To justify its diabolical existence, the ATF has recently gone on the offensive against so-called “straw purchases”, when a person purchases a firearm for another individual. To address this perceived problem, the ATF has shown up at gun owners’ houses and inquired about their most recent purchases.
Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms has observed that the corporate press has ignored these incidents. Nevertheless, there are elected officials such as Iowa Senator Joni Ernst who are demanding answers from the ATF. Ernst recently grilled Attorney General Merrick Garland for the ATF’s “knock and talks” campaign.
“Several reports and videos have surfaced detailing ATF agents engaging in ‘knock and talk’ investigations of straw purchases,” Ernst said in a letter that Fox News Digital was able to obtain. “During the course of these ‘knock and talk’ investigations, ATF agents knock on the front door of a private residence and ask the resident to display a recently purchased firearm as proof that the resident did not conduct a straw purchase. In all of the ‘knock and talk’ incidents brought to my attention, none involved the presentation of a warrant.”
According to Ernst, ATF agents come to people’s houses decked in full military gear, often donning bulletproof vests.
“The combination of these factors calls into question whether the ATF’s actions are meant to harass or coerce firearm purchasers into, at best, legally questionable ‘investigations,’” Ernst added.
In the letter, Ernst urged Garland to provide information about these home visits, in addition to the number of investigations that the ATF has carried out since the “knock and talks” were dialed up in July.
Ernst is curious to know about ATF agents’ procedures, specifically if they’re obtaining a search warrant before appearing at recent gun buyers’ homes. Edwards observed that Ernst also wants to know about “the process by which agents determine that there is probable cause to go out and pay someone an in-person visit.” According to the FOX News report, the simple act of buying multiple guns in a relatively short time window could potentially trigger an ATF investigation.
Hopefully, Ernst gets some answers. That said, gun owners have to press the envelope. For one, the ATF is an illegitimate organization that cannot be negotiated with. That means gun owners must mobilize to defund and eventually abolish it. Expecting the ATF to change its ways by asking pointed questions is the height of naivete.
Instead, we must get people elected who are willing to go to war with the ATF. The days of playing nice with the ATF are over.
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