Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
Headquarters: 650
Massachusetts Avenue, NW.
Washington, DC 20226
Phone: 202-927-8500
Employees: 4,758
Director: Carl Truscott
Website: http://www.atf.gov
Career
Page
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
(ATF) is a law enforcement agency within the United States Department
of Justice. The ATF's mission is to protect America against crime,
violence, and other types of threats to the public, such as terrorism.
In order to achieve this goal the ATF enforces Federal laws and
regulations relating to alcohol, tobacco, firearms, explosives,
and arson.
Other responsibilities of the ATF include
collecting revenue and supervising different federal crime prevention
programs, such as Gang Resistance Education and Training, otherwise
known as GREAT.
On November 25, 2002, (after 9/11), the
Homeland Security Act of 2002 split the Bureau of Tobacco and
Firearms into two different sections:
--- The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms was renamed
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE).
It is now a part of the Justice Department. Its main responsibility
is law enforcement.
-- The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau remains in the
Treasury Department. This section oversees tax collection.
At the end of fiscal 2004, there were approximately
106,000 federal firearms licensees in the United States authorized
to conduct commerce in firearms. ATF performed more than 12,000
firearms licensee inspections and made more than 2,100 referrals
to law enforcement. ATF's Federal Firearms Licensing Center processed
13,042 applications for new firearms licenses and 20,464 applications
for license renewals.
Also in FY 2004, ATF inspectors, in helping
to ensure the lawful storage of explosive materials, completed
more than 6,000 explosives inspections and detected 1,235 explosives
industry public safety violations that have been corrected. ATF
processed 2,873 applications for new explosives licenses and
1,641 applications to renew existing licenses.
During the last four years, ATF has trained
more than 4,000 federal, state, local, military and international
bomb technicians and investigators in explosive disposal and
investigative techniques at the National Center for Explosive
Training and Research.
