New Houston ATF chief outlines mission
Robert Elder was recently named the special agent in charge of the Houston division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. His son is a Houston police officer, and his father retired from the ATF. He recently spoke with Houston Chronicle reporter Dane Schiller about the agency and its mission.
Q: Why are guns such a hot topic here?
A: It is a culture in this state. It goes back to the Wild West days. As a young individual you are brought up around firearms — hunting, fishing, that type of activity is huge in this state and then just the recreational side of firearms, the skeet shooting, the trap shooting, the target shooting.
Q: How many licensed firearms dealers do we have in the Houston area?
A: In 23 counties there are 1,612.
Q: How often are their books checked?
A: By law they can be checked once a year. Obviously, that is not realistic because of our staffing levels. Right now, we are trying to do them every four years. That is the goal.
Q: How many guns are bought in the Houston area each year?
A: We would not have a clue on that. There is no gun registration under federal law. Dealers aren’t required to send records on the number of firearms they sell in a year, so we would have no idea as to the number of guns that are bought and sold, especially through licensed dealers.
Q: Why isn’t there a registry of who is buying and selling guns?
A: It is something that is widely debated. It is not lawful for us to do that right now. There is a prohibition by law to do that. If it comes, up, you’ll see a heated debate on that.
Q: It is very fundamental to some gun folks. They are very much against it.
A: What they have to understand is ATF is not an agency that passes laws. We are an agency that enforces laws. So, we don’t take a position on whether we are for or against gun registration. A lot of times I will hear that ATF wants a gun registration. Well, we don’t really take a position on it because that is not our function in the government system.
Q: You guys take a lot of heat. Does that impact morale?
A: Yeah, it does. It does impact morale. You know, it goes back years. You can go back as far as Waco, where we were being called baby killers and things like that. You have to try to not take it personal, but it is tough sometimes. But you have to understand that the folks making those comments maybe don’t have all the facts. They are passionate about their right to own firearms and that is fine. We just have to focus on the mission.
Q: When it comes to gang members in our community, what are the weapons they are most likely to have?
A: For street gang members, it is a lot of handguns, a lot of 9 mms, a lot of 40 calibers. You don’t typically see them with the assault type ARs and AK-47s — it is not that they don’t or can’t use them, but your street gang members typically will have a handgun — they can conceal it, they can put it under their shirt, put it in a bag or something of that nature.
Q: And the larger weapons?
A: That is typically what we are seeing with the drug cartels, maybe the more organized groups. These individuals that are doing home invasions, they will go for cash, drugs, jewelry — anything of value. A lot of times they target individuals.
Q: What are the top weapons that you are tracing back from Mexico to Houston?
A: The top weapons are the AR, AK-47 variant type weapons and pistols, usually the 9 mm or 40-caliber pistols, are the most traced.
Q: What would you say to someone who says we don’t need any new gun laws because law-abiding citizens are not the ones shooting up communities?
A: We are not lawmakers. We are law enforcers, and those type of violent individuals are the ones we are working to pros- ecute and arrest. You have to remember that ATF agents and their families live in these communities, so we have a vested interest in making the streets safer. We want to and do go after individuals who are committing violent crimes with firearms and those individuals who are unlawfully in possession of firearms.
Q: You mentioned Waco earlier on. What was your tie to Waco?
A: I was in the first truck that drove into the compound. … Immediately upon opening the doors is when the gunfire started. I ended up behind a bulldozer that was at the compound that day with some other agents. The bulldozer was getting frequently lit up by 50 calibers, so if anyone wants to know if a Caterpillar bulldozer will stop a 50 caliber, it will, I can attest to that.