ATF Operation Castaway Could Be Florida's Fast and Furious Scandal

When Barack Obama promised Sarah Brady he was pursuing gun control "under the radar," maybe he really meant it. The new controversy surrounds the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives' Operation Castaway.

Operation Castaway is the program that led to the arrest of, gun dealer, Hugh Crumpler III. He has been charged for his part in a weapons smuggling operation from Florida to Central America. Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R) is asking, Attorney General, Eric Holder and, ATF Acting Director, Kenneth Melson questions about the full nature of the ATF's Operation Castaway, specifically about the involvement of the ATF's Tampa Field Division.

The ATF is already denying any wrongdoing in the program. The ATF is claiming Operation Castaway was nothing like the botched Fast and Furious program that had ATF personnel allowing and encouraging weapons to flow from gun stores in the United States and into the hands of Mexican gangs. The problem is how do we trust the ATF? We already caught them allowing the smuggling of weapons to Mexico. How can we now be expected to believe the ATF would not also allow weapons to be smuggled into Central America?

How many more programs like this have been going on? Has our federal government had a secret policy of allowing weapons to illegally fall into the hands of dangerous criminals? If so, what is the motivation? The only obvious answer is that ATF is attempting to build a case for more gun laws in the United States, especially with regard to the sale of assault weapons.

Obama Lied to America About Control

When Barack Obama got elected in November 2008, people across America began to get concerned about the loss of their gun rights. In the weeks after the election, gun stores were filled with shoppers. Guns were flying off the shelves and gun prices increased to match the increased demand. Barack Obama, apparently aware of the Second Amendment worries, came out and said that gunowners have nothing to worry about.

On February 25, 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the Barack Obama administration plans to pursue a new assault weapons ban. Chairman Obama has been in office just a few weeks, and he has already gone back on his promise to gunowners. In fact, gunowners do have something to worry about. They have a lot to worry about. The Obama administration is openly admitting it intends to violate the Second Amendment.

Even worse, in the fall of 2008, when Obama assured gunowners their rights were not in jeopardy, he knew full well he was going to attack their rights in 2009. He was just simply pacifying gunowners to slow down the rate of gun sales. He probably did not like the idea of people stocking up on weapons before he could have a chance to ban them. Now that Obama finally has the opportunity to ban the guns, he is starting to reveal his intentions.

Even if you do not care about your Second Amendment rights, you should be alarmed by this sort of brazen lying. If Chairman Obama will lie to us about gun rights, he will lie to us about anything. What rights do you cherish? How can you trust Obama not to trample on them?