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 ...
Lucky the place didn’t get burned down with tanks.
Btw - this reminds me of Wilson Blair....
Actually not true. You can sell them, you just can’t be “in the business of making them for sale”. So if you make one and later decide you don’t need it, you can sell it. But you probably don’t want to make one on Friday and sell it on Saturday, nor to make and sell 10 a year or something.
I suspect they’ll “find” child porn or a second set of books or both.
So the guys in trouble for following the rules? I know a lot of bureaucrats like that.
Remember the olden days back when it was the Constitution that determined things and not the unelected portions executive branch.
Fixed it for you. Many more have taken their place, but it is probably only time until they are raided, too.
BTW, having "build parties" is what tripped up a few of them. And, having a CNC machine programmed to machine it, leaving you only having to push the "on" button was another one.
A previous injection moulded plastic lower manufacturer offered one that was complete except for enlarging the undersized existing holes in the sides. Since it took VERY little time to injection mould a lower, just enlarging the holes was truly 20% of the work time. They are no longer in business. My guess is that the latest one was just too easy to complete.
Thanks. I was relieved to see that Brownells still had 80% lowers on their web site. I seem to recall an article describing a Chinese concern which was calculating their upcoming shipments by the ton. There must be a lot of interest.
Gun owners are so accident-prone these days that it seems like a lot of work just to see one's carefully crafted receiver sink to the bottom of a lake. Future generations may be mystified by the hazards to navigation created by such hobbyists.
They were after the customer list...that is why they let him go.
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