Claiming it will hurt morale in its agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is blocking the publication of a book by Special Agent John Dodson. The book describes the disastrous ATF plan that sold assault rifles to Mexicans which they would track to arrest drug traffickers. Instead the agency lost contact with the rifles which were then used in hundreds of murders in Mexico. (The Washington Times, October 6, 2013, by John Soloman)
Representing Dodson, the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the AFT arguing that their action violates Agent Dodson’s First Amendment rights. Said the ACLU, “We decided to send the ATF a friendly reminder that we don’t lose our rights to speak, write, and teach when we accept government employment.” (ACLU, October 7, 2013, by Rita Cant)