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NEWS ABOUT: ATF

Holder: We Didn't Lie About 'Fast and Furious'

He says charges are forthcoming against those who screwed up

(Newser) - Eric Holder angrily denied that the Justice Department was trying to hide anything about the botched "Operation Fast and Furious" program in his testimony before Congress today—and insisted that he'd had no knowledge of the gun-tracking operation. "There's no attempt at any kind of coverup,... More »

40 'Fast & Furious' ATF Guns Found in Cartel Thug's House

ATF weapons circulated further, faster than anticipated

(Newser) - Forty weapons from the ATF's botched "Fast and the Furious" gun-tracking plan ended up in a home of the top enforcer for the Sinaloa drug cartel, reports the Los Angeles Times . In all, 100 guns were transported from Phoenix, site of the failed sting operation, to El Paso,... More »

Accessory to Murder? Holder Cries Foul on GOP Charge

Rhetoric on Fast and Furious program is out of hand, he tells Congress

(Newser) - When a congressman suggested that White House officials could be charged with accessory to murder over the botched Fast and Furious gun-tracking program , he apparently touched a nerve. Attorney General Eric Holder fired off an unusually aggressive five-page letter to Congress complaining about the "base" level of public discourse,... More »

Obama's 'Scandal-Free' Streak Sets Record

Because Solyndra doesn't count ... yet

(Newser) - Yesterday Barack Obama officially broke George W. Bush’s record for the longest scandal-free streak by a president in the post-Watergate era—at least by one political scientist’s criteria. Dartmouth professor Brendan Nyhan ran a study earlier this year on presidential scandals, which he defines as "widespread elite... More »

ATF Chief Who Oversaw Botched Gun Plan Resigns

Kenneth Melson reassigned after 'Fast and Furious' failure

(Newser) - The ATF is getting a new chief today, the fallout from a botched scheme to catch gun smugglers supplying Mexico's drug cartels. Kenneth Melson is returning to lesser duties with the Justice Department, and his role as overseer of Operation Fast and Furious wasn't even mentioned in a... More »

Bungled ATF Sting Lost Track of More Than 1K Firearms

House hearing on Operation Fast and Furious held today

(Newser) - Operation Fast and Furious, the bungled ATF gun-trafficking probe , was even more bungled than originally thought: Federal agents lost track of more than 1,000 firearms purchased by suspected gun smugglers during the Arizona investigation. The information comes from a new congressional report ahead of a House hearing today examining... More »

Was Agent Killed With Cartel Guns Supplied by US?

Feds refusing to provide answers on bungled weapons sting

(Newser) - The family of a US immigration agent who was shot dead by Mexican drug cartel gangsters is demanding to know if the guns that killed him came from the bungled federal "Fast and Furious" sting operation that put hundreds of weapons into the hands of smugglers, reports the Los ... More »

ATF Head Likely to Quit Over Guns Scandal

Kenneth Melson has led agency since April 2009

(Newser) - The acting director of the ATF is likely to step down within a day or two, reports CNN, the potential casualty of a botched weapons program meant to halt the flow of firearms into Mexico. Kenneth Melson presided over the agency's "Fast and Furious" program, which inadvertently let... More »

Bungled ATF Sting Put Guns in Hands of Drug Cartels

...and one was linked to the murder of Border Patrol agent

(Newser) - A bungled Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms sting operation allowed hundreds of guns to fall into the hands of Mexican criminals, and more than one ATF agent is now saying "I told you so." The bureau hoped to trace the guns from American sellers to the top... More »

Ex-Marines Sold Weapons to Gangs: Cops

LA trio arrested in ATF sting

(Newser) - Federal authorities have arrested three ex-Marines accused of selling assault weapons to Los Angeles gangs. The trio were arrested, along two other people, after the alleged ringleader sold two crates of weapons to a federal informant he believed was a gang member, authorities say. Police sources tell the Los Angeles ... More »

DC Sniper's Ex: Rampage Was Scheme to Kill Me

Muhammad hoped to pass off murder on madman and regain custody of kids

(Newser) - The ex-wife of convicted Beltway Sniper John Muhammad was the ultimate target of his murderous 2002 DC rampage that killed 10 people. Mildred Muhammad says her ex intended to pass off her murder as the work of a madman and regain custody of their three children. She got wise to... More »

Feds Nab Man Who Sold Gun to McNair Killer

Convicted murderer faces charges after parking lot transaction

(Newser) - ATF agents have arrested the man who sold the gun that killed Steve McNair, the AP reports. The suspect, Adrian J. Gilliam Jr., has prior convictions for murder and attempted robbery. He admits he sold a fully loaded 9mm pistol to McNair’s girlfriend in a mall parking lot 2... More »

ATF Foils Skinhead Plot to Kill Obama

Tenn. neo-Nazis would have shot, decapitated 102 blacks before going after candidate

(Newser) - Federal agents have broken up a plot by two neo-Nazi skinheads to assassinate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 88 black people, the AP reports. ATF agents said the pair planned to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school in a murder spree that was to... More »

AK-47s Flooding US Cities

Gun dealers skirt import ban, as assaults with semiautomatics skyrocket

(Newser) - At least one of America’s borders is wide open: Gun manufacturers are selling imported semiautomatic weapons with ease ever since the Bush administration allowed 1994's assault weapons ban to lapse, writes Bruce Falconer for Mother Jones. “We’re being flooded with these AK-47s,” said Miami’s police... More »

In Mexico's Drug War, US Guns Fire Shots

Lax gun control and leaky border towns allow a brisk barter trade

(Newser) - When Mexican authorities seize a cache of weapons from a drug-cartel hitman, their first call is long distance: to the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Because, Portfolio reports, chances are any gun used in Mexico’s noxious drug war—which has left close to 10,000 dead since... More »

Wal-Mart OKs Plan to Film Gun Buyers

Execs accept 10-point deal to curb illegal sales

(Newser) - Wal-Mart approved a plan today to videotape gun-buyers and curb illegal firearm sales in other ways, the New York Daily News reports. The 10-point deal with the bipartisan group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, helmed by New York's Michael Bloomberg, includes inventory controls and a log to trace buyers who have... More »

Gun Lobby Holds Up Bush ATF Nominee

Republicans hold fellow Republican's nomination hostage

(Newser) - Michael Sullivan has spent a long time waiting to become head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, but his appointment has run into a roadblock in the Senate. Not with Democrats—with his fellow Republicans. Gun-rights supporters have blocked the appointment of Sullivan, also a US Attorney... More »

Feds Beef Up Presence in New Orleans

Surge in violent crime endangers post-Katrina rebound

(Newser) - Violent crime is such a pressing problem in New Orleans that the federal government is shoring up the local criminal justice system, USA Today reports. Crime was up 107% in the first quarter of 2007 over the previous year, a jump the NOPD attributes to population growth—but the increased... More »

Student Bomber Foiled at Falwell Funeral

FBI found explosives in Liberty University student's car

(Newser) - A student at Jerry Falwell's university is under arrest for a bomb plot against protesters at the late evangelist's funeral. A relative of Mark Uhl tipped off authorities, who found five bombs in the 19-year-old Liberty University student's trunk. Uhl admitted he planned to use the bombs to disrupt a... More »

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