The notion that operation Fast and Furious was a scheme perpetrated by the Department of Justice to usher in stricter regulation of gun sales has moved from the gun rights bloggers to CBS News. Sharyl Attkisson,
"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."
In a FaceBook post Sarah Palin nails this email as the "smoking gun".
"On Jan. 4, 2011, as ATF prepared a press conference to announce arrests in Fast and Furious, Newell saw it as "(A)nother time to address Multiple Sale on Long Guns issue." And a day after the press conference, Chait emailed Newell: "Bill--well done yesterday... (I)n light of our request for Demand letter 3, this case could be a strong supporting factor if we can determine how many multiple sales of long guns occurred during the course of this case."
This revelation angers gun rights advocates. Larry Keane, a spokesman for National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun industry trade group, calls the discussion of Fast and Furious to argue for Demand Letter 3 "disappointing and ironic." Keane says it's "deeply troubling" if sales made by gun dealers "voluntarily cooperating with ATF's flawed 'Operation Fast & Furious' were going to be used by some individuals within ATF to justify imposing a multiple sales reporting requirement for rifles."
Still on the subject of Fast and Furious, Senator Chuck Grassley has demanded the resignation of Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer. Grassley maintains that Breuer has deliberately mislead Congress on the Department of Justice's role in Fast and Furious. In an administration where no one reads emails or incriminating documents Breuer is especially slippery.
Both the gun walking program and the push for demand letter 3 were motivated by the number of guns that have been crossing the border since long before F&F.
ReplyDeleteIt's not surprising that emails exist linking the two efforts. Neither effort has any significant effect on any individual US gun owner or his rights.