Gun Control – ATF Style
By Roger Fulton, Ph.D.
Captain, NY State Police, (Ret.)

 Sometime ago I had ordered a new shotgun from a local gun store in rural Northern New York near the Canadian Border. Here are some of the yes and no questions I had to answer on an ATF form, or I couldn't pick up my new gun. Note these are questions from the actual form I had to fill out. I've shortened them a bit, but you'll get the picture: 

They should add a couple more:

Are you so stupid that you answered any of the above questions wrong, so you don't get a gun?

Are you an alien from another planet? 

So ATF wasted my time on this silly form, the gun dealer’s time on this silly form, and some low level clerk’s time at ATF to read this silly form. Apparently ATF has too much time on their hands, and too many lawyers, if they put out a silly form such as this. They would also be very naïve to think that this silliness deters any serious criminals, virtually all of whom buy their guns on the streets. 

My very serious message to the Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, (ATF) is, “Go out and do some REAL gun control on the streets and back alleys of America to protect law abiding Americans from criminals and terrorists, and leave the good guys alone.” 

When I first entered law enforcement, more than 30 years ago, an old time officer told me, “Kid, if you can’t tell the good guys from the bad guys, you shouldn’t be in police work.” 

Clearly ATF is having trouble with that determination. 

The actual form and questions can be viewed here (Webmaster note: this is a 1.6 MB download in Adobe Acrobat format.  You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader software to view it.  If you do not have this software installed on your computer, you can obtain it by clicking here.  It is a free download).