Despite the relative success of Operation Gun Runner (as noted in the above) and despite the reckless and serious flawed Operation Fast and Furious, here is the problem that still exists, in the words of ATF officials:
Quote:
Special Agent Peter Forcelli, a senior ATF group supervisor in the Phoenix Field Division, stated that the typical sentence for illegal straw purchases is probation. He also stated that suspects have little incentive to cooperate with investigators or “flip” on higher-level cartel members...
Special Agent Forcelli testified that existing laws were “toothless.” He added: “Some people view this as no more consequential than doing 65 in a 55.” He added: “for somebody to testify against members of a cartel where the alternative is seeing a probation officer once a month, they’re going to opt toward, you know, not cooperating with the law enforcement authorities.”
Special Agent Lee Casa, an ATF field agent with over 20 years of experience, stated that the current practice of charging straw purchases for merely lying on purchase forms was ineffective: “I would say generally speaking there is not a lot of bite in the 924(a)(1)(A) statute as far as penalties and time, time that would be served.”
Multiple law enforcement agents who appeared before the Committee stated that their efforts to combat international drug cartels would be strengthened through the enactment of a federal statute specifically designed to criminalize the trafficking of firearms. Currently, there is no federal statute that specifically prohibits firearms trafficking. Instead, prosecutors attempt to charge traffickers with “paperwork violations,” such as dealing in firearms without a license.
Special Agent Casa reiterated this view during his transcribed interview. He stated: “There is really no trafficking, firearms trafficking statute, per se. It would be nice to have a trafficking statute per se or to enhance some of the penalties on even, on the straw purchasers, just to be a deterrent effect … so we can really hammer these people and just put them in jail.”
During the Committee’s hearing on June 15, Chairman Issa interrupted Committee Members who were asking questions of the law enforcement agents that he invited to testify. In particular, Chairman Issa objected to any questions about whether the nation’s gun laws could be improved to assist these law enforcement agents in their efforts to counter drug violence and firearms trafficking by Mexican drug cartels.
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-s...ort_063011.pdf
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Like Issa, Mercenary evidently has no interest in having the investigation examine the gun trafficking problem in a manner that night result in actions that could be more effective in stopping the flow of guns across the border.