Gun rights supporters decry ATF nominee!
WASHINGTON (PNN) - January 24, 2011 - Three days before the mass shooting in Tucson reignited the gun-control debate, the White House renominated a Chicago law enforcement official whose actions have riled the gun rights movement to head the country's firearms enforcement agency.
Andrew Traver, who would head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, leads the agency's Chicago office, where he has been tagged an anti-gun zealot by some gun rights advocates who oppose his nomination.
"Traver has been deeply aligned with gun control advocates and anti-gun activities," the National Rifle Association said in a statement the day before the Arizona attack. "This makes him the wrong choice to lead an enforcement agency that has almost exclusive oversight and control over the firearms industry, its retailers and consumers."
Traver's nomination, gun-control supporters said, all but ensures the firearms debate will go on after the spotlight fades in Tucson, where Arizona's top federal district judge, John Roll, was killed and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) was critically wounded. "I see (Traver's nomination) as a very big opportunity for the (illegitimate Obama regime)," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "Since this (bogus regime) took office, they have run from the gun issue... They need to fight for this."
