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The first ATF ruling of 2015 is a vast expansion of its already considerable power.  It maintains that an entity that rents or leases equipment or tools that are under kept under the entity's control, must be licensed as a gun manufacturer and keep gun manufacturing records, if it allows other people to use its equipment to perform work that complete a frame, receiver, or complete firearm.  From the ruling (pdf): An FFL or unlicensed machine shop may also desire to make available its machinery (e.g., a computer numeric control or “CNC” machine), tools, or equipment to individuals who...

National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea noted last week that a new General Accounting Office report has found that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lacks the resources to effectively investigate one of their highest stated priorities--firearms in the hands of those prohibited by federal law from having them. Specifically, the GAO report draws the conclusion that the BATFE is unable to efficiently pursue "delayed denial" investigations, in which a person ineligible to own a firearm under federal law is permitted to do so anyway, because the criminal background check did not turn up any disqualifying information in...

“There is abroad in our land the growing thought that America is now in fact two countries sharing a common border and (mostly) a common language but divided along the answer to this question,” citizen journalist Mike Vanderboegh told approximately 600 activist gun owners, many carrying long arms, who gathered at The Alamo this past Saturday. “Does the government serve the people or do the people serve the government?” “This is not a question [that] can be finessed, compromised or negotiated,” Vanderboegh explained. “It is either the answer of individual liberty or that of the collectivist Borg … For our...

The effort to enact state preemption law-violating “gun control” measures in Burlington is being advanced in steps as recommended by Rep. Linda Waite-Simpson of Essex and anti-gun activists, the Vermont Federation of Sportmen’s Clubs reported yesterday, citing the latest “Vermont this Week” Public Television panel. The revealed game plan is to settle for incremental gains and then go back later to try for further measures, “[T]he Burlington City Council's charter committee changed its proposed gun control ordinance … in hopes of having it pass at the Burlington Council City Public Hearing,” VFSC told its supporters in an advisory alert. Moderator...

Requesting that the United States Court of Appeals affirm the district court’s decision to grant a new trial and permit oral arguments, attorneys for the Reese family filed an Apellees’ Brief Thursday claiming “suppressed impeachment evidence was both favorable and material and … the decision to grant a new trial was within the sound discretion of the trial court.” Arrested almost two years ago for allegedly knowingly selling guns to cartel members while operating a New Mexico gun store, all Reese family members were found not guilty on the most serious charges of conspiracy. Additionally and significantly, money laundering charges...

A memorandum issued by Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter on expended military ammunition brass sale and scrap guidelines cited in yesterday’s Gun Rights Examiner column has raised questions about who he is, and if he harbors a personal political agenda in favor of restricting civilian market supplies to the extent that he can. That Carter is an elite establishment player is unquestionable. Earning degrees from Yale, being a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, going on to being “chair of the International and Global Affairs faculty at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government,” and holding various White House...

“Not guilty” verdicts reached yesterday in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida trial of two men accused of gun-dealing and conspiracy raise new questions about federal prosecution tactics. Homer Helter and James Kassel “were acquitted of engaging in the business of selling firearms without a license and conspiracy to engage in the business of selling firearms,” NaplesNews.com reported. Of significance was the government’s key witness, “a twice-convicted felon with a lengthy rap sheet who has earned at least $87,000 from the government over the past few years, including $7,500 for this case,” the report reveals....

After 18 months behind bars, Rick and Ryin Reese have been granted bond today, Judge Robert C. Brack of the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico ruled. They are the last two members of a New Mexico gun dealer family jailed for allegedly knowingly selling guns to cartel members, but who were found not guilty on the most serious charges of conspiracy and had money laundering charges against them dismissed. They were convicted on a handful of lesser charges of making false statements on forms, basically under the presumption that they should have know federal agents...

Announcing anti-gun measures in front of a theatrical backdrop of children, itself a tactic associated with troubling historical precedents, President Barack Obama yesterday proposed specific legislative efforts related to guns for Congress to pass, and also outlined 23 measures he says can be implemented under executive authority. To set the stage for using children, the White House, along with a complicit anti-gun media, made a point of sharing letters from children, particularly those that resonate with the childish emotions of those who don’t know enough about guns to know they’re being manipulated. Case in point is the message from an...

A graph prepared by an author and member of the state gun rights group Georgia Carry.org notes a marked increase in active killer events in spite of federal laws intended to help curb such incidents. GCO research staffer Michael Menkus, previously brought to the attention of Gun Rights Examiner readers as the author of “Guns Good Bans Bad - An Analysis of U.S. Department of Justice 2010 Crime Statistics,” recently completed a chart that demonstrates a quadrupling of these events (see photo accompanying this column). “Along with studying how changes in carry laws change crime rates, I also study Active...

To anyone who may be persuaded that “a national conversation” on guns and violence in society is needed, rather than automatically accepting the assumptions of those who think it ought to begin with calling for more citizen disarmament edicts, answer one question first: If you saw someone methodically murdering children and you could get your hands on a gun, would you use it to stop him? Yes or no? There’s no time for equivocation. Every second you hesitate, another innocent is being slaughtered. If you answered “no,” you’re an irredeemable coward, unfit for the company of free men and women,...

The national right to keep and bear arms advocacy group, Gun Owners of America, urged its members and supporters today to ask Rep. Paul Ryan “to bring up Fast & Furious in the debate this Thursday with [Vice President] Joe Biden. “Just recently, Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan – ‘A’ rated by Gun Owners of America -- became the 131st Representative to call for Attorney General Eric Holder’s resignation,” the alert reports. “This is a unique opportunity for him to show how the administration will use diabolical methods to advance its gun control agenda,” GOA explains, providing a link to...

The long-awaited report from the Office of Inspector General was released this afternoon, prompting media conclusions that could not possibly reflect adequate scrutiny and analysis that effectively assess its findings. “The report says Attorney General Eric Holder was not made aware of potential flaws in the program until February of last year,” Fox News is reporting, while making no reference to deficiencies admitted up front by the OIG. Case in point, Chapter One of the report identifies key individuals who declined to be interviewed, significantly including “Criminal Chief [Patrick J.] Cunningham [who] declined through counsel our request for a follow-up...

A letter sent today from Sen. Chuck Grassley and Rep. Darrell Issa to B. Todd Jones, Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, asked how “a top ATF official involved in Operation Fast and Furious…can remain on paid leave while simultaneously drawing an additional six figure salary from a major financial services company,” a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform release announced. “Given [former Assistant Director William] McMahon’s extensive involvement in the leadership failures of Operation Fast and Furious, Grassley and Issa sought a detailed explanation of why the Justice Department would approve this special...

A series of stories developed from documents received and analyzed in this column over the past few days have resulted in some answers and more questions regarding John Shipley, a former FBI agent convicted of illegal gun dealing. A remarkable conclusion from a source close to his case is convinced “ATF was directly responsible for the sale of [a .50 caliber rifle] to Jonatan Lopez through their informant Paul Lee on 12/19/2007” in the parking lot of an El Paso gun store. Readers of this series have seen how Lopez, a Mexican national with a Texas driver license, purchased the...

Documents analyzed over the past few days in this column, received from a source close to the case of former FBI agent John Shipley, convicted of illegally dealing in firearms, indicate not only a pattern of government-sanctioned “gunwalking” similar to what occurred in the Fast and Furious debacle, but also raise suspicions that federal agents lied on the application to obtain a search warrant for Shipley’s residence. In previous installments of this exclusive story, Gun Rights Examiner documented how collector and hobbyist Shipley sold a Barrett .50 caliber rifle to a former deputy, who then resold it to a trafficker...

An FBI agent’s conviction for illegally dealing in firearms was greatly influenced by the introduction of prejudicial statements and materials, documents obtained and analyzed by Gun Rights Examiner over the past few days reveal. John Shipley, found guilty in April, 2010, has insisted throughout his prosecution and incarceration that he was instead an active and enthusiastic collector who bought and sold guns in accordance with federal firearms regulations recognizing such activities as legal. Courtroom transcripts, reported statements and irrelevant exhibits designed to sway jurors with emotion, rather than evidence, appear to bolster his contention, especially when compared to what the...

Sipsey Street Irregulars Blog author Mike Vanderboegh, GunTruths and Citizens of America co-founder David Codrea and FNC legal analyst Lis Wiehl on the potential impact on Second Amendment rights after the shooting in Aurora, Colorado.

Attorney General Eric Holder could lose his license to practice law in the District of Columbia, or face some other penalty from the D.C. Bar, now that he has been found in criminal and civil contempt of Congress. Last week, the bloggers who first exposed Operation Fast and Furious, Mike Vanderboegh and David Codrea, filed a formal complaint with the Washington, D.C. Office of Bar Counsel alleging that Holder committed “professional misconduct” during the congressional investigation into the scandal. Because Holder was found in contempt of Congress for his “refusal to comply with a subpoena duly issued by the Committee...

An ethics complaint against U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has been filed by David Codrea and Mike Vanderboegh with the Office of Bar Counsel, Board on Professional Responsibility of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Codrea and Vanderboegh are the two bloggers who first broke the news of the Fast and Furious scandal in December 2010.Said Vanderboegh, Eric Holder believes that he will escape serious consequences of the congressional investigations of the Fast and Furious scandal simply by running out the clock on his tenure. We intend this ethics complaint to place him on notice that his lies and...