Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
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The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (officially "ATF"[1], less frequently "BATF" or "BATFE") is a United States federal agency; more specifically a specialized law enforcement and regulatory organization within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention of federal offenses involving the unlawful use, manufacture, and possession of firearms and explosives, acts of arson and bombings, and illegal trafficking of alcohol and tobacco products. The ATF also regulates through licensing, the sales, possession, and transportation of firearms, ammunition, and explosives in interstate commerce. Many of ATF's activities are carried out in conjuction with task forces made up of state and local law enforcement officers, such as Project Safe Neighborhoods. ATF operates a one-of-a-kind fire research laboratory in Ammendale, Maryland, where full-scale mock-ups of criminal arsons can be reconstructed.
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[edit] Organizational history
The ATF was formerly part of the United States Department of the Treasury, having been formed in 1886 as the "Revenue Laboratory" within the Treasury Department's Bureau of Internal Revenue. The history of ATF can be subsequently traced to the time of the "Revenuers" and the Bureau of Prohibition, which was originally formed as a subsidiary of Internal Revenue in 1920, was made an independent agency within the Treasury Department in 1927, was transferred to the Justice Department in 1928, and became, briefly, a subordinate division of the FBI in 1933. When the Volstead Act was repealed in December 1933, the Unit was transferred from the Department of Justice back to the Department of the Treasury where it became the Alcohol Tax Unit of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Special Agent Eliot Ness and several of members of "Untouchables", who had all worked for the Prohibition Bureau while the Volstead Act was still in force, were transferred to the ATU. In 1942, responsibility for enforcing federal firearms laws was given to the ATU. In the early 1950s, the name of the Bureau of Internal Revenue was changed to "Internal Revenue Service" (IRS), and the ATU was given the additional responsibility of enforcing federal tobacco tax laws. At this time, it changed its name to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division (ATTD). In 1968, with the passage of the Gun Control Act, the agency changed its name again to the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Division, still a subsidiary of the IRS, and first began to be referred to by the initials "ATF". In 1972, President Richard Nixon signed an Executive Order creating a separate Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms within the Treasury Department.
In the wake of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush signed into law the Homeland Security Act of 2002. In addition to creating of the Department of Homeland Security, the law shifted ATF and its investigative and regulatory inspection functions from the Treasury Department over to the Justice Department. The agency's name was officially changed to the "Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives" in recognition to the agency's role in explosives regulation and enforcement; however the Bureau retained the use of its original acronym, "ATF", for all purposes. Additionally, the collector of federal tax revenue derived from the production of tobacco and liquor products originally handled by ATF were transferred to the newly established Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), which remained within the Treasury Department. The Ballistics department takes on the job of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). These changes took effect January 24, 2003.
[edit] Regulation of firearms
The ATF is responsible for regulating firearm commerce in the United States. The Bureau issues Federal Firearms Licenses (FFL) to sellers, and conducts firearms licensee inspections. The Bureau is also involved in programs aimed at reducing gun violence in the United States, by targeting firearm law violators. ATF was also involved with the Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative, which expanded tracing of firearms recovered by law enforcement, and the ongoing Comprehensive Crime Gun Tracing Initiative.<ref>ATF Snapshot (2006). Bureau of Alcohol, Tobaco, Firearms, and Explosives.</ref> ATF also provides support to state and local investigators, through the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) program.
[edit] Criticism
[edit] ATF during the 1990s
Two incidents in the early 1990s brought criticism to the agency, as well as to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), specifically the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) and U.S. Marshals (USM).
The first incident occurred on August 21, 1992. Known as the Ruby Ridge incident, an FBI HRT sniper shot and killed a woman standing in the doorway of her home. This raid was based on an ATF-executed warrant involving a weapon that violated federal gun laws; however, no ATF agents participated in the incident. At the time the President was George H. W. Bush and Attorney General was William Barr.
The second incident in which the ATF was involved with was the so-called Waco Siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas February 28, 1993 - April 19, 1993. The incident began with the death of four ATF Special Agents and ended with the deaths of 76 people, including 23 children (it remains unclear the extent to which these deaths may have been by suicide, or otherwise caused by actions of those within the compound). ATF conducted the first raid of the compound, based on a warrant in which it was alleged that individuals within the compound possessed illegal arms and otherwise violated federal firearms laws with regard to other weapons. Later, after the a weeks-long standoff with FBI and other law enforcement, the FBI conducted a second raid of the compound. U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno had approved of this second raid; at the time, Bill Clinton was President.
[edit] Other controversies
The Jewish gun-rights organization Jews for the Preservation of Firearm Ownership (JPFO) accuses the ATF of manipulating evidence in the case of competition shooter John Glover and sells a video which claims the ATF "supports a culture of cruel ineptitude." [2]
In 2006, the ATF executed a search warrant on gun parts manufacturer Richard Celeta of Dillon, Montana.[3] This case is notable as Celeta sells what are commonly called "80% Complete" firearm receivers. [4] Celeta concedes that his marketing practices are an attempt to legally circumvent the statutory requirements of the federal firearm laws under ATF's administration, as Congress did not choose to include home made firearms for personal use in the licensing and marking requirements for firearms manufacture.
However the term "80%" is ambiguous as the firearm receiver is generally an incomplete casting (AR types) or flat piece of sheet steel (AK-47 types), with only a minimum of the manufacturing stages completed. Substantial work is required to complete a receiver that, when other components are attached, will be a functioning gun, and the finished firearm must still comply with all other federal, state and local regulations. [5] For this reason most firearms builders prefer to use fully manufactured receivers - 100% receivers - that are regarded as no different from a complete firearm under federal law.
Regardless of the receiver completion percentage the home made firearm must comply with all relevant firearms laws including restrictions on the numbers of imported parts, [6] barrel length, overall length, and cannot be convertible to a fully automatic weapon. [7]
[edit] External links
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives website
- Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau website
- JPFO Articles Concerning BATF Potential Abuse of Power
- The mission of the ATF (ATF website)
| Alcoholic beverage authorities of the United States | |
|---|---|
| Federal authorities: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Defunct: Federal Alcohol Administration | |
| State authorities: Alabama*: Alcoholic Beverage Control Board | Alaska: Alcoholic Beverage Control Board | Arizona: Department of Liquor Licenses and Control | Arkansas: Alcoholic Beverage Control Division | California: Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control | Colorado: Liquor Enforcement Division | Connecticut: Liquor Division | Delaware: Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission | Florida: Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco | Georgia: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Unit | Idaho*: Alcoholic Beverage Control and Idaho State Liquor Dispensary | Illinois: Liquor Control Commission | Indiana: Alcoholic and Tobacco Commission | Iowa*: Alcoholic Beverages Division | Kansas: Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control | Kentucky: Office of Alcoholic Beverage Control | Louisiana: Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control | Maine*: Bureau of Liquor Enforcement | Maryland: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Bureau | Massachusetts: Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission | Michigan*: Liquor Control Commission | Minnesota: Liquor Control Division | Mississippi*: Office of Alcoholic Beverage Control | Missouri: Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control | Montana*: Liquor Licensing | Nebraska: Liquor Control Commission | Nevada: Department of Taxation | New Hampshire*: Liquor Commission | New Jersey: Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control | New Mexico: Alcohol and Gaming Division | New York: Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, State Liquor Authority | North Carolina*: Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission | North Dakota: Alcohol Beverage Control | Ohio*: Division of Liquor Control | Oklahoma: Alcoholic Beverage Law Enforcement Commission | Oregon*: Liquor Control Commission | Pennsylvania*: Liquor Control Board | Rhode Island: Liquor Control Administration | South Carolina: Alcoholic Beverage Licensing | South Dakota: Special Tax Division | Tennessee: Department of Revenue | Texas: Alcoholic Beverage Commission | Utah*: Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control | Vermont*: Department of Liquor Control | Virginia*: Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control | Washington*: Liquor Control Board | West Virginia: Alcohol Beverage Control Administration | Wisconsin: Department of Tax and Revenue | Wyoming: Department of Revenue | |
| Territorial authorities: District of Columbia: Alcoholic Beverage Control Board | |
| Local authorities: Hawaii County, Hawaii: Office of Liquor Control | City and County of Honolulu: Liquor Commission | Kauai County, Hawaii: Department of Liquor Control | Maui County, Hawaii: Department of Liquor Control | Montgomery County, Maryland*: Department of Liquor Control
An * indicates an alcoholic beverage control state or county. | |
et:BATF fr:Bureau of Alcohol, Tobbaco, Firearmes and Explosives he:Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives hu:ATF no:Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives pl:Whisky Amerykańska fi:ATF
