TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC)-The US agency in charge of regulating guns and explosives as well as fighting gun-related crimes has no idea how many bullets, chemical weapons and other potentially deadly devices it has in possession, an internal report has found.
The report, released on Monday, found that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), held ammunition inventory logs that were inadequate and inaccurate.
The study was carried out, the non-political watchdog within the Department of Justice, which houses the ATF.
The ATF’s inspector general’s physical inspection at 13 sites revealed that at least 31,000 rounds of ammunition had not been listed in the organization’s logs while there were also problems with the way it was storing some bullets in its offices.
Michael Horowitz, the IG, warned that the number could be much higher due to the ATF’s high number of branches around the county.
“Given that the ATF has over 275 offices, the number of unaccounted ammunition rounds is likely much higher,” said Horowitz. “When inventories are inaccurate, there is increased risk that ammunition may be lost, stolen, or misplaced without detection.”
The report also found that some of the explosive materials the ATF had in possession were stored in different quantities that those mentioned in inventory logs or the invoices issued by vendors.
Source:Press TV