Posted on 08/12/2022 5:50:38 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants
Video of an ATF inspector snapping pictures of sales records at an Arizona gun shop went viral recently.
The footage, which was recorded by Dave Nagel, the owner of Black Metal Firearms in Mesa, back in December/January of 2022, depicts ATF Industry Operations Inspector (IOI) Pamela Scott taking photos of the store’s Acquisitions and Dispensations (A&D) books on her personal cellular device, allegedly.
“No registry? Here’s our ATF auditor copying every single page of our A&D books with her cell phone camera using an app that reads text,” said Black Metal Firearms on Instagram.
“This data includes make, model, serial number, buyer’s name and address, and even the seller. We have well over 20 minutes of footage of this happening in our shop in public view. Yes, this is illegal,” the store continued.
(Excerpt) Read more at gunsamerica.com ...
“Do you have an FFL and own a store that sells firearms?”
Stupid question. I live in a regulatory world that has tyrants far worse than the ATF. One thing you learn is never be a pussy as they will pounce on you and make your life miserable.
It seem you are a pussy who would cave at the first harsh word. ‘Blood of Tyrants’, only if they give themselves a paper cut.
ATF inspectors are bureaucrats. They may be armed, but they don’t travel with a tactical team. Partner, maybe.
If it was illegal, he let her take the data and he was my dealer, he has something to answer for.
I’d argue it is more of a 4th Amendment issue - but illegal without a specific warrant, which would also be limited to specific data about a specific case. It’s an illegal search and seizure.
If those photos are stored “In the Cloud”, then that would be transmission of personal information. Would that not be a felony?
That database in UTAH is bigger than Gods!
With private sales still not going through FFL’s, there is utterly no certainty that someone still owns a firearm tied to them.
So suck it, ATF.
Family-owned legacy gun shop the latest casualty of Joe Biden’s war on gun dealers
Master gunsmith James Morrison founded JM Gun Repair 46 years ago, after doing gun repairs in his garage. The gun shop has been a local institution ever since, offering firearms, black powder and reloading gear, ammunition including hard-to-find calibers and James’ incredible skills as a master gunsmith with 50 years of experience.
The business is perfectly located, straddling the county line between Sarasota and Bradenton, Florida.
“This has been a family legacy for 46 years,” said James’ grandson, Noah Morrison. His father and uncle work at the shop too.
Noah, who just turned 21, dreamed of becoming the third generation of Morrisons to operate this family business. However, his dreams were dashed when George Hancock, an ATF Industry Operations Investigator, known as an IOI, walked into the shop, at around the same time Joe Biden announced his war on “rogue” gun dealers.
“During the audit, he found faults in our paperwork,” Noah said. “In in the past, for these types of minor faults, an auditor would have just handed us a pen and told us to fix them.”
Noah’s father Benwayne Morrison, agrees. “These were clerical errors, but they changed the definition,” he said. “Under their new definition, they said our violations were willful. After 46 years we never gave a gun to someone who shouldn’t have it, but that didn’t matter. None of the violations were on Biden’s ‘rogue’ gun dealer list.”
Rogue defined
Biden first announced his zero-tolerance policy in June 2021. Part of his scheme included five criteria, which he claimed defined a rogue dealer:
1.) transferring a firearm to a prohibited person
2.) failing to run a required background check
3.) falsifying records, such as a firearms transaction form
4.) failing to respond to an ATF tracing request
5.) refusing to permit ATF to conduct an inspection in violation of the law
However, the ATF is revoking licenses for the most minor of errors – errors not on Biden’s five-point list. As a result, a special report we published in May revealed that FFL revocations increased a staggering 500 percent.
No due process
Effective Aug. 23, JM Gun Repair can no longer transfer or sell firearms. The family intends to keep the shop open, selling ammunition, reloading and black powder supplies, gear and other accessories, but not guns or even gunsmithing services. They posted a note on their website announcing the changes.
“Our family legacy is gone,” Benwayne said. “My father started this business. A master gunsmith is a rare breed. He can tell you the details about a gun made 100 years ago. He’s still sharp as a tack. Our family was screwed over by the ATF.”
The worst part for him and his family is that there was no way to appeal the ATF’s order.
There was no due process.
Benwayne contacted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office, but was told since it was a federal matter, he should contact Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott. Benwayne never received a response from Scott’s office. One of Rubio’s assistants told him to send more information, but he has not heard back.
Illegal registry
Both Benwayne and Noah believe there is another, unspoken reason why the ATF is revoking hundreds of FFLs. Anytime a gun shop closes or is ordered out of business, they must mail years of records to the ATF.
“They’re building a gun registry, and that’s illegal,” Benwayne said. “If you want to build a registry, the easiest way to do it is to have gun dealers supply their records. That’s the quickest way for them to find out who has what kind of guns. If they shut down a 46-year-old store that’s had thousands of sales, all of a sudden, they’ve got a lot of records.”
Neither Jason Medina, public information officer for ATF’s Tampa Field Division, nor Aaron Gerber, the Division’s Director of Industry Operations, returned calls seeking comment for this story.
Takeaways
It’s clear that the Biden-Harris administration believes if they eliminate all the gun dealers, they will eliminate all the guns. But since there is only a handful of real rogues out of the 50,000 licensed gun dealers doing business in the country, the administration had to devise another tactic. As a result, they came up with the “willful” scheme.
Now, even the most insignificant clerical error as a willful violation, which means the dealer is a rogue, and their license is quickly revoked. The ATF was happy to play along, since they’ve always been more than willing to bend over for the White House, regardless of the constitutionality of the request.
The two hallmarks of the Morrison family business have always been safety and family. Benwayne used to train Boy Scouts. His father taught Hunter Safety classes. They educate every first-time gun buyer before they leave the shop.
“My parents could have retired years ago, but they wanted to keep the business going for their children and their grandchildren,” Benwayne said. “It’s frustrating to me that now my son Noah is old enough to be part of the family business, but he can’t. We’ve always been a law-abiding shop. We’ve done our best for nearly a half century to educate the public and keep the public safe. So, if they can do this to us, they can do this to anybody.”
This has been going on for DECADES.
I got to know my local gun store owner really well back in the nineties - that one gun a month law really put a dent in our household budget - spent many hours just talking to him and his partner, made a lifelong friend with one of his employees and this is truth:
in 2003, while Johnny Mohammed and his buttboy the muslim terrorists were shooting up locals here in MD-VA (”the beltway snipers”), ATF, FBI and “law enforcement” were scrambling to find ALL owners of 5.56/.223 caliber rifles.
What this involved was going to gunstores throughout the area, pawing through the 4473’s, making copies, and going to gun owners’ homes to TAKE said guns for “ballistic testing.”
Over 5,000 such guns were turned over.
I got a call from a MoCo detective one morning asking when we could meet for him to pick up my guns.
I told him clearly, calmly, I’d be HAPPY to do this AFTER every single AR rifle in the trunks of MD police cars had been tested FIRST, not a minute before. Police had the means and opportunities to do the shooting as much as normal citizens and I wasn’t going to submit to unconstitutional taking.
He told me this wasn’t over, that I’d hear from him again soon.
I never did.
Years before this, Al (the FFL at my LGS) told me ATF had copied some 4473’s, just in the course of their usual random inspections.
Of course he could have told them no, but it doesn’t take much to shut down an FFL for “non-compliance” and let the shop founder and close while the FFL-holder exhausts his savings and appeal options.
This is how Class 3 FFL holders went from roughly 200,000 in the 1980’s to somewhere around 50,000 just a few years ago, and every time an FFL is turned in, the 4473’s get turned in to ATF too.
So what Al DID do is tell the agents no, they couldn’t use his copier.
They came back the next day with a portable generator, extension cords and a copier and proceeded to make copies of hundreds of 4473’s.
Al ran a clean shop. Impeccable record keeping. He finally closed shop about 15 years later as the paperwork burden was too great.
Yes, copying records is illegal.
Not one agent nationwide has ever been punished for it, much less gotten a letter of reprimand from a supervisor.
F-Troop is more GESTAPO than FBI.
I told Al one time “well, at least you don’t keep any kittens in the shop.”
so in other words, you don’t have an FFL or a gun store and you are all hat and no cattle.
Has anyone else noticed how remarkably intelligent our founding fathers were when they used the word “arms” instead of the highly limiting word “muskets.” Yep, they had to have the benefit of divine intervention, and they listened and followed that intervention very carefully. Now, we the people are apathetically squandering their wisdom. In order for evil to prevail, let good men do nothing.
“ Yes, this is illegal,” the store continued.”
So why didn’t you shoot her?
L
According to the DOJ/FBI, this is perfectly legal.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4085066/posts?page=27#27
This is what would happen to you if you tried to play Billy Badass. I guarantee you would be shut down in a New York minute and your business would be padlocked.
IIUC, the shop owner did not interfere with the illegal activity by the Stasi agent? Just let her photograph the records?
I suggest free dental work....FEDs vs freelance dentists.
The ATF needs to be shuttered along with the FBI. It seems all that government wants to do is intimidate citizens and trample peoples’ rights.
Yes it is illegal. A registry created by gun store records is specifically illegal.
The only people who "shouldn't" have a gun are those currently incarcerated. And if you can't be trusted to be armed, you should not be running around loose. Build more prisons.
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