POLITICS - Red's Trading Post Settlement?

[Hobie]

Apparently there's a possibility of a settlement in the Red's Trading Post case...

[Old Time Hunter]

Certainly hope that Ryan did not have to "sell" out in any way. From what the Asst. Dist Atty, Fergie implies, the ATF has the final say... My question, who in God's green earth gave them the power? I know that I did not vote to have 'em around.

[sore shoulder]

Not holding my breath. Also, the ATF has made agreements with Ryan in the past. Agreements they did not keep.

[JimT]

My question, who in God's green earth gave them the power? I know that I did not vote to have 'em around.

If you voted for a Republican or a Democrat President, Congressman or Representative you did.

****

Organizational history

The ATF was formerly part of the United States Department of the Treasury, having been formed in 1886 as the "Revenue Laboratory" within the Treasury Department's Bureau of Internal Revenue. The history of ATF can be subsequently traced to the time of the revenuers or "revenoors" and the Bureau of Prohibition, which was formed as a unit of the Bureau of Internal Revenue in 1920, was made an independent agency within the Treasury Department in 1927, was transferred to the Justice Department in 1930, and became, briefly, a subordinate division of the FBI in 1933.

When the Volstead Act was repealed in December 1933, the Unit was transferred from the Department of Justice back to the Department of the Treasury where it became the Alcohol Tax Unit of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Special Agent Eliot Ness and several members of "Untouchables", who had worked for the Prohibition Bureau while the Volstead Act was still in force, were transferred to the ATU. In 1942, responsibility for enforcing federal firearms laws was given to the ATU.

In the early 1950s, the name of the Bureau of Internal Revenue was changed to "Internal Revenue Service" (IRS), and the ATU was given the additional responsibility of enforcing federal tobacco tax laws. At this time, the name of the ATU was changed to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division (ATTD).

In 1968, with the passage of the Gun Control Act, the agency changed its name again, this time to the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Division of the IRS and first began to be referred to by the initials "ATF." In 1972, President Richard Nixon signed an Executive Order creating a separate Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms within the Treasury Department. Rex D. Davis oversaw the transition, becoming the bureau's first director, having headed the division since 1970. During his tenure, Davis shepherded the organization into a premier agency targeting political terrorists and organized crime.

In the wake of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush signed into law the Homeland Security Act of 2002. In addition to creating of the Department of Homeland Security, the law shifted ATF (and its investigative and regulatory inspection functions) from the Treasury Department to the Justice Department. The agency's name was changed to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. However, the agency still was referred to as the "ATF" for all purposes. Additionally, the task of collection of federal tax revenue derived from the production of tobacco and liquor products originally handled by ATF was transferred to the newly established Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), which remained within the Treasury Department. These changes took effect January 24, 2003.


from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_ ... d_Firearms