Report criticizes ATF storefront illegal gun-sale stings

MADISON, Wis. -- Federal agents lacked proper guidance and experience while conducting undercover sting operations in Milwaukee and several other cities since 2010 that were aimed at disrupting illegal gun sales, according to a U.S. Justice Department report released Thursday.

The Justice Department's inspector general's office report examined shortcomings with U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' storefront sting operations in Milwaukee; Pensacola, Florida; St. Louis; Wichita, Kansas; and Boston. The operations were designed to curb illegal gun trafficking by luring people with illegal weapons into the store, where agents could identify them, buy their guns to get the weapons off the street and trace the guns' histories.

According to the report, the ATF established 53 storefront operations throughout the country between 2004 and 2013.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an expose in 2013 detailing some of the problems with the storefront operation conducted in that city. It found agents overpaid for guns with taxpayer money, guns were stolen from an ATF vehicle, and the storefront was burglarized.

Most defendants were charged with low-level offenses, and the operation failed to capture any major criminals.

What's more, agents left behind an operational plan at the store when they shut it down. The document included undercover agents' names, vehicle descriptions, cellphone numbers and secret signals.

Word of the missteps broke while the agency was on the defensive following its bungled gun-tracking Operation Fast and Furious program. Agents lost track of some 1,400 guns during the Arizona gun-smuggling sting operation; many of the weapons were recovered at Mexican crime scenes.

The new inspector general's report found the storefront sting operations' problems were caused primarily by poor management and insufficient training and guidance for field agents. A lax culture that failed to emphasize managing risks also played a role.

It also found agents lacked adequate policies and supervision.