Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

BATFE "Air Force" Grounded Again

Friday, March 27, 2015

BATFE "Air Force" Grounded Again

Everyone likes the song that begins “Off we go, into the wild blue yonder.” Maybe the BATFE likes it a little too much.

Days after the BATFE had its ears trimmed by Congress after trying to ban M855 ammunition, a D.O.J. Inspector General audit has revealed that over the last few years, the agency spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars trying to achieve one of its long held ambitions, a private air force, of sorts.

Long held, indeed. In 1995, a mere two years after the then-BATF’s deadly debacle in Waco, Texas, the agency acquired 22 OV-10 “Bronco” warplanes from the military. Though designed to carry machine guns, missiles, rockets, and bombs, nine of the planes in the BATF’s squadron were “being used for surveillance and photography,” while the rest were for spare parts, the agency said.

The following year, NRA learned that the military had transferred the warplanes to the BATF through a dummy salvage corporation and a fictitious outfit called American Warbirds, Inc., which had offices in an unmarked building occupied by the BATF near Washington, D.C.

Why the BATF needed the sneakily-acquired aircraft, equipped with Forward-Looking Infrared television and ground-mapping radar, was never made clear. In any case, the OV-10s, reportedly, were eventually transferred to the Department of State, ending the agency’s airborne dreams.

Or so we thought at the time.

The recent audit found that “between September 2011 and September 2012, ATF’s UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) program spent approximately $600,000 to purchase three different types of rotary-wing UAS with a total of six UAS vehicles.”

Supposedly, the BATFE never used the drones in law enforcement investigations, because they suffered “mechanical and technical problems significant enough to render them unsuitable for deployment on ATF operations.” In 2014, the BATFE’s Special Operations Division, which is responsible for undercover operations security and specialized deployments, suspended the drone program. The agency’s expensive toys were thereafter given to the Navy.

However, the audit determined, “less than a week after ATF suspended its original UAS program, an ATF unit, the National Response Team (NRT), purchased five small commercial UAS for about $15,000” to “help document fire and explosion scenes.” Those drones, too, have been grounded until the NRT receives “further guidance regarding their use.”

Additional details about the audit’s findings were reported by the Washington Examiner on Wednesday. On the heels of having its funding called into question over the M855 episode, the revelation of BATFE’s waste of Americans’ money on drones that--perhaps thankfully--didn’t work, cannot bode well for the nation’s most chronically problematic law enforcement agency.

TRENDING NOW
VA Tells Congressional Panel it “Could Not” and “Would Not” Comply with Pro-gun Legislation

News  

Monday, July 15, 2024

VA Tells Congressional Panel it “Could Not” and “Would Not” Comply with Pro-gun Legislation

Last Wednesday, the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs of the House Veterans Affairs Committee held a legislative hearing on a number of proposed bills that would change various procedures and standards for how the Department ...

NRA Applauds President Trump’s Selection of Senator J.D. Vance as His Running Mate

News  

Second Amendment  

Monday, July 15, 2024

NRA Applauds President Trump’s Selection of Senator J.D. Vance as His Running Mate

Following President Donald J. Trump’s announcement of his selection of U.S. Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate, the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) released the below statements.

New Hampshire: Critical Pro-Gun Privacy Bill Signed Into Law

Friday, July 12, 2024

New Hampshire: Critical Pro-Gun Privacy Bill Signed Into Law

On Friday, July 12th, Governor Chris Sununu (R-New Hampshire) signed HB 1186, "an act relative to firearm purchaser's privacy."

NRA Scores Legal Victory Against ATF; “Pistol Brace Rule” Enjoined From Going Into Effect Against NRA Members

Monday, April 1, 2024

NRA Scores Legal Victory Against ATF; “Pistol Brace Rule” Enjoined From Going Into Effect Against NRA Members

NRA Members Among the Largest Class Protected from Draconian Rule

NRA’s Political Victory Fund Endorses President Donald J. Trump

News  

Saturday, May 18, 2024

NRA’s Political Victory Fund Endorses President Donald J. Trump

Today, the National Rifle Association's Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) is honored to announce its full endorsement of President Donald J. Trump for re-election to a second term as President of the United States of America. ...

New Orleans Tries an End-run around Constitutional Carry

News  

Monday, July 8, 2024

New Orleans Tries an End-run around Constitutional Carry

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry (R) assumed office on January 8 of this year and wasted no time working to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Louisianans. 

The UN’s Circle of Life

News  

Monday, July 8, 2024

The UN’s Circle of Life

The United Nation’s Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat, and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons In All Its Aspects (PoA) is now almost 23 years old.

NRA Proven Right Again: Surgeon General Vivek Murthy Outs Himself as an Anti-Gun Hack

News  

Monday, July 1, 2024

NRA Proven Right Again: Surgeon General Vivek Murthy Outs Himself as an Anti-Gun Hack

There was a LOT of vindication going around last week for those opposed to the Biden cabal and the ongoing deceptions it has perpetrated (in collusion with the legacy media) against the American public. 

Crime Prevention Research Center: Carry Laws Don’t Increase Gun Theft, Decrease Police Effectiveness

News  

Monday, July 8, 2024

Crime Prevention Research Center: Carry Laws Don’t Increase Gun Theft, Decrease Police Effectiveness

Gun-control groups campaign against right-to-carry laws by claiming that guns carried in public pose a substantial threat to public safety, and that concealed carry permitting laws lead to more violent crime, not less.

Pennsylvania: Gun Control Bills Defeated in the Pennsylvania House

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Pennsylvania: Gun Control Bills Defeated in the Pennsylvania House

On Tuesday, two gun control measures, House Bill 335 and House Bill 2206, failed by the slimmest of margins in the Pennsylvania House. 

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.