Gun-tracking operation misfired

 The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ran the Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation from 2009 to early last year.

 The operation allowed illegal gun purchases in hopes of tracking the weapons to Mexican drug cartel leaders. Instead, hundreds of guns vanished, and scores turned up at crime scenes in Mexico.

 Two were found where U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was shot to death south of Tucson, Ariz., in December 2010. A number of illegal straw purchasers have been indicted, and two others are charged in Terry’s slaying.