Congressional Hearing Blasts ATF

The criminal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was investigated by Congress in hearings before the Subcommittee on Treasury, Post Office and General Appropriations of the Senate Appropriations Committee in July 1979 and April 1980, and before the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Senate Judiciary Committee in October 1980.

The final report called ATF's tactics "constitutionally, legally, and practically reprehensible" and said there is "little doubt that the Bureau has disregarded rights guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States."

In particular, the report found of the ATF:

• "It has trampled upon the Second Amendment by chilling exercise of the right to keep and bear arms by law abiding citizens."
• "It has offended the Fourth Amendment by unreasonably searching and seizing private property."
• "It has ignored the Fifth Amendment by taking private property without just compensation and by entrapping honest citizens without regard for their right to due process of law."
• "Approximately 75 percent of BATF gun prosecutions were aimed at ordinary citizens who had neither criminal intent nor knowledge."