I just lost all faith in the ATF

**jspeedy** · Posted On: 3/26/2011 11:12pm

About 1:17 in to the vid the "ATF" gun authority guy tries to shove the airsoft magazine in backwards!

Anyone who's ever played contra or owned a G.I. Joe or any other non barbie action figure knows how a banana clip looks in a gun. Where goes this guy come from? Has he not seen a good old action shoot em up movie? Hollywood and TV have at least taught me which way the clip faces in the gun. Personally, I know very little about guns but damn this is some guy posing as an authority on the subject of gun safety, the least he could know is how to load one.

**ojgsxr6** · Posted On: 3/26/2011 11:34pm

The problem is that they're administrators with zero gun or investigative knowledge (I'm assuming, loudly) trying to make a name for themselves. I do believe this is happening because of the Obama administration, I also believe every administration allows and condones their own flavor of incompetence

**Robstafarian** · Posted On: 3/27/2011 1:59am

Originally Posted by jspeedy

Personally, I know very little about guns

That would be why you're referring to a removable box magazine as a “clip.” I kid, I kid.
:CloseEnough:

**ojgsxr6** · Posted On: 3/27/2011 4:06am

here's a follow up:

**Robstafarian** · Posted On: 3/27/2011 1:22pm

Originally Posted by ojgsxr6

here's a follow up:

Diplomacy: the art of saying “nice doggy” until you can find a rock. —Wynn Catlin

Backpedaling: the art of saying “well, um, you see” until you can find an excuse or, preferably, a fall guy. —Me

**Vorpal** · Posted On: 3/27/2011 1:42pm

The average ATF agent's firearms knowledge is roughly equal to the average person's firearms knowledge, maybe slightly above because they do qualify twice a year. I worked for an arms importer years ago and our retail store generally carried almost every handgun that was currently being offered commercially. Along with the fact that we had the largest selection of military surplus and replica black powder arms it was common for the ATF to drop by with new agents so the could show them all the different weapons. I would take them around and listen to the "veteran" agents explain things like: "This is a double action, you can shoot it twice as fast" and "This is a Remington" (actually it was an Egyptian Hakim). It was really amazing to watch. That being said there are some guys in the ATF who really know their sh1t. A firearms instructor from my guard unit is one of their experts (he maintains their library of guns and tests guns from their cases) and testifies in court cases for them, I would put him up against anyone. The problem is they sometimes talk to their experts after or during instead of before.

**Lord Skeletor** · Posted On: 3/27/2011 3:51pm

Also...remember that it's Alcohol+Tobacco+Firearms+Explosives. Their knowledge is not going to be super-specialized in a lot of cases, seeing as that they are responsible for a great deal of different things spanning everything from cigarette smuggling, to moonshine operations, to illegally converted full-autos/SBRS/AoWs/DDs/Silencers, to what kind of explosive was used to blow up a church. A lot that I know don't have a LOT of specific knowledge that many "gun guys" I know do.