Federal agents in charge of stopping gun trafficking to Mexico have quietly advanced a plan to help stem the smuggling of high-powered AK-47s and AR-15s to the bloody drug war south of the border, says the Washington Post. The controversial proposal by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives calls for a measure strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association: requiring gun dealers to report multiple sales of rifles and shotguns to ATF.
The issue is so incendiary and fear of the NRA so great that the ATF plan languished for months at the Justice Department. The NRA got wind of the idea last month and warned its 4 million members in a “grassroots alert” that the administration might try to go around Congress to get such a plan enacted as an executive order or rule. In the past few days, the plan has gained traction at Justice. Sources fear that if the plan becomes public, the NRA will marshal its forces to kill it. Such is the power of the NRA. With annual revenue of about $250 million, the group has for four decades been the strongest force shaping the nation’s gun laws.