ATF

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Report Traces Maui Wildfire to a Fallen Power Line

Investigation finds fire was reignited after crews left the site

(Newser) - A federal investigation has pinned the blame for the Hawaii wildfire that killed 102 people in August 2023 on a broken power line. The fire originally was attributed to high winds and dry weather conditions, ABC News reports. But Maui's fire chief said Wednesday that the investigation found the...

New Rule Closes 'Gun Show Loophole'
New Rule Closes
'Gun Show Loophole'
Apr 11, 2024 8:32 AM CDT

New Rule Closes 'Gun Show Loophole'

It means more sellers will have to conduct background checks

(Newser) - Thousands more firearms dealers across the US will have to run background checks on buyers when selling at gun shows or other places outside brick-and-mortar stores, according to a Biden administration rule that will soon go into effect. The rule aims to close what is known as the "gun...

Airport Chief Hurt in Shootout With ATF Agents
Airport Chief
Shot During ATF
Gunfight Dies
UPDATED
Mar 22, 2024 1:30 AM CDT

Airport Chief Shot During ATF Gunfight Dies

It's still not clear what agents were looking for

(Newser) - The Arkansas airport director shot by federal agents who were serving a search warrant on his home early Tuesday has died, the airport announced Thursday. Bryan Malinowski, 53, "was a 16-year employee of the airport," the chair of the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission said in a statement...

Senators Make Gun Arguments During ATF Nominee's Hearing

Agency hasn't had a confirmed head in 7 years

(Newser) - Less than a day after a gunman shot to death 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Texas, a Senate hearing for President Biden’s pick to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reflected the deep political divisions over guns. Steve Dettelbach would be...

ATF: Turn in Your Ex for a 'Valentine's Day Surprise'

'Valentine's Day can still be fun even if you broke up'

(Newser) - ATF doesn't stand for "affection, tenderness, and flowers"—and the agency definitely isn't feeling romantic this Valentine's Day. In a tweet Monday morning, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives urged people to turn in former partners involved in illegally buying and selling guns....

Report: Biden Is Planning a Big Announcement on Guns

Sources say gun control advocate David Chipman will be new ATF director

(Newser) - President Biden has so far failed to deliver on the gun control promises he made as a candidate, but that could be set to change on Thursday. Sources tell Politico that Biden, who had promised to take action on his first day in office, plans to announce a series of...

Multiple People Shot at Minnesota Clinic
5 Employees Shot
at Minnesota Clinic
UPDATED
Feb 9, 2021 4:21 PM CST

5 Employees Shot at Minnesota Clinic

67-year-old man taken into custody

(Newser) - Five employees were shot at a Minnesota health clinic on Tuesday, and a 67-year-old man was taken into custody afterward, police say. The shootings happened at the Allina clinic in Buffalo, a city of about 15,000 people roughly 40 miles northwest of Minneapolis. Authorities say local man Gregory Paul...

The Antique Seller Thought It Was Inert. It Wasn't

WWII-era MK2 grenade killed a Virginia teen in December

(Newser) - A Virginia teen was killed on Dec. 23 when a decades-old hand grenade exploded. The New York Times reports the World War II-era device was thought to have been purchased in June from the Fancy Flea Antique Mall in Shallotte, NC. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives has...

LA Blast Triggers Criminal Investigation

8 firefighters remain hospitalized, 2 in critical condition

(Newser) - Police and fire investigators launched a criminal probe Sunday into the cause of an explosion at a hash oil manufacturer in downtown Los Angeles that sent firefighters running for their lives, the AP reports. Detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department's major crimes division were working with the city...

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal From Gun Groups

Bump stock ban was upheld by lower courts

(Newser) - The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal of the federal ban on bump stocks, devices that allow semi-automatic firearms to fire rapidly like machine guns. The justices did not comment in declining to review a lower court ruling that upheld the ban, which took effect nearly a year ago,...

He Fled the Feds in 2011. He Was Just Found 'Squatting'

Michael Duane Strain, busted on Native American reservation in Montana, was on most wanted list

(Newser) - They thought he was hiding in Minnesota, but they nabbed him in Montana. USA Today reports 62-year-old Michael Duane Strain, one of the 15 most wanted fugitives on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms' list, was busted last week by US Marshals Service deputies on a Native American reservation...

Schumer: ATF Should Probe Dominican Republic Deaths

'We still have a whole lot of questions and very few answers'

(Newser) - The Senate's top Democrat said Sunday that the US government should step up efforts to investigate the deaths of at least eight Americans in the Dominican Republic this year. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives should lend support to the FBI and local law enforcement, said Sen....

One of the 'Biggest Gun Thefts Ever' Is Tracked to Chicago

About 400 guns were taken from a UPS facility in Tennessee, per the ATF

(Newser) - Hundreds of guns that were stolen from a United Parcel Service facility in Tennessee were recovered Tuesday in the Chicago area, federal authorities say. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says most of the roughly 400 guns taken from a UPS facility in Memphis were found in Midlothian,...

FBI Wants Guns Back After Bad Background Checks

The feds issued more than 4000 orders last year to seize guns from those who shouldn't have them

(Newser) - The FBI sent out 4170 requests in 2016 to retrieve guns from people who never should have been able to purchase them, an increase of more than 1000 over the year before. USA Today reports that the FBI sent requests to agents from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms...

Trump Promised to Send the Feds Into Chicago. He Just Did

President tweets 'crime and killings' have reached 'epidemic proportions'

(Newser) - Because of "crime and killings" now at "epidemic proportions," President Trump has sent the feds into Chicago, he tweeted Friday morning. His announcement aligns with previous tweets in which he called the city's murder rate "record setting" and the situation "totally out of control,...

ATF: San Bernardino Rifles Were Legal—at First

Weapons used by San Bernardino shooters altered for more power after purchase

(Newser) - The weapons used by the San Bernardino shooters may have been legally obtained , but that doesn't mean they remained legal under California law. The two .223-caliber semiautomatic weapons and two 9mm pistols said to have been carried by Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik in Wednesday's attack were...

ATF Agents Lured Mentally Disabled as Bait
ATF Agents Lured
Mentally Disabled as Bait
investigation
Dec 8, 2013 3:30 PM CST

ATF Agents Lured Mentally Disabled as Bait

Sting operations generated crime to arrest criminals: report

(Newser) - Is the ATF out of control? In its sting operations, the agency has used mentally disabled teenagers as bait, opened drug- and gun-buying operations near schools and churches, and opened fake pawn shops that apparently spurred thefts and burglaries—including gun thefts from police cars. A lengthy Milwaukee Journal Sentinel...

Meet the ATF's Undercover Hit-Men
 Meet the ATF's 
 Undercover 
 Hit-Men 
in case you missed it
Nov 9, 2013 7:00 PM CST

Meet the ATF's Undercover Hit-Men

These guys agree to kill for pay—then turn around and bust their customers

(Newser) - Looking to hire a hit-man to off that two-timing spouse, jerk boss, or wealthy relative? Of course you aren't, but hypothetically, if you were, you might want to reconsider: Many of those thuggish gents named "Thrash" and "Hammer" who say they can take care of your little...

ATF to Whistle-Blower: You Can't Publish a Book

John Dodson wrote account of Operation Fast and Furious

(Newser) - ATF agent John Dodson blew the whistle on Operation Fast and Furious , in which feds accidentally handed Mexican drug cartels 2,000 guns. Now Dodson's bosses say he can't publish a book on the scandal—though he plans to do so anyway, Fox News reports. Dodson gave the...

ATF Lost $127M in Cigs in Unapproved Stings


 ATF Lost $127M in Cigs 
 in Unapproved Stings 
REPORT SAYS
Sep 26, 2013 7:40 AM CDT

ATF Lost $127M in Cigs in Unapproved Stings

Due to 'serious lack of oversight,' says Justice Department report

(Newser) - Apparently firearms aren't all that go missing over at the ATF: a Justice Department report says feds lost track of some 2.1 million packs of cigarettes, worth $127 million, from at least 20 undercover and unapproved stings between 2005 and 2011, the Washington Post reports. The $162 million...

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