On Point Firearms

ATF leader told he should step aside

WASHINGTON — The acting director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is strongly resisting pressure to step down because of growing controversy over the agency's surveillance program that allowed U.S. guns to flow unchecked into Mexico, according to a report from McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Kenneth E. Melson, who has run the bureau for two years, is said to be eager to testify to Congress about the extent of his and other officials' involvement in the operation, code named Fast and Furious.

Melson does not want to be the fall guy for the program under which ATF agents allowed purchasers to acquire more than 1,700 AK-47s and other high-powered rifles from Arizona gun dealers, according to the McClatchy-Tribune report, which cited several unnamed federal sources.

Earlier this week, Rep. Darrel Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said he hopes that Melson gives a full accounting of how the gun operation was conceived and carried out.

He also said Melson "should" resign, and that other senior leaders at ATF and the Justice Department also should be held accountable.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, also is awaiting answers from Melson, and cautioned this week that even if the acting director does step down, it "would be, by no means, the end of our inquiry."

The Justice Department said it is cooperating with the congressional leaders.

At a House hearing last week, testimony from ATF agents portrayed Melson as being closely involved in overseeing the venture.

At one point, according to documents released by Congress, he asked for and received log-in information and a link to an Internet feed in order to watch some of the illegal purchases.

Issa and ATF whistle-blowers who protested to no avail with their supervisors in Arizona say the number of Fast and Furious guns still unaccounted for could top 1,000.

But authorities are telling Congress the numbers could be far lower. NPR reported that documents it had obtained and provided to lawmakers suggest that 568 weapons tied to Fast and Furious have been located: 372 in the United States and 196 more in Mexico.

On Friday, Issa was to travel with a bipartisan delegation to Mexico, partly in an attempt to draw the government there further into the investigation. In a letter this week to Mexico's U.S. ambassador, Issa and Grassley requested serial numbers of all firearms recovered in "substantial" violent crimes, along with the numbers of any other weapons that government officials have reason to believe may be connected to the Fast and Furious operation.

Are You OnPoint? » LWRC SPR Rifle Review and ... - On Point Firearms

LWRC’s new SPR rifle is based on the firm’s ultra-reliable, short stroke, piston operated M6A2 series.  It borrows the lightweight modular rail system from its bigger brother: the 7.62mm REPR.  However, the SPR-MOD rail on the SPR is 12″ long and 5% lighter.  Under that rail hides a 16″ NiCorr-treated cold hammer-forged barrel.  Using a very advanced manufacturing technique, the aforementioned barrel has been spiral-fluted.  This shaves a staggering 20% of the barrel’s weight!  In fact, total weight (unloaded) is  7.40lbs– according to our scale at the shoppe.  The SPR also sports MagPul’s MIAD grip and new ACS stock.  The flip-up front and rear sights are now made in house by LWRC and aptly named “Skirmish Sights.”  You’ll also notice LWRC’s own QD sling plate between the receiver and stock.  The first 200 units were available in a few Cerakote color called “Patriot Brown.”  The SPR unit featured in our photo gallery is in Flat Dark Earth.  It is also available in Olive Drab.  The SPR is $2356.

The Gun Digest Book of Modern Gun Values, The Shooter's Guide to Guns 1900-Present

Gun Digest 2012

The Gun digest book of modern gun values

Field & Stream

Handbook to life in medieval and early modern Japan