That Smell at the ATF Is More Than Gunpowder

A month ago, the White House said that a “rogue operation” within the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms played a big role in the staggering number of assault weapons imported with the approval of the agency over the past year. The reality might be far worse. It now appears that the ATF’s penchant for rubber-stamping assault weapon permits is long-standing and practically institutional in nature. Some sort of housecleaning at the ATF is in order.

The evidence of laxity predates the 1994 federal assault weapons law, pressed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), that banned certain types of the weapons and generally prohibited some military-style features.

A 1989 report obtained by Times reporters revealed the agency’s then-restrictive interpretation of federal law. The document said foreign firearms must be limited to “sporting purposes only,” that sporting weapons do not have assault weapon characteristics and that those characteristics could be grounds for rejecting permits.

It turns out that the ATF has ignored these standards. The agency has approved copycat weapons for import that have more killing power than the banned assault rifles that they mirror in all but a few design details.

Moreover, the federal agency appears to have provided technical advice to would-be importers on how to meet the requirements of the 1994 law without affecting the firepower of the weapons. This overly friendly relationship is shown in a January 1997 letter (obtained by The Times) to gun importers from the head of the ATF’s import branch for firearms. The official writes, “One of the main goals of this branch is to find ways we can improve the level of service we provide to you, our customers.” Just what is going on here?

Part of the problem may be that Washington has had to make do with a law that deep-sixed specific assault weapons, such as the AR-15 and the Belgian FN-FAL, without fully banning weapons in the distinctive AR-15 or FN-FAL style. That was the fault of a heavily lobbied Congress that left the law with many loopholes.

However, it seems that the ATF itself must answer for what appears to be an ingrained leniency that may have turned a serious anti-assault weapons law into little more than an inside joke. Not so funny for the many Americans killed by assault weapons each year.