The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) ran a series of "gunwalking" sting operations[2][3] between 2006[4] and 2011.[2][5] These operations were done under the umbrella of Project Gunrunner, a project intended to stem the flow of firearms into Mexico by interdicting straw purchasers and gun traffickers within the United States.[6]
"Gun walking" or "letting guns walk" was a tactic whereby the ATF
"purposely allowed licensed firearms dealers to sell weapons to illegal
straw buyers, hoping to track the guns to Mexican drug cartel leaders."[7]
The stated goal of allowing these purchases was to continue to track
the firearms as they were transferred to higher-level traffickers and
key figures in Mexican cartels, with the expectation that this would
lead to their arrests and the dismantling of the cartels.[8][9]
The tactic was questioned during the operations by a number of people,
including ATF field agents and cooperating licensed gun dealers.[10][11][12][13][14]
Operation Fast and Furious, by far the largest "gunwalking" probe,
monitored the sale of over 2,000 firearms, of which nearly 700 were
recovered as of October 20, 2011.[15]
A number of straw purchasers have been arrested and indicted; however,
as of October 2011, none of the targeted high-level cartel figures have
been arrested.[7]
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