New acting head of ATFE

Any idea what we can expect from him?

I reckon I'll expect from him what we've gotten from everybody that preceded him.

Petty enforcement.

Ignoring the rule of law and even common sense.

Administrative hassles.

"Creative" interpretations of how firearms are tested as to function and type (see Len Savage and "shoe string / machine gun manufacturers" about that...).

A deep seated fear that they might lose their livelihood to the FBI or, now, perhaps Homeland Security.

Meet the new boss, Same as the old.

Yeah, no knowledge about guns and none about the Second Amendment. Probably thinks there is a machine gun exemption somewhere in the penumbras of the Second Amendment. Won't support an amnesty either.

All those years of Republicans in Congress and 8 of Jorge Bush and still no advancement on protecting our rights.

Juris honors from Geo Washington university, AND has knowledge of forensic science, which, if I understand correctly, is the methods used in those crime shows where whole teams of actors determine who doneit. Going from the law desk to work with cadavers....that type of daily schedule would wipe me out.

IWLTK how many lawyers graduate with honors from big universities, 10 percent?

As of two years ago, he didn't think observer effects are an issue in forensic science. He was saying: trust them, they are scientists.

"trust them, they are scientists."

Actually they are NOT scientists. They are technicians/labrats. Labrats can run tests accordings to SOPs but they are not sufficiently educated to really interpret the results. Most of these forensics folks have a BS at best. That in no way makes them a fully educated scientist.

A fool and his rights are soon parted. Stop thinking ANYONE elected to or hired by the government is going to watch out for your rights. It ain't gonna happen!

Tiochfaidh ar la!

FWB your statement is very elitist. While I generally agree that the term "scientist" is used in-industry to describe positions reserved for those holding doctorates, I think the premise that someone cannot be a "fully educated scientist" with a BS is fallacious at best. Science is a critical thinking and experimental design method, not a specialty or knowledge set; anyone who competently practices this method is a scientist by definition.

I would tend to agree, however, that those types of (somewhat mindless and repetative) jobs tend to attract the more dimwitted among those holding BS degrees in the natural sciences.

Oh, and on-topic I expect that ATF's behavior will stay exactly the same.

"I think the premise that someone cannot be a "fully educated scientist" with a BS is fallacious at best. "

A degree is a piece of paper that simply indicates a person was able to stick it out long enough to pass a bunch of classes. It says nothing about their critical thinking abilities, common sense, or technical expertise.

I usually just lurk here rather than comment, but I need to make an observation because of the level of mindless snark in this thread:

Ken Melson is a very smart, experienced, and totally non-partisan guy. While not often viewed as high praise nowadays, keep in mind he was appointed to head EOUSA by Alberto Gonzalez, who wasn't generally known to enhance the career prospects of known leftists within DOJ. Ken was appointed the Interim U.S. Attorney for E.D.Va. three times, two times by Republican administrations.

Ken supervised the firearms cases in the Eastern District of Virginia for several years, and has been on anti-terrorism and violent crime working groups in DOJ. He helped write DOJ's homicide manual. In the last year of the Bush administration, he was directly involved in Mexican border initiatives. And as noted, Ken understands criminal forensics (including firearms forensics; trust me on this).

Ken has never had any creds as a gun-banner. Frankly, this appointment is about as far from being ideology-driven as you can get. However, keep in mind he's only "Acting" head of BATFE. Not clear when, or if, there might be a permanent nominee, or who that could be.