In 1972 the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Division was separated from the Internal Revenue Service by Treasury Department Order No. 120-1 and became its own independent bureau within the Department of Treasury. Prior to that point the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms’ (ATF’s) mission had been shaped by series of major federal legislation acts and regulations relating to alcohol, firearms, and tobacco. These included the National Firearms Act of 1934, the Federal Alcohol Administration Act of 1935, the Federal Firearms Act of 1938, and the 1968 Gun Control Act, in addition to other legislative acts, amendments, and provisions. These acts and regulations provided ATF with authority over the regulation and collection of taxes for the alcoholic beverages, cigarette, and firearms industries and established new categories of criminal offenses involving firearms and explosives under federal jurisdiction. (See ATF n.d.; Vizzard 1997; and http://www.atf.treas.gov/about/history.htm for information on the organizational and legislative history of ATF and its predecessor agencies.)
The Homeland Security Act of 2002, signed by President Bush on November 25, 2002, split the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms into two entities. The newly created Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) remained in the Department of Treasury with responsibility for collecting alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and ammunition excise taxes, and for ensuring that these products are labeled and marketed in accordance with the law (see http://www.ttb.gov/about/index.htm). ATF transferred as a bureau to the Department of Justice and was renamed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The mission of the realigned ATF carried forth the law enforcement component of its predecessor agency including the enforcement of federal criminal laws relating to firearms, explosives, arson, alcohol, and tobacco. In addition ATF retained the regulatory responsibility of the firearms and explosives industries, which include licensing and inspection functions (ATF n.d.). Finally, a provision in the Homeland Security Act titled the Safe Explosives Act (SEA) gave ATF additional responsibilities for regulating explosives. SEA requires all persons obtaining explosives materials to obtain a federal permit issued by the ATF and to be screened by ATF.
Today, ATF’s efforts are organized into three major strategic program areas: (1) firearms, (2) explosives and arson, and (3) alcohol and tobacco diversion (ATF 2005). ATF’s firearms program is designed to (1) enforce federal firearms laws in order to keep firearms away from persons who are prohibited from possessing firearms (felons, underage persons, etc.), and remove violent offenders from communities; (2) monitor and increase compliance with firearms licensing laws and regulations in order to prevent the illegal transfer of firearms; and (3) collaborate with community organizations, local law enforcement, and the firearms industry to implement initiatives to reduce firearms crime.
In pursuit of these objectives ATF assists law enforcement in identifying firearms trafficking patterns and trends and in resolving violent crimes by providing crime gun tracing support, ballistics imaging technology, and advanced firearms investigative techniques. ATF firearms programs, resources, and expertise also support efforts to prevent terrorism and, as part of this function, ATF serves on the National Security Coordinating Committee and assists Joint Terrorism Task Forces throughout the nation. In its firearms regulatory role, ATF oversees compliance with federal policies regarding the production and distribution of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms. As part of ATF’s regulatory firearms program, the agency inspects firearms dealers, monitors the accuracy of dealer records required for tracing, reviews applicants for firearms dealer licenses to ensure they meet legal eligibility requirements, and monitors firearms imported into the United States to ensure they are legally importable and properly marked and recorded by the importer for sale in the United States. Finally, the agency regulates and enforces federal civil penalties and criminal laws relating to firearms production, import sales, transport, use, carrying, and possession (ATF 2005; http://www.atf.gov/fire-arms/index.htm).
ATF’s explosives and arson program is responsible for administering and enforcing the regulatory and crime provisions of federal laws pertaining to explosives and arson (including the Antiarson Act of 1982, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, and the Safe Explosives Act of 2002). As part of this program, the agency also promotes new methods of investigation into fire and explosives-related crime and acts of terrorism. In support of these objectives ATF supports and conducts investigations of bombing, explosions, fire, and other incidents to determine whether they are criminal acts; conducts investigations of missing explosives; shares intelligence with the counterterrorism community; assists and trains federal, state, and local law enforcement in investigation techniques relative to explosives and fires; and promotes standardized reporting practices regarding explosives, bombings, and fires.
In its role as a regulator, ATF screens applicants for licenses in the explosives industry to ensure that prohibited persons, such as felons and potential terrorists, are denied access to explosives; inspects explosive storage facilities; works with holders of federal explosives licenses and permits to ensure proper record keeping and business practices; assists in the enforcement of federal and state regulations governing explosives; and educates relevant actors in the public sector and private industry regarding ATF policies and regulations. Finally, ATF is also charged with fostering innovation in the fire and explosives investigative community (ATF 2005; http://www.atf.gov/explarson/index.htm).
ATF’s alcohol and tobacco diversion program recognizes that the proliferation of large-volume trafficking of alcohol and tobacco products (particularly counterfeit and lawfully manufactured cigarettes) across international borders and in interstate commerce, without the payment of taxes, provides increasing funding and support to traditional organized criminal enterprises and to terrorist organizations. To address these problems, ATF’s alcohol and tobacco diversion program seeks to enforce laws that prohibit the diversion of alcohol and tobacco from legitimate commerce and to provide law enforcement and regulatory agencies with methods to identify trafficking schemes and enterprises.
To support the ATF program of activities, the bureau has developed and/or promoted a broad range of innovative technologies, information and intelligence systems, laboratories, and initiatives. Among the most prominent of these innovations and systems are ATF’s National Laboratory, the U.S. Bomb Center, the Bomb Arson Tracking System (BATS), the National Tracing Center, the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN), and the National Licensing Center (for firearms dealers and manufacturers). In addition, ATF supports a range of national response teams (including rapid response laboratories designed to support examination of evidence at the scene of a fire or explosion) to support law enforcement investigations and respond to firearm, arson, and explosives-related incidents or threats.
