So ATF wants to police our weapons?

[unixronin]

Why should they, when they can't even keep track of their own?

According to a Justice Department audit released Wednesday, the inspector general reported the ATF was unable to account for 76 weapons and 418 laptops over the past five years.

The report said the rate of loss had tripled since the last audit was conducted by the ATF's then-parent agency, the Treasury Department.

"It is especially troubling that ATF's rate of loss for weapons was nearly double that of the FBI and DEA," the report said.

[...]

Of the 76 missing weapons, 35 were stolen from agents' homes, hotel rooms or vehicles, the report said.  Some of the others were left in public places or lost in shipping -- or their losses were still unexplained.

Two of the stolen guns were used to commit crimes, the report said. One was used to shoot through the window of a residence, and the other was recovered from suspects arrested on burglary charges.

The inspector general determined that 53 percent of the weapon losses were the result of employees' carelessness or failure to follow ATF policies.

Of the 418 laptops, 50 were reported stolen.

Comments

[luxobscura.livejournal.com]

I know I've gotten so drunk that I passed out in bed with a lit cigarette and nearly burned a hole in the mattress, then woke up with a loaded 9mm in my hand.

I'm going to lobby Congress for a budget.

[hugh-mannity.livejournal.com]

I think I'll have my son apply for a job there - he loses things constantly, he'd fit right in.

Oh wait... they're a bunch of thugs with no Constitutional mandate... he won't have anything to do with them.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Glad to see that "lost in shipping." Might suggest to someone in power that they change the shipping regulations, so that firearms aren't clearly marked in separate unlocked cases in the air transport system . . .

[lonewolf545.livejournal.com]

The problem is both UPS and FedEx have problems with thieves. And since Federal law requires that you declare if you are shipping a firearm... Of course, UPS and FedEx require that you ship handguns next day air, paying the premium, because they supposedly have tighter controls that way. I know someone who had a shipment of rifles lost, the shipping manager wasn't too concerned until he was told that the Feds would GLADLY get a warrant for his warehouse if they didn't show up. They showed up fairly quickly.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Actually, I think it's only FedEx now. Last time I checked, UPS would not ship firearms, period. FedEx would still ship, but required that it be shipped priority overnight. I didn't really have a problem with that.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

for fully automatic weapons, by which i mean machine guns if that's not clear, and certain other classes of special permit type weapons, isn't it a federal crime, from which being a fed isn't a defense, to misplace such?

#

[lonewolf545.livejournal.com]

UPS will ship them, but only to and from an FFL. They will ONLY ship them from UPS facilities, not from mailbox outlets.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Huh.

Maybe I'm misremembering and it was just that I trusted FedEx more than UPS not to lose or damage it....