Abolish the ATF

[Bearcatrp]

This would be nice to happen but doubt it will.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/abolis ... -amendment

[Lumpy]

Would the Treasury Department go back to enforcing laws against bootleg cigarettes and booze?

[xd ED]

Abolition of the BATFE seems unlikely. The best we can hope for is some common-sense bureaucracy control from the top.

[Lumpy]

I think any serious look at the BATFE has to go back to it's origins. I put it thusly in a post on Quora.com:

The IRS, whose institutional interest was simply collecting taxes owed, used to administer the stamp tax; but in the early 1970s responsibility for this was transferred to the newly created Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In the wake of late 1960s and early 1970s leftist radicalism the BATFE, nominally just a tax enforcement agency, was in practice set up as a paramilitary police organization prepared to do literal battle with radical groups armed with automatic firearms and explosives. Under the Clinton administration it was given the green light to persecute legal dealers and owners of NFA items by presumption of guilt and zero-tolerance of paperwork errors, in an extralegal effort to drive the commerce of such items out of business.

[Holland&Holland]

I think any serious look at the BATFE has to go back to it's origins. I put it thusly in a post on Quora.com:

The IRS, whose institutional interest was simply collecting taxes owed, used to administer the stamp tax; but in the early 1970s responsibility for this was transferred to the newly created Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In the wake of late 1960s and early 1970s leftist radicalism the BATFE, nominally just a tax enforcement agency, was in practice set up as a paramilitary police organization prepared to do literal battle with radical groups armed with automatic firearms and explosives. Under the Clinton administration it was given the green light to persecute legal dealers and owners of NFA items by presumption of guilt and zero-tolerance of paperwork errors, in an extralegal effort to drive the commerce of such items out of business.

I dunno, they have an awesome track record of not over reaching, not to mention their integrity is unquestionable.

[jdege]

[Bearcatrp]

Good video. Is Trump going to replace the head of the ATF? I doubt they are going to be shut down.

[xd ED]

Good video. Is Trump going to replace the head of the ATF? I doubt they are going to be shut down.

I suspect he will do that
It will telling to see the effect this has, with so many employees' jobs guaranteed/ protected by civil service, and unions

When I started working for one of the major metro cities, I was shocked to learn there are basically two groups of gov't employees - those at the top of their agencies are political appointments, and virtually everyone else - from asst. dept head down to front line workers, are protected by union contracts.

As we saw before, the swamp doesn't go away quietly.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

[dismal]

There is some talk of making Brandon Herrera head of the ATF.

[Holland&Holland]

There is some talk of making Brandon Herrera head of the ATF.

I thought Ranb had that position sewn up?

[Lumpy]

So any info on what H.R. 374 is going to contain? I haven't found anything beyond its mere existence, plus that it gained an official co-sponsor this month.

[Ranb]

No way will Trump allow the ATF to be abolished. They accomplished his first gun grab for him. Perhaps he thinks that the next time he calls upon the ATF to deprive Americans of their property without compensation, they can do it in a manner that does not result in the courts reversing them.

[jdege]

If congressional hearings on dissolving the ATF, I'd suggest everybody keep an eye open.

You might remember, the whole Waco debacle happened because the ATF staged a publicity stunt for the media, trying to demonstrate how critical they were.

[crbutler]

I don’t think we should abolish the ATF.

They do serve a legitimate purpose.

What is needed is to remove the redundant parts of the federal bureaucracy and keep the agencies limited to their congressionally appointed functions.

As to the bureaucrats… while it may annoy folks, it probably would be cheaper in the long run to tell the civil service folks that have their jobs removed that if they leave and never return to government service, they will get their current salary and benefits for the rest of their life. How many would jump at leaving, not increasing the bureaucracy, and giving the rest of us freedom from their regulations just for the money? Probably 99.999% of them.

[ex-LT]

I don’t think we should abolish the ATF.

They do serve a legitimate purpose.

What is needed is to remove the redundant parts of the federal bureaucracy and keep the agencies limited to their congressionally appointed functions.

As to the bureaucrats… while it may annoy folks, it probably would be cheaper in the long run to tell the civil service folks that have their jobs removed that if they leave and never return to government service, they will get their current salary and benefits for the rest of their life. How many would jump at leaving, not increasing the bureaucracy, and giving the rest of us freedom from their regulations just for the money? Probably 99.999% of them.

I don't agree with the highlighted part. I would, however, consider offering to "retire" them at full pension using the following calculation:

[Years of Service] X [Average of their High 5 Monthly Salary] X 1.7 (benefit multiplier)

If an employee has fewer than 20 years of service, calculate the benefit as though they have 20 years. If they have over 20 years, calculate the benefit based on their years of service.

In addition to that, offer to pay 50% of their medical and dental insurance premiums until they turn age 65.