especially law enforcement agencies to protect these rights.
Thus, if the hearings we are conducting this morning convince this subcommittee that indeed the BATF has engaged in a pattern of violation of the rights of gun owners, I will propose legislation to rectify the situation. ”

“ The second amendment to the constitution of the United States provides the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. This of course does not prevent the enactment of a law against carrying concealed weapons, but it does indicate it should be kept in mind, in the construction of a statute of such character, that it is aimed at persons of criminal instincts, and for the prevention of crime, and not against use in the protection of person or property. ”

“ I should stress that this form of behavior is not common to all agents. Both BATF agents and former agents have described to me what they call BATF "Gestapo tactics." Such responsible BATF agents, who at one time seemed to have been predominant in the Agency, and still predominate in some areas, often either transfer out of the Agency, or are pushed out by a new breed of "swashbucklers" who have either never read the "Findings and Declaration" at the beginning of the Gun Control Act, or else they simply ignore both the intent of Congress and the Constitutional safeguards against police abuses. ”

“ Pursuant to request by and notification to licensee in accordance with Section 178.72, Title 26, Code of Federal Regulations and with Section 923 (f) (2) , Title 18, United States Code, a hearing to review the denial of application for firearms license in the captioned case was held before Hearing Officer J. E. McDewitt in Room 331, Federal Office Building, 51 S. W. First Avenue, Miami, Florida on November 12, 1974. The hearing began at 10:00 A.M. with Attorney Arnold Yorra, Regional Counsel office, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Atlanta, Georgia, representing the government. ”

“ While I recognize that there is considerable controversy in this country over the issue of gun ownership and gun control, it should not be the implicit or explicit policy of any agency of the Federal Government to determine for itself that one constitutional right is less fundamental or less important than another. ”

“ If any other law enforcement agency were to behave as the BATF has behaved, American civil libertarians would be vociferously demanding changes in both the agency and in the law which makes its abuses possible. But because this agency is responsible for enforcement of federal gun control laws, and because most of the BATF's abuses are against gun owners, many civil libertarians are willing to adopt an attitude of selective civil rights. I submit, Mr. Chairman, that firearms owners did not give up their civil liberties as of the moment they purchased a firearm. ”

“ Our basic problem is that of perfecting and protecting the integrity of the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record which is vital to the implementation of the provisions of Title II of the Gun Control Act of 1968. ”

“ Finally, the Waco situation was shaped by the fact that the FBI became involved only after agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms ("ATF") had been killed. Responding to a crisis in which people have already died is substantially different from planning an operation in which bloodshed may be avoided. Certain peaceful negotiated outcomes, such as holding out the hope that some suspects might escape prosecution for serious offenses, were necessarily foreclosed. ”

“ The problem is that some people collect guns in the same way other people collect Ming vases, but Ming vases don't come under Federal law. When the guy who is a collector goes out he may be collecting a real fine, particular type of firearm, or he may be collecting a hodgepodge of guns, because his goal is outwitting his fellow collectors. He will try to go in like a guy swapping a pocket knife and winding up with a race horse. ”

“ In light of this evidence, reform of federal firearm laws is necessary to protect the most vital rights of American citizens. Such legislation is embodied in S. 1030. That legislation would require proof of a willful violation as an element of a federal gun prosecution, forcing enforcing agencies to ignore the easier technical cases and aim solely at the intentional breaches. It would restrict confiscation of firearms to those actually used in an offense, and require their return should the owner be acquitted of the charges. ”

“ Moorehead, who was wounded by nine bullets, a phosphorous grenade, and shrapnel during the 1968 Tet offensive and is totally disabled, said the Government encouraged him to go into the gun business as part of his rehabilitation and said he has always done his best to keep up with the voluminous paperwork required by the Government The charges against Moorehead: "secreting" an illegal M- 14 described by agents as "a machinegun," even though Moorehead says it had been altered to a semiautomatic, has been on open display, and has been seen by local police and State troopers ”

“ Thus, we really have a law with very little potential for Federal enforcement.
Yet, it is my understanding that the BATF now has approximately 1,500 agents devoted to criminal firearms enforcement which leads me to wonder if the BATF, rather than rid the Nation of dangerous criminals, has a pressing need to fabricate cases in order to expand its own size. I might add that the BATF, like so many other governmental agencies, seems like a living organism-it will likely never consciously permit itself to be reduced or killed off, but will seek to grow and expand its jurisdiction. ”

“ In keeping with the fine tradition of the Bureau, we believe our system of firearms registration should be of such caliber that it can serve as a model for states and cities which now have gun registration laws or may enact them in the future. ”

“ The provision in the Constitution granting the right to all persons to bear arms is a limitation upon the power of the Legislature to enact any law to the contrary. The exercise of a right guaranteed by the Constitution cannot be made subject to the will of the sheriff. ”

“ The historical use of pistols as 'arms' of offense and defense is beyond controversy." "The maintenance of the right to bear arms is a most essential one to every free people and should not be whittled down by technical constructions." ”

“ There is no qualifications of the prohibition against the carrying of a pistol in the city ordinance before us but it is made unlawful 'to carry on or about the person any pistol,' that is, any sort of pistol in any sort of manner. ”

“ Mr. LINDSEY. At the time the hearing was held, I had no idea they were pulling this.Then this Mr. McDivit, as the official hearing officer, wrote a report, based on this hearing supposedly, on December 4, which he sent to regional counsel stating they had indicted me on four different counts, and he concludes. He says, "I therefore conclude the applicant willfully violated the provisions of the Gun Control Act of 1968 and does not qualify for licensing. ”

“ For instance, beginning in 1975, Bureau officials apparently reached a judgment that a dealer who sells to a legitimate purchaser may nonetheless be subject to prosecution or license revocation if he knows that that individual intends to transfer the firearm to a nonresident or other unqualified purchaser. ”