Posted on 03/10/2014 8:59:22 AM PDT by marktwain
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives raided EP Armory, in Bakersfield, California Friday, along with owner Chris Cook's home. Details at this point are still very thin, but Cook says that agents indicated that they are looking for "illegal guns." From ABC 23 News:
The ATF was not able to provide information on the on-going investigation. Grahm Barlowe with the ATF declined to comment on why the store was targeted or exactly what agents were looking for.
Cook said agents told him they were looking for illegal firearms.
EP Armory is known mostly for its innovative "80% complete" AR-15 receivers. Such receivers, by virtue of still needing some machining in order to serve as the foundation of a firearm, are, legally speaking, just an inert hunk of metal--or in this case, strong (Kevlar-reinforced) polymer. That means they can be legally sold to anyone, without background checks, without the necessity of a serial number, without a requirement for records--almost as if there were a Constitutional amendment stating that by the absolute law of the land, we the people have a right to arms--a right that shall not be infringed.
One of the innovative features of EP Armory's receivers is that the machining can be done without a drill press or milling machine, or even a jig. By using different color polymers for the portions that are to be milled away, a drill and a Dremel can be all that is needed to convert a hunk of plastic into Congressman Henry Waxman's (D-CA) nightmare (see sidebar video for the process).
It should be noted that the BATFE arrested no one, and in fact eventually permitted EP Armory to re-open later Friday, although they confiscated Cook's files, laptop, cell phone
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
They wanted the names of his clients so they can do midnight Ninja raids on the customers!
The list, Ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list
All they want is a copy of the sales records. If you purchased from them, now the Feds know you have a rifle.
That’s why confidential files go on a USB drive.
Much easier to go after the good guys....who have to pay for their own attorneys and stand under the sword of government to pursue their business, by virtue of selective licensing. Out of control. Disgusting.
The lower receiver on an AR is legally considered to be ‘the gun’ and requires a serial number, NICS, and all the rest. Not sure what they are referring to regarding the “80 complete” claim.
Of course, even though they’re raiding his property “looking for illegal guns”, you can bet your ass he’ll get charged for anything and everything they can find. He better hope his building is up to code & regulations, and the inspection sticker on his car is still good.
Yeah, it’s almost as if your constitutional republic has disappeared. Wait a minute...
Two USB drives. One to store the information and the other to store the 612 character password needed to unlock the encryption on the first one.
So the ATF can run an operation designed to funnel thousands of firearms into the hands of Mexican drug cartels and there is no problem, but one company makes an incomplete receiver and they descend on him like a swarm of locusts?
I hope this will lead to a year’s worth of orders thanks to the free advertising. I will be checking them out myself (or perhaps I shouldn’t bother given my bad luck with boating accidents).
Don’t need a password, if they can’t find it.
Means that the machining operations required to make it a functional lower are only 80% complete.
Unless purchased with cash at a gun show. Which is another reason why the feds hate gun shows.
It’s not a fully functional lower receiver, so doesn’t have a serial number. The end user does the final work to make it functional.
80% receivers are not complete lower receivers, and CANNOT be used to make a working firearm without further machining. They are just interesting-looking paperweights. The 80% standard is ATF-driven - they claim that anything less than that isn't a gun and can be sold to anyone, anywhere, without records, serial numbers, background checks, etc. More than that, it is a receiver.
Most states allow you to make your own firearms, and you don't need a permit for that, or to put a serial number on the gun. A lot of people who make 80% lowers say that you would be better off putting your own serial number on the gun (a snap if you've got the right equipment and the ability to do the machining on the receiver), just so that it doesn't look suspicious. You aren't supposed to sell such guns/receivers, but I don't know how it'd be proven except if an ATF or state-equivalent agent was part of the transaction.
More and more people are buying these paperweights - and the more that are sold, the less power the government has because it has less information with which to control us mere citizens. More power to this guy, and to all others making them.
Never hurts to be doubly cautious.
“”That means they can be legally sold to anyone, without background checks, without the necessity of a serial number,That means they can be legally sold to anyone, without background checks, without the necessity of a serial number,”
The lower receive, whether stripped or not is where the Serial number and background check is required.
The “80% complete” just means the trigger assembly and magazine components are not installed.
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