The US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) will face a review of various procedures used to track and arrest suspects in the near future, media reports this week say. Two cases involving the deaths of federal agents have prompted the recent inquiry by federal officials.
BBC News reported that US Attorney General Eric Holder asked federal officials for the review after shootings on the Mexican border claimed the lives of federal agents. The suspects in the shootings were both being monitored by the ATF before the shootings took place.
Operation “Fast and Furious” has been implemented to help stop Mexican gang leaders from selling guns that are leaking into the US, said the report.
The ATF has responded with nothing but cooperation to the idea of a review, the news agency said. A panel of law enforcement experts will also be brought in by the ATF to take a look at how these guns are being sold by suspects who are being watched by the agency.
According to The Washington Post, the firearms were intentionally leaked from gun stores in the US in an effort to track their flow to Mexican gun dealers. Apparently, the monitoring of the weapons and the criminals who sell the guns fell woefully short, which was one of the reasons why the Department of Justice prompted their investigation into the matter.
Retired ATF official James Cavanaugh claims that a gun trafficking statute established on Capitol Hill is the solution to the problem.
“There is no gun-trafficking statute. We’ve been yelling for years that we need a gun-trafficking statute, because these cases are so difficult to prove,” Cavanaugh told the Post.
Over 1,700 guns were allowed to slip into the hands of Mexican gun dealers with only 797 being recovered.
BBC News reported that US Attorney General Eric Holder asked federal officials for the review after shootings on the Mexican border claimed the lives of federal agents. The suspects in the shootings were both being monitored by the ATF before the shootings took place.
Operation “Fast and Furious” has been implemented to help stop Mexican gang leaders from selling guns that are leaking into the US, said the report.
The ATF has responded with nothing but cooperation to the idea of a review, the news agency said. A panel of law enforcement experts will also be brought in by the ATF to take a look at how these guns are being sold by suspects who are being watched by the agency.
According to The Washington Post, the firearms were intentionally leaked from gun stores in the US in an effort to track their flow to Mexican gun dealers. Apparently, the monitoring of the weapons and the criminals who sell the guns fell woefully short, which was one of the reasons why the Department of Justice prompted their investigation into the matter.
Retired ATF official James Cavanaugh claims that a gun trafficking statute established on Capitol Hill is the solution to the problem.
“There is no gun-trafficking statute. We’ve been yelling for years that we need a gun-trafficking statute, because these cases are so difficult to prove,” Cavanaugh told the Post.
Over 1,700 guns were allowed to slip into the hands of Mexican gun dealers with only 797 being recovered.
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