Agency tasked with enforcing Obama's gun control measures has been gutted

Reports show Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms suffers understaffing and
inadequate funding – often brought about by legislation backed by the gun lobby

Lauren Gambino in New York
Wednesday 6 January 2016 22.01 GMT

The beleaguered federal agency charged with bringing to life much of President Obama’s new roster of gun controls faces an uphill task to deliver meaningful change.

At the heart of the president’s executive action was a proposal to reinforce the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) with 200 new agents and investigators.

But even in the unlikely event Congress approves funding for the new hires, the extra staff would be just enough to keep pace with the number of veteran agents who are eligible or almost eligible for retirement, according to attrition estimates from a 2014 government report. And the personnel concerns are just one of the longstanding challenges the agency faces.

For decades, restraints, inadequate funding, impotent leadership and a lack of political constituency have stymied the agency from carrying out its core mission. Two years ago, a review by the Government Accountability Office found the agency lacked the resources needed to adequately track the outcomes of thousands of investigations involving improperly purchased firearms despite such cases being a “top priority”.

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