Functions performed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) may be better performed by other law enforcement agencies, according to Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo. In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Enzi wrote that the ATF should be reformed, with any necessary functions possibly being merged into other federal law enforcement agencies.

“As you know, the ATF is one of several federal law enforcement components and has been subject to several recent controversies…Given the ATF’s serious challenges, I believe the Senate should examine these proposals and take action to correct the failures of the ATF,” wrote Enzi.

The ATF has been subject to multiple investigations by the Department of Justice and the Government Accountability Office. The Center for American Progress recently recommended that the ATF personnel and missions should be merged with the FBI, and Representative Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., has introduced a bill in the House to transfer ATF’s functions to the FBI and DEA.

Click here to read the letter.

Click here to read the report from the Center for American Progress.