[vtail]

Oh, yeah. Let's put these guys in charge of our guns....

http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/atfs-milwaukee-sting-operation-marred-by-mistakes-failures-mu8akpj-188952581.html?abc=Ct5vpWpS


ATF's Milwaukee sting operation marred by mistakes, failures

A store calling itself Fearless Distributing opened early last year on an out-of-the-way street in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood, offering designer clothes, athletic shoes, jewelry and drug paraphernalia.

Those working behind the counter, however, weren't interested in selling anything.

They were undercover agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives running a storefront sting aimed at busting criminal operations in the city by purchasing drugs and guns from felons.

But the effort to date has not snared any major dealers or taken down a gang. Instead, it resulted in a string of mistakes and failures, including an ATF military-style machine gun landing on the streets of Milwaukee and the agency having $35,000 in merchandise stolen from its store, a Journal Sentinel investigation has found.

<Copyrighted Material Removed -- Please click the link to read more.>

[MaterDei]

Idiots

[mrvco]

The good news is that everyone gets a promotion!

[oldbear]

If even half true this story is sad on so many fronts. Any government employee is human and can and do make mistakes, but this appears to reek of gross carelessness and gross incompetence on the part of the agents involved.

Equally sad to me, is I can remember when the A.T.F. was one of the premier federal law enforcement agency's in the country. Have the mighty fallen so far?

[Deanimator]

Typical BATFE, especially the not caring whom they falsely arrest/charge and the shafting uninvolved citizens.

[TurtlePhish]

The ATF is just awful. How do they manage to receive the funding and support that they do? Seems like nowadays everything they do is botched horribly in some way.

[Madcap_Magician]

Isn't it redundant to include the words "ATF" and "Mistakes" or "Failures" in the same sentence? :scrutiny:

[Bubbles]

I am the only one professional enough... to rip off my landlord, lose a machine gun, and leave behind a list of undercover agents.

[forindooruseonly]

Disgusting. I love how the ATF can use a fake identity to sign a contract, then threaten the other party with criminal behavior when he tries to collect for services and damages. If I did that, I'd go to jail for fraud.

I've had largely good experiences with ATF examiners and field reps, but their enforcement branch is a joke that needs to be dismantled. There are numerous other agencies that are already in the law enforcement game that should be doing that work, and these clowns cause more problems than they solve.

Here's hoping someone gets fired over this debacle and they undertake a massive shake-up of policy and personnel, but I'm pretty sure nothing will come of it.

[Gato Montés]

I hope they come back to Milwaukee. I don't have enough money for an NFA registered full auto at the moment, but hey, if the ATF is around FREE MACHINE GUNS FOR EVERYONE!!!

They offered a similar deal to Mexico not to long ago I heard.

[mac66]

ATF= Always The Fools

[Fryerpower]

Oh, wow! They need to go to a simple business class. Maybe interview some businesses to find out what is required to actually run a "real" business. Hooking up an alarm system and protecting your guns might be another idea. Maybe even knowing how much a gun is worth would be a good idea.

Jim

[gunnutery]

Hey, they're just trying to be "progressive."

[Gato Montés]

Assuming the "ATF military like machine gun" really is a machine gun (the Journal Sentinel is notoriously anti-gun and is loose with their terminology on such), I want to know what kind of trouble average Joe would get into if he lost his Title II full auto in such a careless way?

[Justin]

I'm amazed they were able to vacate the building so quickly since it's apparent they must have all been wearing clown shoes.

[palmrose2]

I like this quote from a retired BATF big wig. "I have never heard of those kinds of problems in an operation,"

When it became clear to me that the ATF could have, on numerous occasions, arrested David Koresh away from his compound near Waco, I thought to myself that these are a bunch of idiots that give little weight to what might happen if things don't go as planned. My thoughts haven't changed.

[HankR]

... I can remember when the A.T.F. was one of the premier federal law enforcement agency's in the country. Have the mighty fallen so far?


When was that? The linked story is typical of the F-troop since as far back as I can remember.

[izhevsk]

Fearless distributing, what a terrible name for a store.

[Ryanxia]

Surprise surprise. But hey, we don't need guns to protect ourselves, these outstanding government officials will do that for us! :rolleyes:

[joeschmoe]

How is any of this even their job? Doesn't this prove this should have been handled by either local LEO or FBI? Since when is breaking up local "criminal operations" within the ATF's madate?

We need to just scratch the ATF line out of the budget. Completly cease to exist.

[hAkron]

It's like there isn't a use for them, so they create crimes to solve in an effort to make themselves useful, but then they end up losing control and fully automatic M4's end up in the hands of criminals.

[Romeo 33 Delta]

Thanks for posting ... Mark Belling (Milwaukee Conservative Talk Show Host) spent nearly all of his daily 3 hours covering this story today ... even had one of the reporters on. The story was so well done that I actually had to go out and buy a copy of the J-S to be able to hold it in my hands!

Somebody needs to ask our officials who want to ban ouw "assault weapons" how they feel about having a REAL assault weapon loose on the streets of Milwaukee. Wonder how long before it makes it's way to Chicago?

[JFrame]

Isn't it redundant to include the words "ATF" and "Mistakes" or "Failures" in the same sentence? :scrutiny:

In a word -- "yes."


.

[JFrame]

I'm amazed they were able to vacate the building so quickly since it's apparent they must have all been wearing clown shoes.


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[baz]

Equally sad to me, is I can remember when the A.T.F. was one of the premier federal law enforcement agency's in the country. Have the mighty fallen so far?In an alternate reality, maybe? ATF has always, as long as I can remember, been the "stepchild" of the Federal LE agencies, not even close to the professionalism once associated with, say, the FBI or Secret Service. Remember, they were not taken seriously as an LE agency; they were just tax collectors. Waco was their effort to try to show the big boys (FBI HRT, etc.) that they were real "operators," and we know how that turned out.

[oldbear]

When was that? The linked story is typical of the F-troop since as far back as I can remember.

Hank,

Try the late 60's and early 70's. Things were very different then, fewer restrictions on civilians, a much more limited selection of firearms, fewer active gun owners, and a different mind set on both sided of the debate.

[Ignition Override]

People in public have a blank stare when they are asked if they heard or saw anything about the Arbitrarily Tyrannical & Fubab.

[OptimusPrime]

I am flabbergasted when I read stories like that. So many hypocrisies and quasi-illegal steps. Isn't this entrapment? When did the ATF include drugs in its purview? And why do they bother with doing it this way? We all know where the drugs and criminals are, all of us, all of our towns, every single American can point to the street corner or house where the bad guys are. So these guys have to set up a store front, pay rent, and play house for months to get a few arrests that won't stick? And at the end of the operation the balance shows: the ATF spent a ton of money, some local citizens MADE some cash, and some thief scored an automatic weapon.
I'll say it again; someone needs to close the ATF loophole. They're dangerous.

[LKB3rd]

I wouldn't be surprised if this was another Fast and Furious, with the key point being it was not botched. They were intentionally running guns so that when violence ensues, they can use it to go after law abiding gun owners.

[ApacheCoTodd]

If a movie were made of this particular weirdness it would have to be a Cohn Brothers/Mel Brooks sort of affair.

No one would believe it other than a comedy.

Or: MASH meets ATF.

[ilmonster]

I wish I knew about this operation when it was going on. I could have bought a few Glocks, M&P's etc. for $500 at Cabela's or Gander and gone to their little operation and sold them for $1,000+. Plus, having three guns including an actual "assault weapon" stolen out of their vehicle - priceless. Good to know someone is running around Milwaukee with a full auto M4...really guys!?!?!?!?

[ilmonster]

I guess it's too much to ask for this to be on the evening news..."federal agency loses a real "assault weapon" in a month long sting operation...". Maybe showing what this M4 being shot on full auto looks like compared to a Colt, DD, BCM's that all of us own being shot as a semi-auto would be illuminating to the unknowing.

[OptimusPrime]

I wish I knew about this operation when it was going on. I could have bought a few Glocks, M&P's etc. for $500 at Cabela's or Gander and gone to their little operation and sold them for $1,000+. Plus, having three guns including an actual "assault weapon" stolen out of their vehicle - priceless. Good to know someone is running around Milwaukee with a full auto M4...really guys!?!?!?!?
Oh, don't worry, that M4 isn't in Milwaukee. 45 minutes after the theft that M4 was sold on a Chicago streetcorner for $150 in pills.

[bigfatdave]

Isn't it redundant to include the words "ATF" and "Mistakes" or "Failures" in the same sentence?
Doesn't the "F" stand for "fail"?
And remember, it isn't the ATF, it is the BATFE.

We need to get these clowns out of the gun-running business before congress creates a new federal LE agency just to handle BATFE cases.
Maybe get them into lottery regulation, re-brand as the "ATL" for:
Alcohol
Tobacco
Lottery

It would make the old jokes about "gee, that should be a convience store! hurdeee har har!" much funnier.

[JRH6856]

ATF = Absolute Total Failure (or choose your own F word.)