Gun Lobby Suffers Rare Setback in Fight to Sell Weapons to Drug Cartels
Monday, January 23, 2012
(photo: Del Rio News-Herald)
Gun-rights advocates have lost their legal challenge in federal court to stop the Obama administration from requiring certain gun dealers along the Mexican border to report multiple sales of assault rifles.
Beginning last July, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) implemented a new policy mandating that 8,500 gun sellers in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas inform federal officials whenever someone purchases more than one semiautomatic rifle within five business days. The rule was aimed at identifying potential sales to Mexican drug cartels.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation sued ATF to halt the requirement, claiming the agency has exceeded its authority.
But Judge Rosemary Collyer disagreed with the plaintiffs and ruled that the reporting requirement was "reasonable" in light of evidence that "certain powerful long guns are weapons of choice of Mexican drug cartels" and "multiple sales of such guns is a strong indicator of gun trafficking."
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Gun Industry Suffers Stinging Defeat in Court (by Denis Henigan, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence)
Federal Judge Rejects Challenge To Gun Dealer Rules (by Del Quentin Wilber, Washington Post)
The National Shooting Sports Foundation v. ATF (U.S. District Court, District of Columbia) (pdf)
Drug Cartels Love Houston Gun Shops (by David Wallechinsky and Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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