WaPo: You Know Who's at Fault for this ATF Scandal? The NRA.
The Washington Post editorial page is not bad. For a left-leaning paper, its stand on public sector unions, for instance, has been downright courageous. (Compare the Washington Post to the more predictable New York Times' unsigned editorials.)
Yet even the Post has trouble when the subject of guns comes up. Today, the Post editorial board takes up the subject of the ATF's massive gun running scandal -- where the ATF just decided it would be a good idea to willingly sell 2,500 guns to criminal gangs in Mexico and now professes shock that one of those guns was used to murder a U.S. Border Patrol agent.
You know who's really to blame for this scandal, right? The NRA:
THE GUN RIGHTS lobby has spent considerable time and energy in pursuit of one goal: crippling the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). It has largely succeeded — and with dire consequences.
Concerned to the point of paranoia about the erosion of the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, the National Rifle Association and far too many lawmakers have fought against virtually every proposal to empower the bureau to better track and crack down on illegal firearms. They have won reductions in the ATF’s already meager budget. They have restricted the bureau’s ability to share information with other law enforcement agencies. They have kept the bureau rudderless for the past six years by blocking confirmation of new directors. And they continue to fight new rules that would allow the bureau to track bulk sales of long guns that have played a major role in the drug-fueled violence in Mexico.Now, the very critics who have tied the bureau’s hands are expressing outrage over a novel, and we would agree questionable, ATF operation intended to curb gun smuggling into Mexico.
How dare they express outrage over federal agents directly contributing to the deaths of many, many people due to their sheer incompetence! What's even more bizarre, in the wake of the ATF exercising catastrophically bad judgment (which the agency has a long and illustrious history of doing), the Post argues that this scandal means the ATF should be given more power even though we haven't even begun to unpack what went wrong yet:
Lawmakers should give the ATF the tools it needs to fight illegal gun trafficking. They should enact stronger penalties for straw purchases and craft a federal gun-smuggling statute; close the gun-show loophole, which allows buyers under certain circumstances to purchase weapons without a background check; resuscitate the ban on assault weapons; and give the ATF the authority to collect data on multiple sales of long guns in border states. The Senate should move quickly to confirm a director for the long-leaderless bureau.
We may never know whether the bureau would have launched the Fast and Furious operation had it had other, more effective tools at its disposal. Those who would clobber the bureau for possible mistakes should look in the mirror and accept some responsibility for its failings.
Wow. I mean this is almost as if following Chappaquiddick the Post decided it would be a good idea to write an editorial condemning Chivas or something. Actually, it's probably worse than that. There's no imaginable reason why a law enforcement agency should ever hand over small arms en masse to criminal gangs in a foreign country, so there's absolutely no one to blame but the ATF.
Unfortunately it seems that some are unable to rationally debate gun rights. No matter what the story, if it involves guns the message is always the same -- guns are scary objects and the government should take them away.
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May '10
Re: WaPo: You Know Who's at Fault for this ATF Scandal? The NRA.
BREAKING NEWS:
NRA, longtime opponent of BATF overreach, continues to oppose BATF overreach
Re: WaPo: You Know Who's at Fault for this ATF Scandal? The NRA.
Let's see if I have this straight: The BATF is proven incompetent, even criminal, at enforcing the gun control laws currently on the books--intentionally permitting illegal gun sales to murderous thugs-- so we must immediately enact more such laws, ceding more authority to the same agency. Yeah, I suppose that makes sense ... to a liberal.
Edited on Jun 27, 2011 at 5:27pmMay '10
Re: WaPo: You Know Who's at Fault for this ATF Scandal? The NRA.
George Savage: Let's see if I have this straight: The BATF is proven incompetent, even criminal, at enforcing the gun control laws currently on the books--intentionally permitting illegal gun sales to murderous thugs-- so we must immediately enact more such laws, ceding more authority to the same agency. Yeah, I suppose that makes sense ... to a liberal. · Jun 27 at 5:27pm
Edited on Jun 27 at 05:27 pm
It's what engineers call a positive feedback system. It almost never ends well.
May '10
Re: WaPo: You Know Who's at Fault for this ATF Scandal? The NRA.
The BATF has too narrow a jurisdiction to be a trusworthy and effecient law enforcement organization.
I remember the original raid on the Branch Davidians. It obviously had very little to do with law enforcement and very much to do with making a PR splash for its political bosses. There was no operational security. They just rolled up to the place with several teevee crews in tow. Their plan, I surmise, was to produce some images of crazy cultists and their scary arsenal before they lobbied Congress for more dough. It was sick, cynical and, ultimately, deadly stupid.
I'm afraid that is what happened here. I think this had little to do with tracking drug lords, and everything to do with producing, by inserting American guns into Mexico's sad troubles, a renewed raison d'etre.
Edited on Jun 27, 2011 at 6:31pmOct '10
Re: WaPo: You Know Who's at Fault for this ATF Scandal? The NRA.
The Look in the Mirror statement speaks volumes. As if any legally approved gun owner passing the screening by the BATF or state agency is complicit ?
Sorry, there is no WE in the determinations and actions of the BATF or DOJ.
Oddly enough, the Mexican Goverment has declared the result of this as an Act of War. Ponder that for a while if so inclined.
Jan '11
Re: WaPo: You Know Who's at Fault for this ATF Scandal? The NRA.
Years ago, I taught at a high school where the rest of the faculty would complain about the horrendous quality of the English department. The response? The English department lobbied for, and received, extra English classes to be required.
If at first you don't succeed, it can only mean that you weren't given enough opportunity.
Jul '10
Re: WaPo: You Know Who's at Fault for this ATF Scandal? The NRA.
Government is always looking for opportunity to reduce autonomy. That's its business plan.
Apr '11
Re: WaPo: You Know Who's at Fault for this ATF Scandal? The NRA.
This Fast and Furious operation was so illogical, the first time I heard about I thought that I must only be getting half the story. It's like a bartender calling the police, telling them that a guy is rip-roaring drunk, refuses to take a taxi, and is getting into his car. The police take down the drunk's name and sit back to see if the drunk actually crashes. After he crashes and kills himself and others, the police pat each other on the back and congratulate themselves for predicting that the tip (which they didn't act on) was a good one. If such a thing were to happen, would you have a newspaper saying that what we need is a lower definition of BAC and to give the cops more resources? Perhaps the Washington Post would.