New figures from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) highlighted distinct changes in the embattled agency.
According to Fox News, federal agents grabbed over 36,000 illegal weapons off the streets in the first year of the second Donald Trump administration.
That’s in addition to over 2.3 million rounds of ammunition seized. The agency noted that 4,359 guns and more than 648,000 rounds of ammunition confiscated by federal agents were bound for Mexico.
ATF agents intercept weapons trafficked by gangs and cartels
The ATF previously endured a storm of criticism over policies that were obviously antagonistic toward the firearm industry as well as private gun owners. But it’s a new day, and Deputy Director Robert Cekada said in a statement that his agents fight threats to public safety.
“Illegal crime guns increasingly originate from every state in the country,” Cekada explained. “This is not a southwest border problem; it is a national threat. ATF agents are aggressively targeting gangs, cartels, and transnational criminal organizations that illegally traffic firearms and turn American streets into war zones.”
Many seized weapons are returned to their rightful owners
Cekada added that his department, which remains under pressure from gun rights advocates to correct past injustices, is battling to eradicate criminal organizations. “We will dismantle these networks at every level, cut off their access to weapons, and hold every criminal fully accountable under the law.”
The announcement highlighted federal efforts to combat the scourge of gang violence and drug-related activities arising from both homegrown and imported organizations.
These recovered guns are often returned to their rightful and grateful owners or destroyed.
Mexican officials recently lost a brazen attempt to blame the American firearms industry for their well-chronicled internal issues, but the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously tossed the lawsuit aside.
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