Take over the ATF?

[AZRedhawk44]

Has anyone ever considered waging a grass-roots campaign to get GOOD people to outweigh bad people in the ATF, and replace the culture there with law-abiding men and women of good character?


I no longer accept the "not everyone is bad" excuse that often gets floated.  That place is rotten to the core.  Anyone that isn't corrupt... isn't corrupt YET.

Something like:
-Gun stores actively work to get their customers interested in working for ATF (post ATF job openings at a clearly visible place)
-NRA scholarships for Jr competitive shooters that work in Federal law enforcement, especially the ATF
-A blatant marketing campaign to demean current ATF employees and call for change-over
-Cato/SAF/NRA-ILA scholarships for lawyers who choose to work for ATF/FBI/DEA
-well respected gunsmiths working in the Technology Branch


Imagine if the ATF were fully infiltrated by 2A advocates.  Really.  Imagine it.  We'd finally get:
-admission that the MG registry is flawed and inaccurate
-procedural integrity in the technology branch
-no more BS make-work prosecutions of nonviolent folks
-A much more respectful stance towards gun shows and private party sales
-No more institutionalized push to creep on civil liberties



What would it take to make this a reality?

[Tallpine]

What would it take to make this a reality?

A unicorn ?   

[Fitz]

Never gonna happen. There's too much systemic corruption

[wmenorr67]

^^^^^^^
This along with the fact it being a "Good Ole Boys Club."

Not what you know but who you know and blow.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

New guys have no authority to do anything, certainly not to make law. It would take at least a decade for the most successful guy to have any impact, IMO.
A quick check on the ATF page shows that they're hiring for only two positions - and both are budget-related. You need significant turnover to get enough people in to make a difference. You can't infiltrate places that aren't hiring. You don't need 50% of the agency to believe pro-2A, just a small group - maybe 5% of very intelligent people who have the wherewithal to climb the ranks and get to a position to make policy changes.

[wmenorr67]

Don't forget even the most loyal subject to 2A can only go as far as the law allows that Congress enacts.  That is where we can make changes.  We need to start getting people that are pro 2A more involved and begin to make it a bigger issue than it is.

[brimic]

I'm betting that there is psychological testing done before hiring.
Things like the willingness to follow orders is likely to rate high.
Being an outright sociopath is probably a bonus as well.

[dogmush]

^^^^^^^
This along with the fact it being a "Good Ole Boys Club."

Not what you know but who you know and blow.

Having held two different fed.gov civilian positions, and just having applied for another......this.  You don't get a fed.gov job unless: 1 The Selecting Official knows you 2.) you're a disabled vet and there's no one the SO knows on the list, or 3.) there's no one the SO knows on the list and your last name begins with "A".  It really is pretty fixed.

And DOJ is worse about it then DOD from what I've heard.

[Gowen]

So, it's going to take electing a conservative President, nominating a pro 2nd director willing to have a massive blood letting in firing 90%+ of the staff and agents....  I think that pigs flying and Soros supporting conservative causes would be more likely to happen first.  Scrap the dept!

[longeyes]

Has anyone ever considered waging a grass-roots campaign to get GOOD people to outweigh bad people in the ATF government, and replace the culture there with law-abiding men and women of good character?

What would it take to make this a reality?

This is a good question but not really a political question.  In my view it would take a culture in which honor and virtue and responsibility were inculcated from the cradle.  We still have that culture in America, but it is now a sub-culture and unlikely to ever again become the predominant culture of current America given popular values and shifting demographics.  This sub-culture might form the basis of a new, smaller America here or somewhere else.  It will take nothing less than some form of Great Awakening, if it happens at all.

[MicroBalrog]

Abolishing the BATF is a bad idea - because abolishing BATFE does not equal abolishing NFA. You'll just waste effort and shift enforcement elsewhere.

[freakazoid]

It should be abolished, not toned down to a friendlier ATF.

[MicroBalrog]

A genuinely pro-gun person would never work for BATFE.

[Boomhauer]

You don't get a fed.gov job unless: 1 The Selecting Official knows you 2.) you're a disabled vet and there's no one the SO knows on the list, or 3.) there's no one the SO knows on the list and your last name begins with "A".

He's got it.

There are probably ATF jobs open that aren't posted where you can get to them, too. We were required to post the jobs for the NPS online...but our administrators made sure to hide them so no one could find them through the normal USAJobs search.

[longeyes]

The ATF is about guns, not about criminals; therein lies the rub.  It needs to justify its existence as an entity separate from standard law enforcement.

[stevelyn]

A genuinely pro-gun person would never work for BATFE.

A genuinely pro-gun person or a person with integrity would never work for the BATFEces.

[BobR]

What would it take to make this a reality?

A unicorn ?   

Actually, you only need the pixie dust from ground unicorn horns. 

bob

[griz]

Occupy ATF