There’s a procurement order from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) making the rounds on the gun boards which is sufficiently egregious as to piss off citizens across the political spectrum. I first learned of it from this arfcom post dated 19-March, but there are now angry threads on other Internet gun boards and at least a few left-liberal forums as well.

Apparently, the ATF have a unit dedicated to asset forfeiture, which is the tough-on-crime practice of seizing the assets of citizens if government agents suspect said assets were acquired with the proceeds of illegal activities. Some asset forfeiture seems reasonable enough (seizure of assets pending/after a felony conviction), but most asset forfeiture is so-called civil forfeiture, in which the owner of the asset must prove by the preponderance of evidence that the seized assets were NOT obtained with the proceeds of criminal activities. Google “civil asset forfeiture” if you still believe the War on Drugs has not brought with it dire civil liberties consequences.

Anyway, the ATF Asset Forfeiture unit apparently needed some Leatherman Micra multi-tools, which seems perfectly reasonable. I don’t seize property for a living, but I have found a multitude of uses for my Leatherman tool. But a stock Leatherman wasn’t good enough for the dedicated men and women of ATF Asset Forfeiture. After all, they put their lives on the line day in and day out to confiscate the property of evildoers; don’t they deserve a little extra? With that spirit in mind, DOJ (under which ATF has operated since 2003; before that they operated under Treasury as revenue agents, if you can believe the irony) issued a procurement order for 2000 very special Leatherman Micras.

It’s pretty dry procurement language; here’s the good bit:

Leatherman Micra Color: Blue - Part number 64340101K Engraved with: ATF-Asset Forfeiture AND “always think forfeiture” PLEASE REFER TO THE ATTACHMENT. NOTE: ATF MAY REQUEST A SAMPLE TO DETERMINE IF IT MEETS OUR REQUIREMENT. A picture of the item may be substituted in place of the actual sample.

That’s right. ATF needs special blue Leathermans engraved with “ATF-Asset Forfeiture” and “Always Think Forfeiture”. No, this isn’t a prank by some right-winger; it’s right there on the FBO site. The procurement was awarded to FREEDOM ENTERPRISES (oh, sweet irony!) of Spokane, Washington for the amount of $37,460.

So, here’s one of the multitude of federal, state, and local agencies involved in asset seizures, some of which are obviously legitimate and some of which are patently unjust, spending taxpayer dollars (and possibly seized assets; technically seizures are supposed to fund law enforcement operations) to customize a simple hand tool with language that on its face presents an alternative meaning of “ATF”, one which requires asset forfeiture agents to “always think forfeiture”.

Now I’m sure if asked ATF will insist this is harmless and all forfeiture agents are full compliance with all laws and regulations when seizing the property of American citizens. That may even be true. It is definitely irrelevant. Using the threat of government-sanctioned violence to forcibly seize the assets of Americans, criminal defendants or not, is a very serious activity which carries with it the potential for grave abuses. At the very least, those responsible for executing these forfeitures on behalf of one of the most abusive and irresponsible Federal law enforcement agencies must conduct themselves with professionalism and sobriety consistent with their awesome power. Instead, they use taxpayer money to buy trinkets to remind one another to remain ever vigilant for forfeiture opportunities with a clever play on their own organization’s name.

Maybe you don’t see the problem. Maybe you really believe ATF goes around taking machine guns away from gang bangers and white supremacists. Maybe you don’t believe ATF agents really shoot pet dogs and stomp pet kittens to death. Maybe you don’t see a problem with federal agents confiscating guns from their civilian owners. Then check out this IG audit report from September 2006. In particular, note this table of seized assets by type. Out of $24 million of assets seized in 2005, only $9 million were seized firearms (which would include seizures like the recent raid on Cavalry Arms), while another $9 million was cash and real property, $3.5 million was tobacco, $1.2 million was explosives, and $487,000 was ammunition.

You should also ask yourself how you’d feel if this were DEA’s asset forfeiture unit, or your local police department. Do you really want the people empowered to seize your assets making clever jokes about their job?

Apparently, plenty of mostly-right gun owners and mostly-left activists don’t. In addition to the ARFCOM thread, there are active threads on GunBroker, FreeRepublic, NorthEastShooters, and TheHighRoad. On the left, DemocraticUnderground seems none too amused, and TalkLeft has a post on a related bit of ATF asset forfeiture asshattery.

As this is coming out, foot-tappin’ Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) is taking the lead holding up confirmation of Michael Sullivan, Acting Director of the ATF, to the permanent director position. Sullivan has presided over ongoing ATF abuses like the persecution of Red’s Trading Post, and will clearly do nothing to reform the ATF if confirmed. Hopefully the Senate denies Sullivan confirmation, if for no other reason than ATF needs to get its comeuppance.