Atf

On April 16, 2007, a 23-year-old student from Virginia Tech shot and killed 32 fellow students and teachers on a rampage that made U.S. history. The weapons of his choice were a Glock 19 semi-automatic pistol and a Walther P22 semi-automatic pistol that he purchased legally from gun dealers. He then later purchased 10-round magazines from gun accessory dealers on eBay. This may not seem important but, the shooter was diagnosed as mentally ill and he still was approved to purchase guns. This incident is an issue because this shows that any other person that has mental issues will be allowed to purchase firearms and if they have mental issues to begin with they are capable of anything. The bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) specializes in regulating issues like the Virginia Tech shooting and the Columbine shooting. The ATF is a government agency that deals with the taxation of firearms and alcohol and the illegal usage of firearms and explosives. The ATF has been around since 1886 but they were known as The Revenue Laboratory and they mainly focused on taxation of alcohol and tobacco. With time and new issues arising the ATF adapted and eventually became the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that we know now. The role that the ATF plays has also changed since it was first created. Instead of dealing with the illegal selling and distribution of alcohol and tobacco they now deal with terrorism also. Without the ATF there would not be any rules or regulations regarding the use of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms. They also have programs that try to reduce gun violence in communities. The ATF investigates previous issues that involve gun violence and from there they analyze what regulation or rule can be created to prevent the same issue from occurring. As time goes on and new incidents occur that is when the ATF comes in and figures out a way to prevent the same incident from occurring again. The Virginia Tech massacre is going to bring another reason why the ATF needs to regulate.

Since guns were invented there have always been gun violence. There are many examples that show gun violence since the early days. Two men angry at each other will resolve to the easy method of solving a problem and that is to shoot them. Society has a big effect in how people in the U.S. resort to shooting. All the wars promote gun violence and the government in certain ways makes shooting the American thing to do. This is why the ATF was created, so people will not get trigger-happy. The ATF tries to prevent gun violence by setting regulations on owning a gun and regulations on when using the gun. The agency created regulations like not allowing criminals to own guns legally or ex-offenders and not being allowed to carry a firearm with the person at all times, unless allowed by the government (Moore 93). Due to people dying from the illegal usage of firearms the ATF was created and given the authority to set rules and regulations to prevent illegal issues from happening.

Congress could not let their country kill themselves with illegal use of firearms so this is the reason they decided to create rules and regulations for the use of firearms. The economy would not function if citizens could legally walk around with firearms. If there were to be a confrontation the end result will be someone getting shot. Then society will be in fear and then chaos will happen. In a recent movie, The Lord of War, there are some examples of how some countries live in complete chaos due too everyone carrying around guns and having no regulations on firearms. Regulating the ownership and usage of firearms allows for a strong economy and safer streets.

The ATF reduces gun violence by investigating illegal gun activity and by doing that they are trying to keep illegal firearms out of the hands of people that are capable of killing innocent people. This is where the social part of regulation comes along. People would live in fear if everyone carried around a gun with them. When people get that kind of power, some tend to abuse that power. In this world people tend to believe that some things can be considered right and some of these actions are in reality unethical. An example of this is the Oklahoma bombing. The bomber thought what he was doing was right and he needed to do what he did. The ATF tries to reduce incidents like this that involve arson or explosives. The ATF does not only deal with firearms and explosives though. The ATF is also responsible in making sure alcohol and cigarette companies stay on the level. In 1999 the ATF made an argument to try and prevent wine companies from putting health claims on their labels without knowing detailed facts about the health claims (Skrzycki 128-131).

The mission statement of the ATF states, "dedicated to preventing terrorism, reducing violent crime and protecting out nation", and this is the main problem that the ATF is trying to solve (ATF 1). From these three problems they break down into smaller problems that branch out. They regulate industries to make sure they are in the level when they distribute items such as firearms and explosives. The ATF also regulates the U.S. military and makes sure that they are not conducting illegal activity or trying to use certain weapons that are uncalled for. The ATF also looks into commercials and advertising to make sure that certain industries do not break any rules. An example of this situation is the cigarette companies advertising on TV. The cigarette issue has been a problem for years now and what the ATF is trying to prevent is the big companies from advertising to little kids. Same with firearm companies and alcohol companies, the ATF is trying to prevent them from making people believe that they need these products. Like the mission statement pointed out, the ATFs main purpose is to reduce violent crimes, reduce terrorism, and mainly of all protecting our nation.

It was once said; "Evil prevails when good men fail to act", and I think that the ATF falls into this quote. They are the good men who act on evil. They set rules and regulations so that we can keep society at a peaceful level. The ATF cannot stop everyone from doing wrong but they can try or at least try and make it more difficult for people to commit violent crimes (Moore 92). Violent people are the ones that give the ATF justification to place rules and regulation on the public. They are the peacemakers for the nation between us. They protect us from people that decided to choose an evil route of life or just choose to take the easy way out. For these cases the ATF create regulations like, people cannot own a gun without legit papers and a proper background check. To buy a gun, a person will need to wait until a background check is done and is approved (Jacobs, Potter 84). From there the person buying the gun will need to carry the papers with the gun