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Extra agents press Houston gun checks
Associated Press
Aug. 13, 2009, 3:02PM

SAN ANTONIO — A four-month manpower boost is helping U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives inspect about 1,000 licensed gun dealers in and around Houston.

Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson said Thursday in many dealers hadn’t been inspected in six or seven years. Then, an extra 100 agents descended on Houston this spring to start clearing out backlogged work.

Dealers are required to maintain paperwork on guns they sell so the ATF can trace firearms used in crimes in the United States. and elsewhere. Melson said leads in gunrunning investigations quickly dry up if dealers don’t keep proper paperwork, so ensuring compliance is important.

The ATF has increased its focus on gunrunning and aiding Mexican authorities as violence involving drug cartels has escalated.

In this afternoon's Chron.com.

Will they be at your doorsteps next?

First and foremost, I am not for big brother looking into what any individual has or does not have. With that said, FFL dealers are not required to become FFL dealers. It is something they did with eyes wide open and know that there are requirements and that they are subject to inspection.

This article simply states that the government is doing their job, nothing more or less. In fact, if they had been doing their job better and catching those individuals that are selling "illegally", maybe the left would not have anything to point at concerning our southern border. In fact, a few illegal weapons do go south. Not in the numbers or with the impact that the left would like most to believe, but it does happen. Also, criminals locally get their hands on weapons that they are not legally allowed, sometimes because of a few FFL dealers that are more interested in the buck then what's right. For those few bad apples, I say, ATF......sic-um.

Now, if the ATF is "making up" problems or not following the letter of the law concerning FFL's that follow the law, then that is another story.

In my line of work, the government comes in and inspects yearly. It's a hassle, but generally they are doing their job and we do ours. No problem, checks and balance. Sometimes it's a little nit-picky but again, more hassle than hurdle.

The story did not in any way indicate that ATF was coming and breaking down doors to get at legal firearms from law abiding second amendment citizens.

I believe that it's right to inform, like you did. I believe that the knee jerk reaction as indicated by your last remark is exactly the reaction that the left would like from us.

Where did these "extra agents" come from and what have they been doing for the last six to seven years? Why target Houston FFLs?

I too have been through government audits. If you get someone with an agenda they can make your life miserable. If they are given direction the do so, any auditor can find a problem with anyone's records if they dig deep enough. Most gun dealers are honest, but it sounds like they want to shut them down, not protect the public.

The big problem about guns going across the border is bogus. If the government hasn't been able to stop people from illegally coming in the country, they can't stop guns from coming in or going out.

solaritx wrote:First and foremost, I am not for big brother looking into what any individual has or does not have. With that said, FFL dealers are not required to become FFL dealers. It is something they did with eyes wide open and know that there are requirements and that they are subject to inspection.

Booksellers are not required to become booksellers. Priests, rabbis, ministers, etc. are not required to become clergymen.

Mexico HAS ALWAYS been a problem ! ( ? ) Like Wildbill says (kinda') ... some sort of Storm Trooping, won't correct the issues we've been HAVING FOR YEARS !
Keeping a better eye on the FFLs ??
Keeping a better eye on the Stock Exchange and their seedy Agents.
SOMETIMES our "Government" & "Gmen" have to do the job they were elected//hired to do !
If ya' have a rotten apple, down in the middle of the barrel, ya' gotta' look thru it, and find that rotten sucker !
Mac .45 >>>>> %%%%
..... .40 >>>>> :::::::

I wonder how many dealers will lose their license because the buyer abbreviated Road or Street. The BATF will spare no effort to keep the Mexican population from protecting themselves against the drug gangs and other criminals. Our government should be encouraging freedom in Mexico rather than harrassing the folks selling us our guns.

Extra agents press Houston gun checks
Associated Press
Aug. 13, 2009, 3:02PM

SAN ANTONIO — A four-month manpower boost is helping U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives inspect about 1,000 licensed gun dealers in and around Houston.

Didn't know there were that many "in and around" just the Houston area!

anybody wanta guess if BATFE hired a few temps from ACORN to help out

solaritx wrote: I believe that the knee jerk reaction as indicated by your last remark is exactly the reaction that the left would like from us.

What's knee jerk about it? There was a thread a few weeks back that this was going to happen; not only checking dealers to make sure that their paper work was in order but also to see if the same names of purchasers keep coming up and paying visits to people they think have purchased too many firearms over a certain period of time. There are going to be some patterns of purchases that stick out like a sore thumb but what is their definition of "too many in a certain time frame" going to be?

quidni wrote:Didn't know there were that many "in and around" just the Houston area!

They may also be counting C&R license holders. My brother was visited by the BATF a few months ago in San Antonio because he has one. The agent told him they were visiting all FFL's.

When you include all the FFl's that do transfers and work out of their house, you'd be surprised at how many FFL's are out there.

In my zip code alone, which is mainly residential and light retail, there are 12 FFL holders. And 9 of them are the transfer guys that have no storefront.