Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, commonly known by its initials ATF, is a United States federal law enforcement agency responsible for investigating the unlawful use, manufacture and possession of firearms and explosives, and acts of arson and bombing. It was established as an independent bureau within the Treasury Department on July 1, 1972, building on predecessor enforcement units dating back to 1886. The agency operates a fire research laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, where full-scale mock-ups of criminal arson can be reconstructed for forensic study, and maintains roughly 150 Certified Explosives Specialists trained in post-blast investigation and the analysis of improvised explosive devices. ATF investigated the 1993 siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, and the World Trade Center bombing the same year; Timothy McVeigh later cited the Waco siege as a motivation for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which targeted a federal building housing an ATF field office among other agencies. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/