Stories about the Director of the BATFE position

[Gunreference1]

Gun control group criticizes Obama for failing to nominate ATF chief

By Eric Zimmermann - 08/04/10 02:24 PM ET

One of the nation's most prominent gun control groups criticized President Obama today for failing to nominate a Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence issued a report Wednesday claiming that the lack of leadership at ATF weakens the government's ability to crack down on violence.

“The failure to nominate an ATF director for over a year and a half is unprecedented and threatens our nation’s ability to combat gun crime and trafficking that arms criminals and terrorists,” the report reads. “No other President has allowed this critical position to remain vacant for so long.”

Ken Melson served as acting director of the agency until November 2009, but he had to step down due to legal restrictions on how long an agency can have an unconfirmed director. Melson still leads the bureau, but with the title of deputy director.

The authors of the report suggest Obama has avoided nominating a director in order to avoid a public debate over gun laws.

“Some have suggested that President Obama has shied away from making a nomination for fear of resistance from the powerful gun lobby,” they write. “As Senator and Presidential candidate, Obama was a forceful advocate for reasonable gun laws, but as President he has been unwilling to show any leadership on the issue."

The Brady Campaign has not shied away from criticizing Obama in the past. The group gave the president an 'F' on gun control issues, lamenting his positions on background checks, trafficking, and the assault weapons ban, among others.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/112661-gun-control-group-criticizes-obama-for-failing-to-nominate-atf-chief

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New Name Emerges For ATF Director

By Andrew Ramonas | August 4, 2010 11:35 am

President Barack Obama might soon nominate the chief of the Chicago office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to lead the Justice Department agency, The Washington Post reported.

Special Agent in Charge Andrew Traver would be the bureau’s first Senate-confirmed director, if approved. Temporary appointees have held the post since a 2006 law gave the Senate the ability to confirm the director.

Two Illinois members of Congress have written letters in support of Traver, a 20-year veteran of the ATF, according to Ticklethewire.com.

Former Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan was the last nominee for the post. But Senate Republicans held up the George W. Bush nominee over concerns about the ATF’s handling of small gun owners. Sullivan served as acting director from 2006 to 2009.

ATF Deputy Director Kenneth Melson has led the agency since 2009. He initially served as acting director, but his title was changed because the law limits how long acting heads can run federal agencies.

http://www.mainjustice.com/2010/08/04/new-name-emerges-for-atf-director/

Steve

[imanaknut]

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence issued a report Wednesday claiming that the lack of leadership at ATF weakens the government's ability to crack down on violence.

Seems that even the Brady bunch doesn't understand that our government does not want to crack down on violence. The more violence there is, the more chance they have for a full takeover.

[matshock]

Look at the time stamps on the stories- the Brady bunch isn't even in the driver's seat on the issue.

How much more irrelevant can they get before the MSM stops quoting them? It's like one guy writing content on his blackberry on the way to his real job.

[GovGotToGo]

AMAZING.


Not appointing a head of the ATF. Obama finally did something I can agree with.

[El Laton Caliente]

http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-st-louis/obama-names-anti-gun-extremist-as-next-batfe-head


Obama names anti-gun extremist as next BATFE head

Well, it's official (if misspelled, in the New York Times)--Andrew Traver is President Obama's choice to be the BATFE's next Supreme Leader:


Nearly two years into his term, President Obama on Monday finally chose a director for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Mr. Obama will submit the name of Andrew Taver [sic], the special agent in charge of the bureau’s Chicago field division, to the Senate for consideration, the White House said.

This, no doubt, will immensely please the Brady Campaign, who will probably try to imply that it was their complaining--and complaining (pdf file)--that inspired this action.

That Traver's would be the name eventually submitted has been suspected for months, with the first (to my knowledge) to bring up the possibility being Mike Vanderboegh, back in early July. In that post, Mr. Vanderboegh documented some of Traver's hostility to the right to keep and bear arms:


But there is more to Traver than selfless service to his community. He is an anti-firearm rights zealot. He is on record as opposing so-called "assault rifles" in the hands of citizens. Worse, he is a prominent member of the virulently anti-firearm International Association of Chiefs of Police.

The NBC Chicago "news" story in which Traver expresses his opposition to private ownership of so-called "assault weapons" is something, it turns out, that I have discussed before, as has National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea (video of that story can be seen to the left). One of my favorite parts of the NBC piece was this:


Traver says the power and randomness of the heavy caliber, military-style weapons make them so dangerous not only to people, but to police.

Forgetting the "heavy caliber" nonsense, when discussing guns that are considered to be of pretty marginal power by most deer hunters, is Traver trying to say that police are not people? The "Only Ones" superhuman enough, apparently.

The question now is whether or not the Senate will confirm him. The New York Times article says "he may face a confirmation fight" (and David Codrea points out that there had better be one). The recent Washington Post anti-gun series (discussed here) seems to imply that such a fight is inevitable:


In August, sources in the ATF said Andy Traver, a special agent in charge of the ATF in Chicago, was being considered for the job. Gun-lobby representatives immediately said they would oppose his nomination because they thought he was too close to gun-control activists.

Hmm . . . "too close to gun control activists" is one way to put it, but a more accurate way might be to say that he has been an activist for forcible citizen disarmament.

It's hard to know when the confirmation fight will commence--will Obama try to ram it through the Senate during the lame duck session, before the Democrat majority shrinks considerably, or does he think it can happen even in the face of a considerably more Republican Senate next year? Perhaps Traver will be a recess appointment, and thus become Acting Director through late 2012. That, actually, might be the biggest threat. Mike Vanderboegh has said that this route will be attractive to the DoJ, since it would avoid the problem with confirmation hearings--those inconvenient questions under oath.

If that's what happens, expect an all out assault on gun ownership, and an energized forcible citizen disarmament lobby. Keep your powder dry.




This guy is going to suck.

[1 Patriot-of-many]

The Republicunts better grow a pair and filibuster this fuck.

[El Laton Caliente]

Sarah Brady couldn't be worse...