There has been talk of combining the ATF into the DEA. Gun rights groups are opposed to this (see also here). I’m not entirely convinced it is a bad idea. But that could be a bias of mine.
You see, I am of the opinion that the DEA should be abolished. Where in the constitution does it say the Feds have the authority to regulate recreational drugs? How many billions have they spend on the failed war on drugs? And if you don’t think it has actually failed, here are some things to consider:
The DEA was established in 1973, and tracking heroin street prices over the decades reveals some fascinating—and troubling—trends. Here’s a summary of the data I found:
📈 Heroin Street Price Trends (1973–2011)
The DEA’s Heroin Domestic Monitor Program began collecting consistent data in 1979, focusing on price per milligram of pure heroin. Here’s a snapshot of key years:
Year Avg. Price per mg Pure Heroin Notes 1982 ~$3.90 Very low purity (~7%) 1992 ~$1.50 Purity increased to ~28% 2007 ~$0.81 Mexican heroin purity ~33% 2011 ~$1.35 Mexican heroin purity dropped to ~17% These prices reflect retail-level purchases made by DEA agents in major U.S. cities.
🧪 Purity vs. Price
- As purity increased, price per mg of pure heroin dropped—making heroin more potent and affordable.
- By the 2000s, heroin from Mexico and South America dominated the U.S. market, with regional differences in purity and price.
📉 Long-Term Trend
From the early 1980s to the early 2000s:
- Price per pure mg dropped significantly
- Purity rose, peaking in some cities at over 60%
- This made heroin more dangerous and accessible, contributing to rising overdose rates
Since its founding in 1973, the DEA’s budget has grown dramatically—from $75 million in its first year to over $3.4 billion in recent years2.
💰 Estimated Total DEA Spending (1973–2023)
Using historical budget data from DEA.gov, here’s a rough cumulative estimate:
- 1973–1980: ~$1.4 billion
- 1981–1990: ~$2.7 billion
- 1991–2000: ~$13.2 billion
- 2001–2010: ~$22.6 billion
- 2011–2020: ~$28.6 billion
- 2021–2023: ~$9.5 billion
🧮 Grand Total Estimate: ~$78 billion
These figures are approximations based on annual appropriations and may not include all supplemental or off-budget expenditures.
📊 Spending Highlights
- The DEA’s budget has consistently increased, especially during periods of heightened drug enforcement focus (e.g., crack epidemic, opioid crisis).
- In 2023, the DEA requested $3.1 billion, a 6.3% increase over the previous year.
- The agency now operates in 93 foreign offices across 69 countries, reflecting its global reach.
So… if the war on drugs was effective you would think the price would go up and the purity would go down. That is pretty much a well-known economic law, right? But that is not what happened. It seems to me that either the war on drugs was ineffective and the price and purity changes were unrelated, or the DEA somehow contributed to the lower prices and increased purity.
Either way we are faced with the fact that the war on drugs has either failed or it is not about making it more difficult for people to obtain recreational drugs. Perhaps it is more about acquiring power as in the famous Ayn Rand quote from Atlas Shrugged.
In my mind, combing the ATF and DEA sort of makes sense because we might be able to get more support from those opposed to the war on drugs who might be opposed to reducing gun regulations.
NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, has confirmed with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that the Demand 2 Program is ending. That program, begun in February of 2000 during the antigun Clinton administration, required federal firearms licensees (FFLs) that have 25 or more firearms traced back to them subsequent to the recovery at a crime scene and the time from retail sale to trace is three years or less (what ATF calls “time-to-crime”). NSSF has been critical of the misuse of this protected firearm trace data to attempt to “name-and-shame” firearm retailers for crimes in which they had no involvement.
NSSF
June 13, 2025
NSSF Confirms ATF Demand 2 Program is Ending • NSSF
If you spend about three seconds thinking about this program, you realize that large retailers could have a very low rate of guns showing up at a crime scenes but frequently trip the threshold for getting a less than friendly visit from the ATF. And at the same time someone who sells eight guns a year and they all end up at crime scenes would not get “the visit.”
As is almost always the case with anti-gun advocates and politicians, it is never about crime reduction. It is about raising the cost, in money and time, of gun sales and ownership.
This infringement program has been in place for more than 25 years. It is long past the time the criminals involved should have been prosecuted. That probably will never happen in this case, but at least the program is winding down.
See also ATF Begins Overhauls Directed by President’s 2A Executive Order • NSSF.
I’m surprised, but pleased:
Second Amendment Advocates Score Victory In New Jersey
An initiative spearheaded by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) and the New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate (NJFOS), with the robust backing of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), has seen Englishtown, New Jersey, pass a resolution to refund the municipal portion of permit to carry fees to applicants.
This success marks the beginning of a concerted effort by the three organizations to replicate the refund resolution across the entire Garden State.
At the heart of this movement are New Jersey’s current permit-to-carry fees, which stand at $200. A significant $150 of this fee goes directly to the local municipality.
Critics argue that a negligible amount of these funds actually covers the administrative costs of issuing permits, strongly suggesting the fee is “strictly punitive in nature” and designed to discourage citizens from exercising their Second Amendment rights.
This is in New Jersey!
The NFA is nothing more than a tax scheme which has imposed an unconstitutional burden on Americans since 1934. The registration of these items was only justified as the means to ensure taxes on them had been paid. With the One Big, Beautiful Bill zeroing out the tax for silencers and short barreled firearms, the registration scheme serves no other purpose than to create an unlawful barrier to keep people from exercising their Second Amendment rights. Our intention with this new lawsuit is to completely remove these barriers.
Adam Kraut
SAF Executive DirectorSAF has been fighting for more than 50 years to remove unnecessary burdens to our constitutional freedoms, and we welcome the opportunity to fight for the further dismantling of the NFA in court. The reforms in the One Big, Beautiful Bill represent the biggest blow to the NFA since its inception, and we fully support its complete repeal. Just like we’ve done for more than five decades, SAF will continue to fight so all Americans can have the freedom to exercise their Second Amendment rights for generations to come.
Alan M. Gottlieb
SAF founder and Executive Vice President
July 3, 2025
SAF ISSUES JOINT STATEMENT ON NFA REGISTRATION CHALLENGE – Second Amendment Foundation
This is historic.
Celebrate and then do what you can to continue the fight for the freedom promised by the 2nd Amendment. I, with the help of my employer, donate thousands of dollars each year to FPC and SAF.
This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to dismantle one of the most abusive federal gun control laws on the books. With the tax struck down by Congress, the rest of the NFA is standing on air.
Erich Pratt
Senior vice president
Gun Owners of America
July 4, 2025
Gun groups plan lawsuits to end National Firearms Act in wake of ‘big, beautiful bill’
It was appropriate that the bill was signed on July 4th.
Once we get rid of the registration, fingerprints, and extended background check aspects for the suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns we will have created a very powerful legal weapon. The precedents established will make the elimination of restrictions on machine guns obvious and achievable.
The Declaration of Causes of Taking Up Arms of July 6, 1775, drafted by Thomas Jefferson and John Dickinson and passed by the Continental Congress, protested Gage’s seizure of arms as follows: The inhabitants of Boston being confined within that town by the General their Governor, and having, in order to procure their dismission, entered into a treaty with him, it was stipulated that the said inhabitants having deposited their arms with their own magistrates, should have liberty to depart, taking with them their other effects. They accordingly delivered up their arms, but in open violation of honor, in defiance of the obligation of treaties, which even savage nations esteem sacred, the Governor ordered the arms deposited as aforesaid, that they might be preserved for their owners, to be seized by a body of soldiers; detained the greatest part of the inhabitants in the town, and compelled the few who were permitted to retire, to leave their most valuable effects behind.
A Virginia gentleman wrote to a friend in Scotland on Sept. 1, 1775: “We are all in arms, exercising and training old and young to the use of the gun. No person goes abroad without his sword, or gun, or pistols.”
After the British army abandoned Boston on March 17, 1776, the selectmen returned and discovered that the surrendered arms that had been stored in Faneuil Hall were damaged or destroyed. What was left was sold as replacement parts and scrap.
Gage’s confiscation and destruction of their arms contributed to the Americans’ historical mistrust of government control of their firearms. His promise that surrendered firearms would be returned to their owners was a lie. The longstanding American aversion to firearm registration that continues today is rooted in the historical experience that it will lead to confiscation.
Stephen P. Halbrook
June 23, 2025
Gun Control Had a Lot to do With the Shot Heard ’Round the World | An Official Journal Of The NRA
The Declaration of Causes of Taking Up Arms was 250 years ago today. The lessons learned the hard way then are still valid today.
And one of the most important lessons is that gun grabbers have always lied. It is part of their culture.
Thanks to a clip surfacing on social media today, we see that Mamdani is not hiding this. In fact, he has been strikingly open about what he believes and what he plans to do. You can listen to his comments for yourself here.
Speaking in 2021 at the Young Democratic Socialists of America Organizing Conference, Mamdani said his goal is to “continue to elect more socialists” and to be “unapologetic about our socialism.”
He followed that with two key objectives: boycotting Israel and “seizing the means of production.”
The phrase “seizing the means of production” is not some vague slogan—it is the core tenet of Marxist revolutionary ideology. It means that private property, businesses, and industries are taken from their owners and turned over to collective or state control.
Historically, this has been done not through elections or peaceful reform, but through authoritarian rule, state violence, and mass suppression.
Quoth the Raven
June 30th, 2025
“Seize The Means Of Production”: Mamdani Lays Bare His Agenda
Part of me wants to say, “Go for it! You can be a bad example for the current generation.” But that would be like rooting for cancer in your foot. It is already stinky, and it is not something you show off to your friends, but cancer is still a really bad thing.
The suit uses a combination of kevlar, a heat-resistant synthetic fibre that was originally used as a replacement for steel in racing tyres, and other materials that have the ability to absorb the impact of shrapnel.
Kevlar is not as effective at stopping bullets as the ceramic plates often used in traditional body armour. However, it is lighter and provides good protection against shrapnel, which has become the main battlefield threat because of the proliferation of drones.
Major Shyriaiev said his experience of drone warfare prompted him to design the suit.
He said: “The idea of these armoured overalls was my initiative and is something that hasn’t existed before.
“The reason for thinking about this is drones. When an enemy of a drone drops a grenade or explosive device, whether it hits a soldier or group of soldiers, there is shrapnel and ballistic powder flying around, which have different starting velocities and weight.
Danielle Sheridan, Daniel Hardaker
June 30, 2025
‘Hero of Ukraine’ commander develops drone-proof uniforms
Something to think about if you see drones as future adversaries.
Interesting concept. But I suspect there was an AI and/or writer hallucination involved in some of the description details.
US Hypersonic Engine Breakthrough Sparks Global Response from China and Others
With the successful flight test of a Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE) by Venus Aerospace, the United States has accomplished a significant milestone in hypersonic propulsion. This next-generation engine, which has been theorized since the 1980s, provides previously unheard-of thrust and efficiency, allowing cars to leave conventional runways and reach speeds of Mach 4 to Mach 6. The RDRE promises both defense and commercial applications because it is small, inexpensive, and scalable in contrast to conventional rocket engines.
Emphasis added.
No matter how cool that is I do not want my car leaving a runway and reaching speeds of Mach 4 to Mach 6. I am quite certain the brake technology on present day cars is inadequate.
Your mileage may vary.
According to a Gallup poll taken the year after NCCH’s founding (1975), when asked “Do you think there should or should not be a law that would ban the possession of handguns, except by the police and other authorized persons?,” 41 percent of Americans stated that there should be. Asking the same question in 2018, only 28 percent of those polled supported such a measure.
After 45 years of failure to achieve their goal, a more introspective group might consider that there may be a defect in their ideas rather than their marketing. However, history suggests that it is only a matter of time before “Brady” undergoes yet another name change. They should spare themselves the consulting fees. Continuing the trend of creating ever more concise names, the group should further truncate “Brady” to just “Y.” As in: Why does this decrepit handgun prohibition organization still exist?
National Rifle Association of America, Institute for Legislative Action
March 26, 2019
Blast from the Past: Proof Found That Brady Campaign Still Exists! | Buckeye Firearms Association
Y indeed? That was in 2019. It has now been over 50 years of mostly failure, lies, and more lies.
Their founding goal was to ban all handgun possession except for a few exceptions. They have failed after trying for over fifty years. And they have even lost ground with public carry now being (mostly) acknowledged as a constitutionally protected right in all 50 states.
Since 2019 they have changed their name, yet again, to “Brady United” and cannot even afford to hire an intern.
The dustbin of history is their future.
The ban on commercial pistol sales to 18-to-20-year-olds will likely go unenforced in parts of the country following a Trump Administration decision not to further pursue one case against it.
On Friday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) quietly allowed a deadline to file an appeal with the Supreme Court in the case Reese v. ATF to pass. As a result, a unanimous January decision from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals–which covers Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana–will stand. The panel held that a combination of federal statutes banning licensed firearm dealers from selling pistols to young adults violates the Second Amendment.
Jake Fogleman
July 1, 2025
DOJ Declines to Appeal Ruling Against Federal Handgun Purchase Ban for Adults Under 21 | The Reload
Just two weeks ago, the Fourth Circuit Court upheld the same law.
I suspect progun groups will appeal the Fourth Circuit decision and SCOTUS will probably accept the request for cert. This will probably result in a resolution by June of 2026.
What I want to know is how will the 4473’s be handled until SCOTUS resolves the issue? Will there be a special “Fifth Circuit” 4473? Will the DOJ announce they will decline to prosecute until the circuit split is resolved?
We live in interesting times.
See also:
Our latest legal briefs again argued that because AB 2571 implicates core First Amendment rights, any restrictions must survive strict scrutiny and be narrowly tailored—something the court appeared to accept. There were some powerful moments at the argument, especially when the state’s attorney argued trying to defend Assembly Bill 2571, a law that bans advertising firearms to youth shooters. The Ninth Circuit panel was notably and vocally skeptical of the state’s lawyer’s arguments, pressing hard on the state’s efforts to carve out exceptions to the current injunction that blocks the law from taking effect so that most advertisements could still be banned. The state’s efforts seem to have failed, but we won’t know for sure until the Ninth Circuit issues its ruling.
Michel& Associates, P.C.
June 30, 2025
Ninth Circuit Scrutinizes California’s Youth Firearm Advertising Ban
I find it interesting that if the good guys use a First Amendment argument in support of gun owners, then the Ninth Circuit appears to be more supportive. That worked in Nordyke (1997). But it still failed in SB 915 (2024).
You need physical access or someone stupid enough to try using a USB drive they found, but this would dramatical speed up a attack.
Unless you found a computer someone forgot to lock before walking away, I don’t think this would work at my company. Brute force logins are not possible, and data cannot be transferred to external hard drives, thumb drives, etc.
Still, it is a very cool device.
Via email from Rolf.
I have thought about making something like this for decades. As an electrical engineer, the physics were within my grasp. But I always had more important things to do.
A new theory about time has really changed what is known about the cosmos. According to this new theory, time may actually have three dimensions. This then could also mean that space may be one-dimensional instead of three-dimensional, as we currently know it. This method of looking at the cosmos may then possibly explain some of the peculiarities of quantum mechanics, such as particles being in two places at the same time. It would even possibly explain the hypothetical faster-than-light particles.
…
Objects are able to start off being faster than light, but they are never able to then slow down below that limit. Researchers have noted that faster-than-light observers see three dimensions of time and then only one single dimension of space, instead of the three spatial dimensions of time and one dimension of space. This would then mean that particles follow more than one trajectory at the same time – basically travelling into more than one future simultaneously. From a “slower-than-the-speed-of-light” point of view, these faster-than-the-speed-of-light objects act like waves. According to researchers, this perspective may explain some of the mysteries surrounding quantum mechanics.
Carien B.
June 13, 2025
1905 Einstein’s theory about to be dismantled ― Experts find time’s ‘hidden dimensions’
I’m going to have to think about this one for a long while. It is a little too warped for me to get my mind around it. It’s great thought food, though.
Let me rephrase this. Supposed I handed you $1 Million dollars in cash to hold and keep safe for me every Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. And the place where you work and keep this treasure safe is public property — or at least open to the public. The building is not built like a bank or courthouse. It has no armed guards at all doors or other elevated security — other than a sign warning people about bringing weapons on to the property. Bad people know these facts.
Now let me add that 20 to 25 other people also hand you $1 Million dollars in cash as well, under the same conditions. Which means every Monday through Friday, from 8 to 3, you are holding and taking care of $25 Million. This is your job, you have promised to return the money, safely, to all the people every day at 3 p.m.
Now do you want to be armed?
Don Kilmer @donkilmer
Posted on X, May 26, 2024
The brainwashed teacher’s sign is additional essential context:
The dynamic that leads to collapse is as invisible as the extremes. Once the organization–household, institution, corporation or nation-state, the dynamic is scale-invariant–has hardened into a brittle state of stasis, it’s impossible to shrink the budget without collapsing the entire structure.
I call this the Rising Wedge Model of Breakdown: as expenses, self-interest and debt all expand, it becomes increasingly difficult to slash expenses without triggering the implosion of the organization.
Under the guise of cutting the fat to save the muscle, what actually happens is the muscle is cut to save the fat. This is a complex process, but in summary, the most competent realize the organization is dysfunctional and cannot be salvaged in its current bloated state of denial, and so they immediately jump ship.
The naive who believe they can turn the situation around give it their best effort but the resistance to any meaningful sacrifices is so tenacious that they burn out and quit.
That leaves the delusionally incompetent who reckon they’re finally getting the power they long deserved. This leads to the substitution of PR and artifice for actually reducing the organization to a sustainable level, for what’s required is not just a revised spreadsheet but an entirely new culture and value system.
…
The story of the next decade is the playing out of the Rising Wedge Model of Breakdown / The Ratchet Effect throughout the entire status quo: households, institutions, corporations and nation-states will all hasten to cut muscle to save the fat and then wonder why everything is imploding under the weight of delusion and denial.
As noted previously, what’s required is not just a revised spreadsheet but an entirely new culture and value system. Without that, we get zip, zero, nada in meaningful adaptation to new realities.
charles hugh smith
June 5, 2025
oftwominds-Charles Hugh Smith: The Ratchet Effect: Easy to Spend More, Spending Less Triggers Collapse
The key takeaway is that spending less triggers collapse.
Prepare appropriately.
In the National Instant background Check System (NICS) data, it appears most of the denials are false positives. Hard data on the errors found in the NICS system are not available. John has pointed out there are very few prosecutions of people who have been denied by the NICS system compared to the number of those denied. John stated NICS denials are often based on the phonetic spelling of the last name. The denials are not done with high levels of certainty. Because many people in the same ethnic group have similar sounding names, and because Blacks and Hispanics have much higher rates of felony convictions than Whites or Asians, it is likely Black and Hispanic people are denied from purchasing firearms in the NICS system at a much higher rates than people who are not Black or Hispanic.
In October of 2020, John Lott was appointed as a senior adviser for research and statistics at the Office of Justice Programs. This was the second time he had worked for the government in D.C. When John got to DC, John went to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and proposed a study of the NICS denials including data on race and sex. The BJS thought it was a great idea.
The the BJS sent the request for data to the FBI. went through the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). The BJS thought the idea of analyzing the NICS data was very good. When the Bureau of Justice Statistics contacted the FBI, The FBI responded, claiming there was no way we can get this done before January 20th. In any case, we are sure the Biden Administration will not be interested. After more emails and calls, the FBI response was: we just can’t think of any reason why anyone would want to break down this data by race and sex.
John responded: You guys break down everything by race and sex. What’s the big deal with this?
The BJS tells the FBI, it is not your decision to make. We decide what to look at and study. Your job is to collect and give us the data. The FBI refuses and the BJS persists. Finally, the FBI says the BJS will have to submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
…
The AG, Bill Barr, orders the FBI to stop mucking around and send the data to the BJS.
…
The FBI dithers and delays. After a couple of weeks, the BJS receives the data, but something is wrong with it. It does not make any sense. The BJS complains, and the FBI apologizes, says they do not understand what went wrong. There are more delays, then the FBI sends another batch of data, which still doesn’t make an sense. This sequence happens a couple more times. The last time the FBI sends data which does not make sense is on January 19, 2021. Then the Biden administration takes power.
Dean Weingarten
June 22, 2025
GUN WATCH: John Lott Expounds on FBI Politicized Resistance to Data Sharing (corruption?)
End NICS. Drain the swamp. Prosecute the swamp rats.
Via JPFO.
Via The Atlas Society @TheAtlasSociety:
If only there were a vaccine that did not have such a high lead content and a corresponding high rate of serious side effects.
