Congressman Mark Green demands accountability from ATF over attacks on Tennessee’s federal firearms dealers
Reports have been out for months that the ATF under Biden has
increased its assault on the Second Amendment Supply Chain by targeting
federal firearms licensees with inspections designed specifically to
generate revocations of licenses – most for mere human errors or
immaterial technical violations. (See, ATF Revoked 500% More Federal Firearms Licenses in 11 Months Since Biden Declared War on Guns).
Congressional members can step forward, particularly if the powers
change in November, to start the “revocation” of the ATF’s abuses if not
the ATF’s authority over 2nd Amendment issues entirely. Some are doing
so, including Tennessee Congressman Mark Green (who recently spoke at the TFALAC Annual 2022 Event).
While
ATF may claim that it is only going after “rogue” dealers, that must
remind conservatives of the games that Bill Clinton used when he
quibbled with the definition of “is”. From the actions of the ATF over many years and now even more under Biden, the definition of “rogue”
could simply be anyone who manufacturers or sells firearms to the
citizens of this nation. That is exactly how the leaders of other
nations, nations that sought to disarm their citizens, would have seen
the activities of individuals who were selling and supplying firearms to
“the People.”
The rights declared to be protected from any infringement by
government under our Constitution include the right to purchase AND
therefore to sell firearms. The right to sell firearms in lawful
commerce. The right to manufacture firearms, ammunition and
accessories. These are all rights clearly within the scope of the
prohibition on government infringement. They are also the specific
rights being infringed, trampled and suppressed by Biden and the ATF.
On
October 5, 2022, Congressman Mark Green wrote to the ATF on his
concerns, and those of constituents in Tennessee, that the ATF and the
Biden administration are abusing the limited authority that Congress
established by limiting adverse license action only to those instances
of “willful” violations of the law. Instead, as Congressman Green
states, ATF has redefined the word “is”, uh, “willful”, to mean what it
wants it to mean rather than what Congress meant for it to mean.
The term “willful”, according to the ATF now means (it could mean something different tomorrow):
Willfulness means the intentional
disregard of a known legal duty or plain Indifference to the licensee’s
or permittee’s legal obligations. ATF is not required to prove that the
licensee or permlttee intended to violate the law. There is no set
formula for establishing willfulness; e.g., a percentage of violations
per total transactions. While large numbers of violations may establish
willfulness, courts have also upheld revocations based on a single
violation, such as a straw sale or a sale to a prohibited person have
also upheld revocations where there was no prior history of violations,
but there was other evidence of willfulness. ATF Counsel is a resource
available for determining whether willfulness has been established.
Willfulness may be proved in a number of ways, including:
a. A history of similar, repeat violations. b. Statistical evidence; e.g. number of incorrect ATF Fs 4473. c. Blatant disregard for storage and Table of Distance requirements. d.
General compliance history, including any efforts by ATF personnel to
educate and inform the licensee or permittee as to his/her legal
responsibilities (e.g., the review of the Acknowledgement of Rules and
Regulations during the qualification and subsequent inspections). e. Licensee or permittee, employee, or third party statements and admissions. f. Actions by a licensee or employee during the inspection that hindered or obstructed the inspection. g.
Violations that clearly indicate intentional disregard of the law, such
as a licensee or permittee knowingly entering false information in the
required records.
See, ATF Industry Operations Manual, October 2019
Congressman Green demanded in his October 5, 2022, letter to ATF that it report back to him by
December 1, 2022, concerning inspections and the results of inspections
targeting Tennessee FFL’s since January 1, 2018. Will ATF provide the
information requested, probably not. It is an unaccountable federal
agency that has as its mission the interruption of the Second Amendment
Supply Chain rather than the improvement and expansion of that resource.
It will not abide by the laws Congress enacted, or those that it
might enact.
Congress needs to understand that the way to deal with
rogue agencies, like the ATF, is to cut their funding, statutorily
restrict their authority, criminalize conduct by agency officials which
infringe constitutionally protected rights and, perhaps most
effectively, terminate the agency’s existence entirely. We did not
have or need the ATF when this nation was founded and we don’t need it
today. |
