Posted on 05/18/2006 6:22:58 AM PDT by freepatriot32
Traders Sports, one of the biggest gun dealers in the state, hopes a hearing in U.S. District Court next week will keep them in business.
Traders has been under scrutiny for several years by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), which is trying to shut down the gun dealer. The ATF decided to revoke Traders gun permit on June 1. After an audit in 2003, the ATF claims that Traders cant account for 1,767 weapons, and that guns sold at Traders turn up in crimes at an alarming rate.
ATF spokeswoman Marti McKee said she couldnt comment on the hearing, which is coming up next Thursday, May 25 in San Francisco before Judge Vaughn Walker.
Traders owner Tony Cucchiara also declined to comment on the hearing, deferring questions to his lawyer, Malcolm Segal.
The gun shop claims the ATFs figures dont add up because of human error, filling out paperwork wrong. They also say the ATF is unfairly targeting the store and going beyond reasonable annual inspections.
The law allows one inspection a year thats a law passed by Congress and the ATF inspected twice in one year, said Segal.
Segal said the ATF decided to close Traders after their own hearing in which they used records going back 30 years.
The errors they claim are really human errors, Segal said. Any time there are thousands of transactions with serial numbers in dozens of digits, there is always bound to be human error.
The ATF initially claimed in its audit that Traders couldnt account for 7,477 weapons, but the number in the final account was reduced to 1,767. Customers going to Traders this week tended to be on the gun shops side.
I dont like what theyre doing because its a good store, said Sonny Verde, who comes from Marin County to shop at Traders. They should go after the criminals not the gun stores.
Last week the U.S. Department of Justice filed papers saying that guns sold by Traders have been recovered in a crime at a rate of nearly one per day.
About one in every eight guns sold by Traders between 2003 and 2005 has wound up in a crime, the second highest number of guns traced to crimes of any dealer in the nation, according to the Department of Justice.
In 1994, Muckraker magazine featured a story on Traders, listing violations found by the ATF going back to 1970, including sales to people who couldnt legally buy guns and straw sales, which is a purchase by a legal buyer who turns the gun over to someone who cant legally buy a gun.
That is not what he said. He said he would sign it if Congress reauthorized it.
Oh, and 99% of Americans are neither pro-gun nor pro-2d. I would say 55-60% tops.
The ATF is the last bastion of Clintonistas.
When has anyone ever heard of Bush putting conservatives in charge of this runaway domestic terrorist group?
I totally agree with that. Sorry if I was misleading.
It's also unusual to have that many crime-scene gun traces, too....one in eight?
I have been driving for 45 years and have NEVER been pulled over without legitimate cause. Perhaps you should remove the "Cops Are Pigs" bumpersticker off your car.
At least she wasn't charged with "Mopery with Intent to gawk." Seriously though I am sorry to hear of your troubles.
The BATFags should not even EXIST. It is not now or ever any business of the government who has sold what firearm to whom, period. If someone commits a crime using a weapon, PUNISH THE CRIME. Alcohol, Tobacci, Firearms and Explosives should be on a convnience store menu, NOT A GOVERNMENT AGENCY!
"Not so idiotic as to Bush is not pro 2d amendment or to believe in the Globaloney crap the kooks try and peddle to the gullible.
As I said "you don't even know what a globalist is"."
You lack coherency.
Again, if Bush is pro 2nd then why does he allow the ATF to run wild?
Globalism is real, read the newspaper, read UN announcements, look at the world around you. You might cut down on the booze too.
The whole concept of having one bureau oversee booze, guns, and cigars seems amazing to me, anyway. It sounds like a role John Belushi was born to play.
It is extremely clear that the Globaloneyists don't have a clue and their crackpot political theories are more full of holes than a slice of swiss cheese. You are no exception as your inability to tell me what a "globalist" is shows. Beyond being a nice nonsensical buzz word favored by those lacking in fundamental understanding of political economy the word has no meaning to serious students of world affairs.
It is like an animist belief that Evil Spirits control affairs and is persisted in by those with a preference for kook theories rather than scientific and logical analysis.
You must have clicked on a different link. The link in my post 27 goes straight to the radio interview i just clicked it and listened to it again
"It is extremely clear that the Globaloneyists don't have a clue and their crackpot political theories are more full of holes than a slice of swiss cheese"
ok, so put down that beer and name one of those theories that are full of holes. Then provide a source where I support that theory.
"Beyond being a nice nonsensical buzz word favored by those lacking in fundamental understanding of political economy the word has no meaning to serious students of world affairs."
And an ostrich thinks its invisible when its really only hiding its head.
"It is like an animist belief that Evil Spirits control affairs and is persisted in by those with a preference for kook theories rather than scientific and logical analysis."
You're good with name calling but seriously lacking in facts. Again, put down the beer professor. Your argument may be adequate in the academic world but it doesnt make it out here in the real world.
Conversely, if you want off my ping-list, let me know.
And my apologies for any redundant pings.
Actually, there is. A gun store owner can go online and enter all the information that you fill out in your paperwork. However, ATF still requires paper hardcopies of everything and the little book has to be filled out too.
Actually, the area that my brother-in-law's store is at is a very high crime area in Arizona. I don't have any statistics, but I would guess that the crime rate is worse in his area than in San Francisco, and would probably rival some of the areas in East Oakland... Crime is definitely an ongoing concern of the residents there.
Then all they need to do is arbitrarily change the law again requiring all transfers be done through a then non-existant dealer.
Knee jerk reaction.
I should also add that I defintiely agree with you in that the statistic is somewhat meaningless without a comparison of other store statistics in the Bay Area... Still 1 in 8 sounds like a lot to me just off the top of my head. But if I were to learn that all the Bay Area stores have around a 1 in 10 rate, I wouldn't see that as that bad. However, if other stores are closer to 1 in 50 or less, then that would indicate to me that criminals are selecting this store disproportionately to purchase their guns, and I would have to ask why. If they are consistently not sending in correct paperwork or allowing customers to get away with a little fudging of data on their applications,it would make it harder to trace weapons that were used in a crime,and that could be a reason for the high crime stats.
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