Hearings Spotlight Need for BATFE Reform

Just before this issue went to press, hearings were held by the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, focused on enforcement abuses by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE). Opinions were also aired about anew bill intended to correct several issues in federal firearms law. First, the subcommittee heard testimony from people with firsthand experience dealing with BATFE.

Virginia lawyer Richard Gardiner, who has represented many gun owners and dealers, focused on the way BATFE handles cases against federally licensed firearms dealers, often seeking to revoke FFLs for "trivial, immaterial violations" based on "undefined legal standards." Gardiner described one case where a dealer lost his license even though BATFE itself agreed his records were 99.96 percent accurate, and the few errors posed no threat to public safety. Next, Lt.

Michael Lara of the Tucson Police Department recounted his personal horror story at the hands of BATFE. After buying a gun as a gift for a friend, Lt. Lara found himself facing federal felony charges as a "straw purchaser." Lt. Lara lost his job, and didn’t get it back before a three-month legal nightmare cost him more than $200,000 in legal fees, lost pay, and other costs. BATFE never even interviewed him during its investigation, and the jury acquitted him in less than an hour.

At the second hearing, the subcommittee focused on H. R. 5005, Rep. Lamar Smith’s (R-TX) bill to make various technical changes and corrections in federal firearms law. Anti-gun advocates have gone through the roof over one provision of H. R. 5005: a section that prohibits disclosure of firearms trace data outside of law-enforcement investigations. That language simply makes permanent a policy that Congress has enacted through annual appropriations riders for the past several years.

Yet at this hearing, anti-gun New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) hysterically denounced it as a "God-awful" bill that would "facilitate the shooting deaths of thousands of innocent Americans every year." Of course, Bloomberg’s real goal’besides publicity in the Big Apple media’is to use this confidential law enforcement information in the city’s suit against the firearms industry.

Subcommittee Chairman Howard Coble (R-NC) and ranking member Bobby Scott (D-VA) agreed on the need to focus BATFE’s efforts on enforcing current laws against serious criminals, while not pursuing petty violations or undermining civil liberties. To that end, the "Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Modernization and Reform Act of 2006" will soon be introduced. This bipartisan bill will update the legal standards for disciplining violations by FFLs.

It also calls for a review of BATFE’s enforcement practices, and clarifies BATFE’s responsibilities to keep the Bureau focused on its core mission. Editor Keith Lawrence Technical