White House delayed rule on guns to Mexico

Justice Department officials had asked for White House approval to require thousands of gun dealers along the border to report the purchases to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF investigators expected to get leads on suspected arms traffickers. Senior law enforcement sources said the proposal from the ATF was held up by the White House in early summer. The sources, who asked to be anonymous because they were discussing internal deliberations, said that the effort was shelved by then-White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, a veteran of battles with the gun lobby during the Clinton administration.

The plan - which officials knew would be strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association - was perceived as too volatile just before midterm elections, the sources said. Last month, ATF Deputy Director Kenneth Melson asked the Justice Department to try again, law enforcement officials said. "We appreciate the support of the Department of Justice and the administration as we seek to stem the flow of firearms to Mexico," ATF chief spokesman Scot Thomasson said. On Friday, the ATF published the emergency proposal in the Federal Register. The proposal requires dealers to report to the bureau anytime they make two or more sales over a five-day period of semiautomatic rifles that have a caliber greater than .22 and a detachable magazine. It would be valid for six months. Dealers have been required for decades to report the sales of multiple handguns to the ATF.

In May, Obama assured Calderon that the administration would assist Mexico in curbing drug cartel violence, which has led to 30,000 deaths in Mexico. LaBolt said that Emanuel recommended Andy Traver of Chicago to be nominated by Obama to be director of the ATF and was the "point man" in the Clinton administration when Congress passed an assault weapons ban and required background checks for gun sales. Clinton later blamed those bills for the GOP takeover of Congress in 1995.