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He came to the attention of the BATF. How or why doesn't matter. Any dealer can be inspected at any time without advance notice. Dealers know this, and any dealer who doesn't have his books in order will have to come up with a really good sob story. His only viable defense at any point would be to have his books in order, so that he can defend himself in court. It doesn't matter in the slightest HOW his inspection came about, it only matters that he was found not complying with the law. That's the only thing the BATF needs to pull his license and possibly pursue criminal charges, if any.

I feel sorry for this guy and all the other dealers who are honest but sloppy bookkeepers. That doesn't change what the guy's going to be put through. He could have avoided all this by keeping his books in order - STEP ONE. Everything else is noise in the wind.

One of the cop shops I used to work at went out of business last year. A friend of mine there was kept on for several months *as the only other employee* until all the decades' worth of firearm records could be organized and boxed up. It amounted to several large pickup truck loads, and all the boxes had to be accurately labeled as to contents. It took months of hard work to do this. The owner of the defunct company could have put on an attitude and just left the stuff in the old building. Since he didn't want to be hauled into Federal court and prosecuted, he put in the time and money to gather up and turn over the records as the BATF laws require. He won't be hauled into Federal court - because he complied with laws he knew up front that he was going to have to comply with.

It doesn't matter in the slightest if this ex-cop-shop owner liked it, believed in it, or approved of it. It only matters that he complied with the requirement to turn over those records or face some serious Federal prosecution. It's a requirement that every FFL holder has. Fail to comply, get ready for a rough ride.

There's better ways to fight the battle against us gun owners than trying to mount a successful defense after getting caught with a multitude of violations.