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Fast & Furious – ATF Weapons Scheme Designed to Push Gun Control

Obama’s tactics are becoming obvious. Whether it’s destroying coal to prop up green, endlessly extending unemployment benefits to keep the public desperate so as to allow him to push through more entitlements, how he intends to bring his “fundamental changes“ to the United States are about as veiled as laminate.  He is a radical trying to institute change by manipulating the facts on the ground in order to create a narrative that allows his “solutions.”

Now comes the news that the gun walker scandal known as “Fast & Furious” in which thousands of guns were permitted to cross the Mexican border, ostensibly to help the ATF track the guns to “big fish,” may have actually been used as a justification for new and stricter gun laws CBS news is reporting:

ATF officials didn’t intend to publicly disclose their own role in letting Mexican cartels obtain the weapons, but emails show they discussed using the sales, including sales encouraged by ATF, to justify a new gun regulation called “Demand Letter 3″. That would require some U.S. gun shops to report the sale of multiple rifles or “long guns.” Demand Letter 3 was so named because it would be the third ATF program demanding gun dealers report tracing information.

On July 14, 2010 after ATF headquarters in Washington D.C. received an update on Fast and Furious, ATF Field Ops Assistant Director Mark Chait emailed Bill Newell, ATF’s Phoenix Special Agent in Charge of Fast and Furious:

“Bill – can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks.” (emphasis mine)

The Obama manipulations to support radical change are now accessories to murder.

What’s worse, they never even stopped to consider that the very practice they were undertaking provided evidence by itself that perhaps these precautions weren’t necessary.  For instance, the gun shop owners were very concerned about the amount of guns that were being sold.

In April, 2010 a licensed gun dealer cooperating with ATF was increasingly concerned about selling so many guns. “We just want to make sure we are cooperating with ATF and that we are not viewed as selling to the bad guys,” writes the gun dealer to ATF Phoenix officials, “(W)e were hoping to put together something like a letter of understanding to alleviate concerns of some type of recourse against us down the road for selling these items.”

Now call me crazy, but if you’re trying to get a law passed that prevents the sale of multiple weapons to a single customer but you have to force dealers to do this, doesn’t that indicate that it might not be happening?  Forcing people to do something against their better judgment so you can make the case that that very thing must be stopped is the kind of circular logic that only a radicalized Alinskyite could get behind.

In fact, the gun dealers, who these gun laws would be targeted at, showed a level of concern that seemed to be completely absent from the ATF:

Two months later, the same gun dealer grew more agitated.

“I wanted to make sure that none of the firearms that were sold per our conversation with you and various ATF agents could or would ever end up south of the border or in the hands of the bad guys. I guess I am looking for a bit of reassurance that the guns are not getting south or in the wrong hands…I want to help ATF with its investigation but not at the risk of agents (sic) safety because I have some very close friends that are US Border Patrol agents in southern AZ as well as my concern for all the agents (sic) safety that protect our country.”

The ATF politely responded that “We (ATF) are continually monitoring these suspects using a variety of investigative techniques which I cannot go into detail.”

How’d that work out?  Not so great for Agent Brian Terry and countless victims in Mexico.

Next questions: Who knew about these plans? How early did they know them?  How did political considerations make their way into a law enforcement operation?

So far, the ATF, the DOJ, Eric Holder, and the White House are silent on the subject.  Stay tuned.

COMMENTS

  • romeg

    Sarah Palin resigns from her office of Governor of the State of Alaska.

    • http://www.voteforteri2010.com teridavisnewman

      This insane scheme called “Fast and Furious” would be an example of the total incompetence and stupidity of the Obama administration except that they are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people. They are as guilty of murder as if they had pulled the trigger and we are WAY beyond impeachment. This has crossed the line to conspiracy to launder money, gunrunning and murder and Holder and Obama are in it up to their necks. They should be in handcuffs doing the perp walk across the White House lawn to jail and be tried for these felonies. This is criminal behavior by the number one law enforcement official in America and they did this to get a gun control law to further restrict the Second Amendment rights of Americans. This goes all the way to the White House and I can’t believe that these arrogant bastards thought they would get away with the murdering of hundreds of Mexican civilians and Brian Terry. In the America I grew up in, they would go to prison. I’m hoping that’s still the case. Holder’s testimony today should seal his fate and I hope that Issa has the stones to take this all the way.

  • wennejunk

    may have actually been used as a justification for new and stricter gun laws CBS news is reporting:

    Oh. The media is actually reporting for a change?

    Now that’s news!

  • kowalski

    Calderon speaks to a Joint Session of Congress…Obama creates a Task Force..

    Oh Jeez why not just read the article from the January, 2010 issue of the American Rifleman?

    On October 13 [2009], the Associated Press reported the so-called Bi-National Task Force on Rethinking the United States-Mexico Border produced a report that, among other things, calls for the reimposition of the federal “assault weapon” ban of 1994-2004, suggesting it would improve security in both countries.

    The Brady Campaign quoted the leaked report: “The United States should intensify efforts to curtail the smuggling of firearms, ammunition and bulk cash into Mexico by aggressively investigating gun sellers, regulating gun shows [and] reinstituting the Clinton-era ban on assault weapons.”

    The “task force” consists mostly of former U.S. and Mexican officials and journalists, none of them currently elected by the people of the U.S. or Mexico to make policy on these issues…”

    That’s from the January, 2010 issue of AmR.

    You can read more here, from way back in 2009. The more we learn about Fast & Furious the more we realize it was the pretext for the Obama Administration’s big Gun Ban efforts that were supposed to have materialized — but did not materialize — because of the 2010 elections.

    And ONLY because of the 2010 elections. If we hadn’t retaken the House in 2010 the world would be a very different place right now.

    This is old news, but it’s nice to see someone here talking about it for a change. It was pretty clear to anyone who understands the way this Administration works that the Task Force was the pretext to justify the conclusions that Fast and Furious were to make into policy.

    This is a very serious thing and it was a sophisticated effort, and very deliberate.

    • http://www.marklaiminger.org Lammo

      These people are not that monumentally stupid but they are that monumentally evil and beyond committed to taking guns out of the hands of the law abiding. They should be in handcuffs and orange jumpsuits but I’ll be happy if we can just get the Socialist Creep (TM) and all his little minions out of office.

      • kowalski

        I hope my advice about licensing in MA (and any state that requires one) was helpful to you way back when. I hope by this point you’re as well-apprised of the multifaceted politics as you need to be and above all that you’re safe, and armed, and armed safely, and glad you are. :)

        • http://www.marklaiminger.org Lammo

          Out here in the west it’s rare to get in on a thread while the comments are still relevant. We’re safe out here in WA and the Little Big Glock (Model 36 in .45 Auto) still goes with me everywhere he legally can. We have a great AG (soon to be a great governor) who has done a lot of work on reciprocity agreements – - we are now up to a dozen states with formal reciprocity and quite a few more recognize WA permits. Hope things aren’t too wacky back there in Taxachusetts. Take care.

    • quad4x4

      So we in AZ do not know which guns and serial numbers are “illegal” and they can be sold in AZ between private parties, without our dealers being involved, which is the way it should be. But we are at a disadvantage and so are the legit dealers when someone walks in with a “Bad Gun” , post the type and serial numbers for everyone to see… If they (ATF ) was in military, the deficatiin would hit the blades for ONE lost firearm.. but 100′s no problem…

      • kowalski

        “One lost firearm is a tragedy, thousands of lost firearms are a statistic…”

        And it was never more true than what looks to have been going on here with this whole sordid business.

  • giatny

    This part of the story was reported back when Fast
    and Furious first emerged as a scandal months ago.I fear the prescient Cbs reporter might get transferred
    to some unknown station in Alaska for having the
    gall to report the story at all.

    • kowalski

      And you’ll notice you haven’t heard much from her since the she got yelled at, presumably by people in High Places:

      [The White House and Justice Department] will tell you that I’m the only reporter–as they told me–that is not reasonable. They say the Washington Post is reasonable, the LA Times is reasonable, the New York Times is reasonable, I’m the only one who thinks this is a story, and they think I’m unfair and biased by pursuing it.

  • RetiredFF

    people not take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States? This whole mess needs to be addressed and strictly investigated by an independent counsel.

  • prinnydood78

    Used properly this could be very significant. I don’t know if anyone in the RNC has the media skill to do so properly (they’re such idiots most of the time) and they may be too concerned with playing nice, but wow.

    Sure, anyone who is a regular reader of right-wing blogosphere knows that Obozo & Friends were doing this from the start, because the patterns were obvious. They were obvious in 2008 too, but we failed to convince enough people then, since ‘seeing the pattern’ usually gets you branded as crazy and tuned out, even when you’re repeatedly proven correct. But now there is documented proof which means something can be done. Its like how everyone knew that Blago was vain and corrupt, but it took some recorded phone calls to put him in a cell where he belongs.

    The Occupy crowd won’t care of course, and the so-called ‘moderates’ in congress will still fall in line behind SanFranNan, but now we have something tangible to show to actual moderates. The people who have always voted democrat just because, or the people who we don’t agree with but they do still like the whole ‘America’ concept, the people who vote for guys like Joe Lieberman, they are the ones we can still convince. We know what kind of administration this is, but they still think the DNC is the party of Truman or JFK. This kind of release is how we can say to those people ‘no, they really are trying to restructure the country, not just fine-tune it.’ This COULD be huge.

    If only the RNC is willing to use it.

  • gs425

    Could deny that the claim of 90% guns from US and F&F where not connected.

    What?s worse, they never even stopped to consider that the very practice they were undertaking ….

    I content, they did. They just don’t care.

  • ihateliberals

    I stil believe she is at the head of this program. she wants the USA to fall under the UN gun restrictions. When the public doesn’t have guns only the politicians and military do. If the King of England had his was in 1776 we would still be subjects of the Crown.

  • mspector

    That in our ADD society Issa and others can keep the heat on and push all this to its necessary conclusion.

    We know $10 million was appropriated for the program in the 2009 stimulus. We know Holder articulated the existence of the program in a speech in Mexico that same year. We know Obama has supported “long gun” restrictions. We know that guns from the program were used in the killings of Bryan Terry and Jaime Zapata. We know that the guns have been used in murders at the border and throughout Mexico. We know that the dealers probably would not have made the sales but for BATFE sponsorship of the program. We know now that the US government has been complicit in cartel money-laundering.

    What we don’t know is whether Obama and his crew will get away with hiding the truth of the situation from the American public.

  • quad4x4

    Hilary and all the others trying to do away with guns…why?? Fear that “they ” could not control the populace?
    They are the ones pushing for Libya to take all the guns away.. Sound familar? The story just keeps getting told over and over. So what good came of taking Honest guns away in England and Austrialia? Stop crime, stop shootings, stop killings, stop bombing or stop terrorists? Not that you can believe in any reports. Bias comes to mind, from the Lefties forever and ever.