Free Republic

BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho gun shop that went to federal court to keep the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from pulling its gun license has reached a settlement with the agency. Terry and Ryan Horsley of Red's Trading Post in Twin Falls asked the court to review their case in 2007, after the ATF revoked their license. The ATF said the shop had repeatedly violated gun sales rules. The Horsleys said they had been targeted by the agency and that most of the problems were clerical, such as using abbreviations on gun sale documentation. Red's Trading Shop...

The confirmation of US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan as head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives was thrown into further doubt yesterday, when a Republican senator who is blocking the nomination renewed complaints that Sullivan has refused to loosen licensing rules for guns. The development means that the future leadership of the US attorney's office in Boston will remain cloudy for the foreseeable future, because the Bush administration has been unable to nominate a replacement. For now, Sullivan is performing both roles while his nomination is caught in a crossfire over gun policy. Senator David Vitter of...

Did you know that Josh Sugarmann, of the Violence Policy Center, has a Federal Firearms License? And that the business address is that of The Violence Policy Center? You do now. Also, given the ATF’s recent crack down on FFLs, I wonder when the VPC’s last inspection was? And how many transfers they’ve done. If none, then that could mean they’re not a business and, per ATF, that is bad. If they have, they’re hypocrites. Said FFL exempts them from the DC handgun ban, as well.

TWIN FALLS - Nothing much happened and the complaints came too late. That's how a Boise attorney responded to a federal agency's claim that his client, the manager of a local gun store, harassed and intimidated agents until they left the store. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives exaggerated its July 17 claim that Red's Trading Post Manager Ryan Horsley intimidated its agents, wrote Horsley's attorney, Mark S. Geston, in a response filed Aug. 6 in federal court. While ATF is yanking Red's license, citing numerous violations, a federal judge has allowed the store to continue operating...

We've been keeping our readers abreast of the trials endured by Red's Trading Post, Idaho's oldest gun shop, which has been targeted by the BATFE. You can read our previous updates on Red's (as well as links to news articles on this travesty) at www.jpfo.org/redstradingpost.htm or visit Red's own site at www.redstradingpost.com . Despite having won an injuction to keep their business running, Red's is _still_ being harassed, seemingly because owner Ryan Horsley continues to speak publicly about the situation. On Tuesday of this week, David Codrea revealed in his "War on Guns" blog that BATFE agents "...had threatened [Ryan...

I've been sitting on some facts for a few days at the request of Ryan Horsley. BATFU had threatened him that he needed to cease all blogging and keep their agents and inspectors free from being photographed or observed, or they would go to the judge and file a complaint of harassment. Ryan was in a dilemma--he has been single-handedly bearing the burden of his defense against a fe(de)ral government with practically unlimited resources--yet if he continued to allow his persecutors to operate in the dark, that is where they would kill Red's. The new complaint is calculated to be...

A team of inspectors from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives fled an Idaho gun shop where they were inspecting sales records when they learned their actions were being recorded on a blog. The federal agency and Red's Trading Post of Twin Falls, Idaho, have been disputing for six years already over the store's license to sell firearms, with regulators using rules infractions such as a missing poster to attack Red's business operations.

On Wednesday June 6, 2007; the BATFE has submitted a letter to Judge Edward Lodge requesting the termination of the preliminary injunction that was granted to Red’s Trading Post on April 30th by Judge Lodge. The ATF is alleging that Red’s Trading Post “willfully” committed three violations. The ATF conducted an audit on 5/23/2007 in which 2 Agents John Hansen and Kylie Williamson and Area Supervisor Linda Young, who specifically came down from Spokane, WA. One of the employees documented Young stating to the other Agents during the audit, "We'll do this again and again and again until this is...

Red's Trading Post in Twin Falls, Idaho, is the state's oldest gun shop, opened since 1936. In 2004, a routine BATFE audit revealed minor clerical errors. According to Red's, out of nearly ten THOUSAND firearms transferred between 1996 and 2004, the alleged error rate did not even reach 1%. Even the BATFE acknowledges these are minor paperwork errors -- there are no missing firearms and no willful illegal acts.And yet the BATFE has revoked the ability of Red's Trading Post to acquire firearms for resale, although they're still permitted to sell the firearms in stock ... for now. But that's...