ATF devoting significant resources trying to solve the problem of toilet vandalism.

It’s a recurring theme here but Prince Law Offices says they found the smoking gun:

Of particular interest, on this one heavily redacted “Firearms Inspection Worknote”, at least two of the firearms were in the dealers inventory, but “not listed on the inventory list provided by the NFA branch.” In the second box, the agent apparently wrote in, “F4 [likely meaning Form 4] apvd [likely meaning approved] 8/7/01.” Thus, in all likelihood, the agent was presented with the approved Form 4 while doing the audit, even though the NFRTR either showed the suppressor as non-existent or registered to another person.

AL.com:

When 81-year-old Carl Craig walked into Madison Guns & Ammo on Tuesday, he didn’t know that the gun he was carrying was an illegal weapon.

Craig had a Stevens .410 gauge pistol, made sometime in the late 1920s or early ’30s.

“The reason it is illegal is that it’s a handgun that fires a shotgun shell,” said David Hyche, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives resident agent in Huntsville and Birmingham.

ATF worked with the guy to let him keep his gun. And that required the gun being disassembled. This has happened a few times recently and hats off for that.

However, doesn’t keeping it disassembled open the owner up to issues like constructive possession?

Looks like ATF may be looking into the dealers involved in the gun show bit done by NYC. Pretty clear some of the dealers were breaking the law. Last time Bloomy did this, ATF looked into it and told Bloomberg to knock it off because it compromised some investigations.

Covered the case before. Now, I see that they are having a sale to raise money for legal fees. And, in what seems to be a trend illustrated also by CavArms, no charges have ever been filed. KT’s website is here.

Jeff Woods bring us July’s news, today.

Local ATF Agent Arrested Again. At least there was no stand off this time. Looks like a conviction could lead to him losing his gun rights, since his first arrest is from a domestic violence incident.

Apparently, ATF and the FBI keep getting in a pissing match over bomb investigations.

David: Why is mainstream media silent on ATF corruption charges?

ATF Budget Justification is online. 5k employees and $1B in salaries.

David Codrea: Why ATF folded in Friesen case

Mentioned a bit back the ATF’s NFA Handbook said pin and weld was not an acceptable method of applying devices that extend barrel length, thereby making thousands of people law-breakers. Well, the ATF has since recanted. Apparently, NRA read it on the blogs and went to the ATF about the issue. Cool.

David Hardy:

it was an NFA prosecution, where the defense launched a HARD attack on the messed up nature of the government’s NFA firearm files, including calling a very well qualified expert to testify to the unreliability of files with such flaws.

Not the first time we’ve heard of problems with the NFRTR.

Ry on the NFA handbook changes:

The April 2009 edition of the NFA Handbook has removed pin & weld from the methods that are allowed to extend barrels to the minimum (16″ rifle, 18″ shotgun) length to avoid paying an SBR/SBS tax.

What happens to the millions of barrels out there that were pinned and welded?

All the people who own M4 length barrels with pinned and welded 1.5 inch flash suppressors should be concerned.

Agent expected to testify they got a warrant illegally. Via David, who sums it up: Vince Cefalu, an ATF supervisor, and lead supervisor on the case, has testified that investigators perjured themselves to get a wiretap order, and that when he objected to this, he was taken off the case.

One of the internet gun boards says a suppressor manufacturer has been told by ATF that they can no longer sell mounts unless they are sold with a suppressor. Not sure if it’s true as I haven’t confirmed it. But, if it is, that would mean you can only have one mount per can so you couldn’t have multiple mounts for convenience.

Mentioned last week that ATF issued a letter that, unsurprisingly, said the TN Firearms Freedom Act was no good. They’ve issued a similar letter to Montana, the first state to pass such a law.

ATF issues guidelines on receiver sales. Interesting. I’ve bought a few AR lower receivers and the dealer usually marks them as rifles. I thought that odd and wondered the ramifications if I made one into a pistol. I think the new 4473 actually has a box for receiver now.

It’s unlawful to maintain a list of gun owners. But some links here indicate that ATF is dutifully data mining firearms data.

From Congressman Zack Space:

Citing the vital need to protect Americans from overzealous federal agents, Congressman Zack Space (OH-18) today issued a challenge to those Members of Congress who supported his Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) reform legislation, but have yet to sign on this Congress.

“This legislation is far too important to languish due to cold feet,” Space said. “Well-intentioned, law-abiding citizens are being unfairly targeted by federal agents who should be more concerned about the Second Amendment than their next promotion.”

Man finds an heirloom that is short-barreled. Sends it to ATF for determination. ATF classifies it as a C&R firearm, making its possession lawful. See letter here.

Good. And not the first time either.

I’d heard various talk of this on various gun boards and such but didn’t put much into it. Now, NRA is reporting:

NRA-ILA has recently received several calls from NRA members in border states who have been visited or called by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In some cases, agents have asked to enter these people’s homes, and requested serial numbers of all firearms the members possess.

In each case, the agents were making inquiries based on the number of firearms these NRA members had recently bought, and in some cases the agents said they were asking because the members had bought types of guns that are frequently recovered in Mexico.

Looks like they’re chasing down folks through ATF Form 3310.4. NRA’s ILA is asking you to call them if you are contact in such a way.

Via Redneckin, comes word of a man whose vintage airplane was confiscated for failing to fill out ATF forms.

I mentioned it sold at auction. Tam notes that it appears to be a firearm and hopes the buyer/seller dotted all their I’s and crossed their T’s.

Kurt Hofmann looks at what the ATF does instead of something.

So says this message board. More at ar15.com.

Report on a forum of ATF agents interviewing people who have bought more than five guns. Seems they’re trying to find out how these guns are getting into Mexico. If true, they’re using that gun registry we don’t have.

David Codrea: Does ATF want seized property notices noticed?

NRA reports BATFE Reform Bill Introduced In U.S. Senate. Highlights:

This bipartisan reform legislation is the culmination of efforts to address BATFE abuses and problems that were highlighted in several congressional oversight hearings in 2006. (To read more about these hearings, please click here.) S. 941 represents NRA-ILA’s latest efforts to pass legislation that will make it easier for lawful gun owners and dealers to comply with federal law and regulations, while ensuring that those who break the law are punished accordingly. This bipartisan bill also serves as a vital step toward modernizing and improving BATFE’s overall operations. The bill would roll back unnecessary restrictions, correct errors, and codify longstanding congressional policies in the firearms arena, and is a vital step needed to modernize and improve BATFE operations.

A fact sheet can be found here.

Also interesting:

I just noticed that Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, was a sponsor of the bill. He’s not exactly Mr. NRA, with a D rating last time he ran for Senate. What’s up with that?

ATF broke up an operation smuggling guns into Mexico. They were coming from California gangs.

ATF is heading to the border.

We here at SayUncle tend to be a bit hard on the ATF. However, they occasionally do something cool. Recently, on Antiques Roadshow, someone inherited a pretty rare 1913 Winchester. Trouble is that the rifle had a 14 inch barrel, thus making it an unregistered short-barreled rifle and a contraband NFA item. But ATF was cool about it:

GUEST: Once my father passed, I knew that the rifle was short and I, like I said before, I had talked to the gentleman in Cody, Wyoming, and he said the best thing to do is be up front with the ATF and call them. And that’s where we went from there.

APPRAISER: That is the best course of action, is whenever somebody feels that they have a firearm which may be illegal, they should contact the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. What you do have here is you have a Winchester model 1892, manufactured in 1913, and these are extremely rare. All of these were made on custom order from Winchester. They were very popular with bank guards and express companies. Many of them found their way into Central and South America. They made other custom orders, like 15-, 16- and 18-inch barrels. Now, the good thing about those people that have the 16 and 18 inches is they’re not against the law. But what you’ve done here is you’ve contacted the ATF and they basically removed the firearm from the restricted list and added this specific firearm to the Curio & Relics list, which, in essence, helps you sell it in the future if you chose to do that. The 14-inch is probably the rarest out of all those firearms. There are probably only about a hundred of these…

That transferred to the C&R list to make it lawful. Excellent. A pity to have had that rifle destroyed.

Some reform advocated from inside the agency. Via David who reminds us that:

I’ve griped about the agency as much as anyone, but the bottom line is there are folks with it who are decent, and folks who are not, and the problem is that the folks who are not get promoted, get into power, and are in positions to shaft those who are decent.

I think we often forget that a lot of ATF agents are gunnies too.

Interesting:

In an extremely disconcerting scenario, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) has approved an application to transfer an NFA firearm, while acknowledging that the trust was not valid.

ATF approved the trust and noted it was not valid. This could, of course, lead to ATF initiating forfeiture proceedings.

David reminds us of ATF’s policy of institutional level lying with respect to data in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.

New acting head of ATF

Another good guy at ATF? Not unheard of. Those guys tend to be gunnies themselves. But they get of, err, shall we say enthusiastic training.

Before, I’ve noted ATF attempting to regulate model rocketry. Looks like the evil rocketry association must be stepping in since ATF just had their wrists slapped.

With ATF.

The NYT dutifully parrots the Mexican gun canard. It’s dogma.

Also, our old friend ATF Special Agent Thomas G. Mangan is showing up again. It’s like there is this concerted effort at disinformation. Mangan stuff here and here.