Reno Gazette-Journal

It is an article of faith among many opponents of additional restrictions on gun ownership that the U.S. “doesn’t need new gun laws; it only needs to enforce the ones we’ve already have.”

For the past year, the difficulties of enforcing the nation’s gun laws have been on full display in the Truckee Meadows, where a dispute between the Reno office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Office of the U.S. Attorney has decimated the ATF forces and left local law enforcement agencies scrambling to pick up the slack.

The troubles of the Reno ATF office are evidence of an agency badly in need of strong leadership, so it’s ironic that some of the same members of Congress who have blocked any new gun measures also have blocked the appointment of a permanent director for the agency for nearly seven years now.

To read more click here.

A tiff between the ATF and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Reno has left crime-stopping teams without the proper equipment to conduct undercover gun operations and gun buyback programs in northern Nevada, the Reno Gazette Journal reports.

Since ATF agents left the Nevada office, local and regional police have been unable to access surveillance equipment, federal wiretaps and money for gun buybacks.

“Not having an active ATF office has impacted our ability to conduct gun investigations because we don’t have the resources or manpower to do them safely,” said Sgt. Scott Tracy, head of the Sparks Police Department’s Crime Suppression Unit. “And the operations the feds were doing — they were taking illegal guns off the streets.”

The ATF largely abandoned its Nevada post after Assistant U.S. Attorney Sue Fahami sad in September 2011 that her office would not prosecute anymore cases until unnamed issues were resolved.

“The whole thing was a travesty,” said Reno Police Lt. Scott Dugan, head of his department’s Street Enforcement Team. “Losing that expertise has had a great impact.”

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Reno Gazette-Journal

The ongoing dispute between the Reno offices of the U.S. Attorney and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — a dispute that should have been resolved months ago in the interest of effective law enforcement — has gone from the absurd to the downright dangerous.

The rift, more than a year old, already has resulted in the near decimation of the Reno ATF office, with five of six agents transferring to other offices, the Reno Gazette-Journal’s Martha Bellisle has reported, when the U.S. Attorney’s office refused to prosecute cases prepared by the ATF. In at least one case, the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office has stepped in to prosecute.

On Sunday, Bellisle reported the ATF is no longer picking up weapons purchased by nearly three dozen people who failed to pass a background check required by federal law. The ATF doesn’t have sufficient personnel to meet its most basic responsibilities, leaving guns in the hands of people who aren’t allowed to have them, most often because they’ve been convicted of felonies.

To read more click here.

Sen. Grassley/official photo

Three members of Congress are increasingly putting pressure on Attorney General Eric Holder to explain the U.S. Attorney’s  dysfunctional relationship with the Reno-based ATF office, Main Justice reports.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nevada has refused to prosecute ATF cases in the Reno office, leaving as many as a dozen cases untouched..

“The Justice Department has yet to respond to any of Congress’ questions about what happened in Reno for more than a year,” Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a a statement. “It’s an abdication of responsibility on the part of the Justice Department, and if these crimes weren’t prosecuted, whether because of actions of the U.S. Attorney or the ATF, the people of Nevada should know why.”

Two Nevada lawmakers joined the call for answers.

The cause of the strained relationship remains unclear, but agents have virtually abandoned the Reno, according Main Justice.

atf file photo

The FBI and DEA have stepped in to help investigate weapons cases after federal prosecutors in Nevada stopped working with the ATF, the Reno Gazette-Journal reports.

But the newspaper said neither agency is probing firearm sales or trafficking cases, leaving the state with little protection.

Gun data obtained by the Gazette-Journal shows that fewer illegal firearms were recovered last year.

In an unusual move, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Reno said it would not prosecute ATF cases until unidentified problems are resolved.

So ATF agents left the Reno office because they couldn’t get cases prosecuted, the Gazette-Journal reported.

U.S. Attorney Dan Bogden

The Reno-Gazette Journal reports that the U.S. Attorney there have refused for nearly the past year to take any case submitted by ATF.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the dispute has forced the transfer of four full-time agents from the Reno, according to the paper.

The paper reported that a Sept. 29, 2011 directive from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said :”We are not accepting any cases submitted by your office.”

The paper said the assistant U.S. Attorney and the U.S. Attorney Dan Bogden did not respond for comment.

To read more click here. 

U.S. Attorney Dan Bogden

The Reno-Gazette Journal reports that the U.S. Attorney there have refused for nearly the past year to take any case submitted by ATF.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the dispute has forced the transfer of four full-time agents from the Reno, according to the paper.

The paper reported that a Sept. 29, 2011 directive from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said :”We are not accepting any cases submitted by your office.”

The paper said the assistant U.S. Attorney and the U.S. Attorney Dan Bogden did not respond for comment.

To read more click here. 

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Judge Jack Camp/daily report

A 67-year-old federal judge jailed after a crime spree involving drugs, guns and a prostitute was freed Monday after serving just three weeks.

Judge Jack T. Camp, Jr, a Ronald Reagan appointee, agreed to a plea deal, but many in the legal community believe Camp got off easy.  The fallen Georgia judge received 30 days, but he got credit for the initial time he spent in the county jail.

“Bringing a gun to a drug deal would have gotten anyone else a mandatory five years in prison,” said Atlanta defense attorney Marcia Shein.

The married father of two grown children went astray a year ago after receiving a lap dance from Sherry Ann Ramos, a stripper who worked at the Goldrush strip club in Atlanta.

To read the full story click here.