Posted on 08/10/2021 1:21:31 PM PDT by Yo-Yo
U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- Gun Owners of America & AmmoLand News are in possession of the complete Standard Operating Procedures (S.O.P.) Manual for the ATF’s Firearms & Ammunition Technology Division (FATD).
Recently Gun Owners of America filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request asking the ATF to supply FATD’s “Standard Operating Procedures.” For years gun rights activists and firearms journalists speculated that the document existed. The ATF has always been tight-lipped about the existence of the document and what it could contain. GOA was able to determine the exact name of the document and requested it from the ATF.
GOA has shown the will follow through and sue the ATF and other government organizations over denied or delayed FOIA requests.
The ATF could have forced GOA’s hands but, to their credit, turned over the document to the gun rights organization for publication as required under Freedom of Information Act law. If GOA did have to sue the ATF, the group could have forced the ATF to pay the legal fees if the government lost in court.
Now GOA & AmmoLand News now have the complete Firearms & Ammunition Technology Division (FATD) “Standard Operating Procedures” document.
The amount of information in the ATF FOIA release is vast. Some of the information given by the ATF to GOA was already released but buried deep inside the ATF’s FOIA response was FATD’s “Standard Operating Procedures.” That document gives us a deep insight into the shadowy division of the ATF responsible for deciding what is and isn’t a stock and what is and isn’t a firearm.
GOA approached AmmoLand News and asked if we would be interested and digging through the document and analyze the inner workings of FATD. AmmoLand News agreed to the offer because we believe that this information should be publicly available for anyone to view. Over the coming weeks, AmmoLand News journalists will be highlighting some of the information locked inside the documents. AmmoLand News and GOA will make the complete document available for the industry, defense attorneys, and the public at the end of our reporting.
Inside the FATD Standard Operating Procedures is how the branch handles and examines different items. These items include discussions of armor-piercing ammunition and non-evidentiary firearms. It gives a great insight into what the ATF officers look at when reviewing different things before issuing an opinion letter back to a firearms company or individual that submitted a firearms product for a determination.
Not only does the document cover the methods and procedures the FATD department needs to follow, but the document goes into the training of Firearms Enforcement Officers. For the first time, the public will get to look at the training that the ATF provides these officers. It will be an eye open for the readers to learn what type of training programs that new officers must be complete before being allowed to examine items.
Not only does the document covers what information an officer needs to know about importation laws and knowledge of the Nation Firearms Act, but it also talks about how the officers must write a short essay about a firearm from a list that includes guns like the SKS, Sten, or the FN FAL.
There is more to come on this story so stay tuned.
About John Crump
John is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
I don’t know anything about guns but I want to read about this story later.
Me neither... ;)
Thanks
ptsal
Too bad the ball-less NRA didn’t play a role...
Until the NRA dumps LaPierre, they're dead to me.
...the budget did NOT include any fancy suits for the negotiators. /s
What’s a gun?
amen Wayne L. is toast.
Paraphrasing Booker T Washinton, this is what I think the NRA is about with Wayne LaPierre at the helm:
“There is another class of gun owner who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs and the hardships of the gun ownwer before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs – partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the gun owner to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.”
If the NRA succeeded in their stated mission, their success would put them out of business.
Good catch!
A corrupt government agency isn’t going to let a little thing like an S.O.P. manual stop them from violating your rights. They’ll just ignore it to screw you.
When I worked for the IRS over 30 years ago I was routinely ordered to take illegal enforcement actions. When I pointed out to those rogue managers the Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) proscribed a different action they replied “...that’s just a guide, we don’t have to follow that...”. ATF is under Treasury, and while I haven’t had detailed experience with them, I do know of specific examples of their dishonesty. They will disregard their own manual when convenient.
WTF?! The freaking article doesn't even mention the NRA, and five out of the first 10 posts are b!tching & moaning about "Wayne's suits" and other irrelevant crap. Can't tell you 'circular firing squad' types from the gun banners.
Want to stop wasting everyone's time, and do something useful? Post a link to the Gun Owners of America, so all of the people who bought guns for the first time in 2020-2021 get some POSITIVE input...
Educate yourself on how much damage Wayne LaPierre has done to the NRA and the Second Amendment movement through his selfish, and possibly criminal, misuse of millions of NRA dollars for his own private benefit before you berate anyone for forming a Circular Firing Squad.
Spare me - I am well aware of the NRA's issues, if for no other reason than the whining & complaining you numbskulls do on every single firearms-related thread. New thread about reloading? More bellyaching about the NRA. New thread about defense against bear attacks? More b!tching & moaning about "Wayne's suits" (as if the freaking bear was ol' Wayne himself, wearing a bear suit). Bottom line, the NRA has NOTHING to do with this article, UNLESS you're obsessed with attacking the NRA. And that sure helps all of the new gun owners a lot, who have never heard of any gun owners' group, EXCEPT the NRA - at least post a link to GOA, so you don't look 100% exactly like a gun-grabbing D*mocrat troll...
The story was posted on AmmoLand, so there is a link to AmmoLand.
You, sir, had better watch your mouth and what names you call other FReepers.
Oh, you betcha - there's obviously no reason whatsoever, to compare people who bellyache about the NRA here, with people (D@mocrats, 'fake-newsers', etc.) who bellyache about the NRA elsewhere. After all, just being on FR proves you're 'the real deal'.
/sarc
(...and yes, apparently 'the /sarc tag' really is necessary)
I'm sorry for your refusal to educate yourself, but that's on you, not me.
And at least I'm a monthly donor to FR, and don't freeload.
Now, that's funny! You start a thread about successful action by the Gun Owners of America, and who is it, exactly, who posts positive recommendations (including multiple links ;>) for GOA? Not the thread starter, and not the bellyachers who never miss an opportunity to b!tch & moan about the NRA (including threads that have nothing to do with the NRA). Maybe it's the only average NRA member here, who might have been a member longer than some of the cry babies have been alive, and who would therefore be very much aware of the NRA's current issues - to the point of consistently directing people to the Gun Owners of America. Isn't that worth doing, especially to help millions of Americans who might have received NRA paperwork with their new firearms? Maybe not - it's so much easier to just whine & complain about the NRA.
And at least I'm a monthly donor to FR, and don't freeload.
Congratulations on your bountiful finances. Why not tell us what kind of car you drive, and where you spent your last vacation - I'm sure those details are just as relevant to the subject of this thread, and will establish your 'expert' status in the eyes of everyone here...
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