Breaking: confrontation between Alaska gun store and ATF :: 04/08/2012

Gun stores are increasingly under the gun by the ATF which is apparently initiating a new intimidation tactic.

By Anthony Martin, Conservative Examiner (April 6, 2012)

Breaking information sent to this reporter moments ago via email from a contact in Anchorage, Alaska indicates that a local gun store has refused to comply with an order from the ATF to turn over to the agency the official 'Bound Book' that firearms retailers are required to keep on site on customers and their purchases, photo I.D.s, and background checks.

The store's refusal has provoked a confrontation with the ATF, which claims that the Bound Book is 'their property.'

An initial report was published here yesterday

(http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-national/alaska-gun-stores-say-atf-engaging-new-illegal-activity )concerning this new illegal activity on the part of the ATF.

According to a memo from the Anchorage Second Amendment Task Force, the Great Northern Guns store in Anchorage was asked to give their Bound Book to the ATF so it could be copied in its totality. The store refused, citing their legal rights and the fact that to do so would be a violation of the Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986.

The Task Force began to make inquiries about the ATF's request and was told by a local agency official that the Bound Book is the property of the ATF and can be picked up anytime they choose.

But the law appears to say something entirely different.

While it is true that the ATF can gain access to the book, there are specific stipulations concerning the circumstances that would warrant such a request. The law prevents any government agency, including ATF, from taking possession of the entire record of purchases. The agency can, however, gain access to certain specific records under the following three stipulations:

There is an ongoing criminal investigation of a customer
There is an annual on site inspection of the store's records
There is a need to trace a specific firearm in the midst of an ongoing investigation.

The Gun Control Act required licensees to maintain records of firearm acquisitions, dispositions, and inventories. Furthermore, it permitted warrantless inspection of these "at all reasonable times," and broadly authorized the Secretary to require submission of reports on the records' content.

FOPA establishes significant restrictions on the two latter powers. In general, administrative inspections of licensee records now require a magistrate's warrant, based on a showing of reasonable cause to believe evidence of a violation may be found.