It's time to crack down on those dangerous arms dealers and (potentially) criminal gun owners [View All]

[TPaine7]

Reporting from Washington— Firearms from the ATF's Operation Fast and Furious weapons trafficking investigation turned up at the scenes of at least 11 violent crimes in the U.S., as well as at a Border Patrol agent's slaying in southern Arizona last year, the Justice Department has acknowledged to Congress.

The department did not provide details about the crimes. But The Times has learned that they occurred in several Arizona cities, including Phoenix, where Fast and Furious was managed, as well as in El Paso, where a total of 42 weapons from the operation were seized at two crime scenes.

The new numbers, which expand the scope of the danger the program posed to U.S. citizens over a 14-month period, are contained in a letter that Justice Department officials turned over to the Senate Judiciary Committee last month.

In the letter, obtained by The Times on Tuesday, Justice Department officials also reported that Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives officials advised them that the agency's acting director, Kenneth E. Melson, "likely became aware" of the operation as early as December 2009, a month after it began.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-atf-guns-20110817,0,7742514.story

It is vitally important to increase controls on arms dealers--who tried in vain to get the ATF to change course--and law abiding gun owners--who weren't involved at all. The ATF and Justice Department and whoever gave the orders, however, deserve our full support and respect.

After all, if your neighbor committed a serious crime, you would expect to be placed under police surveillance, right? And you wouldn't be surprised if your neighbor was deputized to serve on the surveillance team, would you?