AK Rep. Young assured by ATF 'Bound Book' request 'won't happen again' :: 05/26/2012

Alaska Congressman Don Young has been assured by Tom Brandon, deputy director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, that an attempt by local ATF agents in Alaska to make copies of "bound book" transactions at retail gun shops in the 49th State will not happen again.

Alaska ATF activities are conducted under the supervision of the Seattle ATF field office.

Young's office advised the Gun Rights Examiner that Young, a staunch pro-gun Republican who serves on the National Rifle Association's Board of Directors, met with Brandon. After that meeting, Young issued this statement :

· Deputy Director Brandon assured me that this is not an accepted practice at the ATF and that they are looking to remedy the situation to ensure it, or anything like it, never happens again in the future. There will also be a seminar held in the near future for Alaskan Federal Firearms Licensees in which I have requested the ATF listen and work with Alaskan gun shop owners to make sure their questions are answered and all of their concerns are heard."Looking to the future, I am hopeful that ATF has gotten the message that hassling gun shops for copies of their records is absolutely unacceptable to me and quite frankly illegal. While I take the ATF at their word that this was an isolated incident and is not ATF policy, I will be working to ensure gun sale records remain with the gun shop and not the federal government in some database."-Alaska Congressman Don Young

The controversy erupted in April after Anchorage gun shops revealed that an ATF agent had visited them earlier this year, requesting access to their "bound books," the volumes that firearms dealers are required by law to maintain, with every transaction involving gun purchases, sales, or other transactions.

This column first reported the situation in early April, noting at the time that Great Northern Guns refused to cooperate with the ATF agent's request, because it is against the law.

Dave Workman , Seattle Gun Rights Examiner