Post-Mortem on the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) - Powerful Enemies, Few Friends

• NCJ Number: 81655
• Journal: Police Magazine Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (March 1982) Pages: 28-31,34-36
• Author(s): M Gentry
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 7 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Factors affecting the birth and death of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) are discussed, and the likelihood of the continuation of some of ATF's functions under the agencies to which they have been assigned is examined.

Abstract

When Congress passed the first legislation establishing a significant Federal role in regulating gun sales in the 1930's, enforcement was assigned to the Internal Revenue Service because of the tax features of the legislation. With the passage of the Gun Control Act in 1968, enforcement responsibilities were given to the Internal Revenue Service's alcohol, tax, and firearms division, which became the ATF in 1972. While the ATF and its operations have been strongly condemned by the National Rifle Association, considered one of the strongest lobbying groups in the Nation, the demise of ATF has been attributed by insiders to general efforts to reduce Federal spending by eliminating bureaucracy deemed unnecessary to perform the essential functions of the executive branch. In the reorganization following ATF's demise, ATF's firearms, arson, and explosives units will operate as a separate division of the Secret Service. ATF's firearms tracing capability, which many State and local police rely on, will also be continued within the Secret Service. ATF's alcohol and tobacco responsibilities will go to a new division at the Customs Service. Other ATF activities, such as the countering of cigarette bootlegging, are expected to be turned over to State and local authorities. The most significant functions of ATF will probably continue, perhaps with more force and funding under the reorganization plan, with many former ATF agents continuing their previous job responsibilities. While the NRA is not unhappy about the abolishment of ATF, should the Secret Service become the umbrella for intense enforcement of the Gun Control Act, it will be a much more difficult target to attack, since it carries the aura of being the protector of the President.