Retired Old Agent

Seriously?  You guys need to wake up.  The democrats have been wanting to get rid of ATF for years so the FBI could have the gun laws and stand up to the NRA.  The reality is republicans and the NRA keep ATF alive but then play the game of wanting to disband ATF.  DISBAND ATF AND GIVE THE AUTHORITY TO THE FBI.  Your champions are playing you for suckers.  Clinton and Obama wanted to merge ATF into the FBI.  It was the Republicans and the NRA that fought it.

As I have said in the past, you have to ask "what purpose does ATF currently serve"?  Any high school student can be taught how to write an adopted case and they don't even need to go into the field.  Any cop on the street has more intel and can seize a gun, record serial numbers and arrest felons with firearms.  All this is usually at the cost of 1/3 that of what an agent makes. We don't do explosives cases and those rare arson cases are usually done better by locals fire departments.  

 

So all this "super Fed" ideology of doing cases all over the country never happens.  Very few cases matter or ever leave the local areas. If a big case is attempted, most likely it will be fucked up and everyone gets released and their stuff returned.  The only ATF employees actually keeping the gun community honest are the inspectors checking FFL books.  During my 25 years as an Agent I went from having great pride and loving the job to it being just a paycheck.  After years of getting beat up by management and seeing incompetents rise to the top, I just gave up, did the bare minimum and could care less if the office burned down once I left for the day.  I think many now feel the same.  So many of the new agents hired now seem to be cocky little pricks who see everyone else as fucked up and individuals I would least give a gun to.  Yes, I am cynical but Sooooo glad to be gone!! 

 

My advise to anyone still on the job is to maximize your pay, minimize your effort and just remember that its only a pay check. Do nothing that will draw attention to yourself or get you hurt.  Enjoy your family and be home for dinner each night, because all the rest is bullshit that does not matter!

1 Desertrat - I am sorry for the way you feel.  Many agents don't write any adopted cases.  I am guessing you are actually an inspector since you praise them in your post.  To be honest, what ATF Inspectors (Investigators now) do is something any person with basic bookkeeping skills and a 10th grade education could do.  When I started, Inspectors were two grades levels below agents for a reason.  It's a very simple job.  They almost never testify in court and do a few reports a week.  I think they serve a valid purpose, but to pay them $100k a year now is a joke.  They typically inspect the major four retailers because it's easier and the people there are nice to them.  Then, when they retire, they go get a job doing internal inspections for the major four retailers.  I don't disagree that ATF management is completely broken and many agents focus on just doing stuff that doesn't make the streets any safer.