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[quote=jsteele]"Fast and Furious" is the name of a US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearm, and Explosives program intended to stem the flow of guns from the US to Mexico. It is part of a larger program called Project Gunrunner. Project Gunrunner was started in 2006 under President Bush. The idea was to allow guns to be purchased in the US and transferred to Mexico in order to trace the weapons to the "bigger fish" behind the gun smuggling operations. This strategy is called "Gunwalking".

Under Bush, the gun walking operation was called Operation Wide Receiver. It ran until Obama was elected. The Obama Justice Department reviewed the project and relaunched it as Operation Fast and Furious. In 2010, Border Patrol officer Brian Terry was killed with a weapon that has been allowed to walk under Operation Fast and Furious. Many agents and other knowledgeable about the gun walking operations believe the programs were mis-managed and that the US government was not able to keep track of the weapons. As a result, the weapons ended up being used in many crimes in Mexico, as well as the killing of Terry. Therefore, critics contend that US officials are to blame for these crimes. Congressional Republicans have been trying to get documents from Attorney General Holder that they believe will prove their case. Holder and Obama believe the Republicans are on an election-year witch hunt and Obama declared that the documents were protected by Executive Privilege.

Many right-wingers have conspiracy theories that the gun walking operations were ultimately aimed at increasing gun control in the US. Even Darrel Issa -- the Republican heading up the hearings on the matter -- has said he shares that concern. 
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