The Washington Post writes, “ATF fears budget cuts would imperil gun-trafficking fight at Mexico border“:
“… the White House budget office proposed steep cuts for the agency charged with enforcing federal gun laws … When officials at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives saw the proposal, they concluded it would effectively eliminate a major initiative in the fight against firearms trafficking on the Mexican border …”
“… “Any cuts to the already under-staffed and under-funded ATF would be a setback,” said Brady Center President Paul Helmke, “but the kinds of cuts that are rumored would be devastating to the ATF’s ability to interrupt the flow of illegal guns across America and Mexico … These laws would be more effective and efficient because they offer a pro-active means — instead of a reactive one — to stemming the flow of guns to Mexican drug cartels and to criminals and gangs on America’s streets …” …”
They’re still trying to keep the Mexican drug/gun canard alive. People ain’t buying it. The notion that drug cartels are coming across the border to buy guns legally, or even illegally, from mom & pop shops in Texas and Arizona is ludicrous.
“… “ATF is the ugly stepchild of every administration,” said James Cavanaugh, a former senior ATF official …”
Why is that? Shouldn’t the WaPo reporters have asked for an explanation for that answer because to me that is an awfully odd thing to say? I don’t recall ever hearing an employee of another government agency say that.
Perhaps it is because the agency’s sole purpose is to restrict the freedoms of average Americans. ATF should be a convenience store, not a government agency. Alcohol prohibition was a public policy disaster, all tobacco regulation has done is driven up the cost, while gun control policies have cost who knows how many decent people their lives. If the White House and Congress are serious about cutting spending, they should abolish the ATF entirely.
Mexican drug cartels, which run on a continual, international flow of illegal drugs, are not going to be able to get the guns they require to protect their illegal trade, because American FFL’s have to fill out an extra form? That’s not even real. ATF is selling us a bill of goods to justify their existence.