This encounter with the ATF is scary. These searches for firearms at homes of innocent people, with no search warrant are intrusive and unwarranted. If this is how authoritarian our government has become, we should all have our own lawyers on speed dial just in case. It doesn’t seem to matter if one has done anything illegal nor not - the goal is to keep us intimidated and afraid and under control. I have heard the recording of the interaction- they say they were just doing their job. Isn’t that what all thugs working for tyrants say?
The Washington Times
GOP lawmaker calls on ATF to explain video of agents asking firearms owner for gun serial numbers
A recent doorbell video recording from a Delaware resident prompted a Republican lawmaker to question why agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives asked a legal firearm owner for his weapons’ serial numbers without a warrant.
The video, first posted and reported by Armed American News, shows ATF agents and state troopers on July 12 demanding a homeowner turn over the serial numbers of firearms he recently purchased.
“I’m extremely concerned by the reports of a surprise and unwarranted firearms inspection conducted by the ATF. This incident occurred the same day Steve Dettelbach was sworn in to head the ATF, and it is exactly the kind of action I was concerned about under his leadership. ATF agents did not have a search warrant, and they had to rely on pressuring the homeowner for consent,” Rep. Matt Rosendale, Montana Republican, told The Washington Times.
“The ATF must answer questions on why they decided to conduct an illegal search, especially since the homeowner had done nothing wrong. These actions by the federal government are unsettling, and they have no business going door-to-door to see who owns firearms. I fear that there will be more illegal inspections to come as the Left continues its assault on our 2nd Amendment rights. Congress should investigate this immediately.”
The ATF defended itself in a statement to The Washington Times, saying the agents’ actions were “entirely appropriate.”
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OK, so this next article was written a couple of years ago, but the advice at the end is still good. Of course, digitizing paper records isn’t hard, it’s just time consuming, so who knows how long it will take to get to all of them. Perhaps we’ll have a government that expunges the records before then. Then again, if this is what their storage facility looks like, paper records could be lost forever.
DOES THE ATF HAVE A LIST OF GUNS THAT YOU OWN?
I have not attended SHOT Show in many years and wow, I certainly learned a lot.
There were many new guns, scopes and mounting hardware to check out. Twenty first century gun buyers seem to have an unlimited amount of quality firearms and accessories to choose from.
I also learned about a computer software package that is dangerous and that is the topic of this article.
These requirements (to record receipt and disposition of every firearm) have been in place since at least 1968 and dealers must make their records available for ATF inspection during business hours — and no warrant is required. The law prohibits ATF from making complete copies of dealer’s records which could be used to create a registry of guns and gun owners.
While attending the SHOT Show, I learned about a software package that makes dealer record keeping easier.
The software allows dealers to keep an electronic bound book. Software, making daily tasks easier… what could possibly go wrong?
Plenty!
I was told that this “feature” makes a compliance check easy because the dealer simply exports the CSV file to a thumb drive and the ATF leaves with the data. I was told that ATF analyzes the data away from the FFL’s premises. If there are any discrepancies or problems the gun dealer is notified and usually given an opportunity to correct the errors.
This scheme is a danger, and allows ATF to easily create a gun registry — in violation of 18 USC 926 (a)(3). We have no way to know if a registry is actually being created and if the ATF is or is not destroying these records at the conclusion of the compliance check. One might argue they’re not, because GOA has received reports of ATF demanding copies of entire (paper) bound books. That is bad, but at least with paper, the data still needs to be converted to an electronic format to be of any real use. However, a CSV file that can be searched in MS Excel is of significant value to a government that wishes to track gun owners.
So what can you, the regular GOA Member and gun buyer do to protect yourself?
Ask. That’s right, ask your dealer how he keeps his or her records. Are they compiled in an old-fashioned bound book, or are they using one of these twenty-first century software packages?
GOA’s advice is to find a small, preferably home-based FFL — one who still keeps paper records — and transact exclusively with that FFL dealer. Take affirmative steps to protect yourself
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