The ATF became a separate entity in 1972, July 1, under the direction of Rex Davis. Before that, as far back as 1791, the Department of Revenue covered the controls on the beverage alcohol and tobacco. Firearms became part of the job for the Department of Revenue with the NFA in 1934 in response to organized crimes use of automatic weapons and silencers. Places like Chicago, where it was almost commonplace to have full auto exchange between different criminal organizations on the street, added to the public outcry for constraints. It did make it more expensive to own full auto weapons but there were and are still lots of cheap guns for the "poor".