ATF - Director Todd Jones on Urban Violence, Fast and Furious, and Illegal Cigarette Profits (Part-2)

"Boosting 'health' of ATF, targeting traffickers are goals for agency chief Jones" PBS Newshour 11/18/2013

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JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour):  Now to part two of our newsmaker interview with B. Todd Jones, the new director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

The first half of our conversation focused on the agency's responsibility for keeping track of the nation's 300 million firearms.

Tonight, we discuss urban violence, Fast and Furious, and illegal cigarette profits going to terrorists.

We talked late last week at the bureau's headquarters here in Washington.

Todd Jones, the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, thank you for talking with us.

ATF - As Seen by New Director Todd Jones, Keeping Track of 300 Million Firearms (Part-1)

"ATF head Jones reflects on agency's outdated technology, system vulnerabilities" PBS Newshour 11/14/2013

Excerpt

JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour):  Now to our newsmaker interview with B. Todd Jones, the new director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives.  The agency, charged with keeping track of the nation's 300 million guns, lacked a permanent head for the last seven years.  Jones was appointed shortly after the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, and he was confirmed in July.

I spoke with him this afternoon at the bureau's headquarters here in Washington.

Director Todd Jones, thank you for talking with us.

B. TODD JONES, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives:  Well, thank you for being here.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  In your confirmation hearings to become the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, you called this an agency in distress.

Others have called it the neglected stepchild of federal law enforcement.  They have called it a bureau under siege.  How do you see it now that you're here?

B. TODD JONES:  I call it a resilient law enforcement agency.

I had the privilege of serving in an acting capacity for two years, which gave me the benefit of getting to know the people, getting to know the organization -- the organization better, and also identifying some immediate actions that we wanted to take.  And it's -- 24 months has gone by really fast.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  The ATF hadn't had a permanent director for seven years before you took the job.  You have a budget that is -- yes, it's grown, but it's not nearly as vast as the budgets of the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency.

It's been pointed out your number of agents smaller than many city municipal police departments, sheriff's departments.  How are you managing?

AMERICA - Missing Guns

"Lost and Loaded? 62,000 Guns 'Missing' from Gun Shops Since 2008" by DEVIN DWYER, ABC News 1/27/2011

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ATF Data Reveals Alarming Gap in Gun Control, Brady Center Says

More than 62,000 guns disappeared from U.S. firearm dealers' inventories in the past three years without any record of being sold, according to a report by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF.

The estimate means, on average, that dealers "lost" 56 firearms a day between 2008 and 2010.

In many cases, the weapons were likely stolen or sold under the table or on the black market, circumventing established registration procedures and background checks, experts said. Without a record of a purchase, the weapons are considered hard to trace.

"No wonder it's so easy for gang members and dangerous people to get guns," said Paul Helmke, president and CEO of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a group favoring stricter gun control. "It's obvious these folks aren't losing inventory -- they're selling it under the table or out the back door, feeding the criminal market."

Helmke said the numbers, first publicized by the Brady Center Wednesday after appearing in a public ATF slideshow presentation at a Las Vegas trade show last week, likely understate the extent of the problem.

The ATF data are based on spot compliance inspections of 20 percent of the more than 60,000 retail gun dealers in the U.S.

"The ATF doesn't have the staffing, the manpower, the money, or the authority to do what it needs to do," Helmke said. "And they haven't had a full time director since 2006."

The ATF, which has approximately 600 inspectors, conducted 10,500 inspections in 2010. Following those inventories, dealers could not account for more than 21,000 guns.

Dealers who improperly complete licensing forms or fail to report multiple handgun sales, among other violations, could face fines or have their retail licenses revoked. Sixty-seven dealers were shut down last year, according to the data.

"We always hear from the other side that Switzerland has lots of guns and they're safe," Helmke said. "But in Switzerland you have to account for them -- individuals even have to account for the number of bullets they have at the end of each month."

Also we need to take into account how Switzerland's militia is organized:

However, the Swiss Militia continues to consist of most of the adult male population (with voluntary participation by women) required to keep an automatic rifle at home and to periodically engage in combat and marksmanship training.