ILA | Gun Control Group Hopes to Smear U.S. Firearms Industry with New Website

Gun News

[ad_1]

We all knew who the finger-pointers and tattletales were in junior high school. A disproportionate number of them, it seems, now populate Americas anti-gun lobby.

The oft-rebranded gun control organization currently calling itself Brady United Against Gun Violence (Brady) launched a website this week called The Gun Store Transparency Project.

This site is the result of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation Brady engaged in against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to obtain certain ATF reports from inspections of Federal Firearm Licensees. Brady is now making those reports available to the public.

These reports, however, are not a random or representative sampling of ATFs inspection efforts but contain only those in which the ATF issued an FFL a Warning Letter or more severe remedy … .”

In other words, the site completely ignores any inspection report — which in 2020 comprised over 60% of them — that did not result in findings of violations or sanctions.

Brady claims the purpose of the website is so the American public will no longer be kept in the dark about businesses that contribute to gun violence in their communities, and whether federal authorities are failing to hold them accountable.”

But is every business cataloged on the site contributing to gun violence in their communities” simply because it was found, in some fashion, to be in non-compliance with the reams of federal laws and regulations that apply to licensed gun sellers?

The answer, of course, is no.

There is no mystery to which sorts of violations will land an FFL in serious trouble with ATF. The agency publishes them on its own website:

In addition to a refusal to allow an IOI to conduct an inspection, each of the following violations, absent extraordinary circumstances, will also result in ATF issuing a notice of revocation:

  • Transferring a firearm to a prohibited person
  • Failing to conduct a required background check
  • Falsifying records
  • Failing to respond to a trace request

These are the sorts of violations that pose the most obvious risk of a firearm falling into dangerous hands or that could impede law enforcement authorities from conducting a legitimate regulatory or criminal investigation.

None of these, however, appear on the ATFs list of the 10 most frequently cited violations during ATF firearms inspections” in 2020.

Instead, these violations” are mostly the types of bookkeeping errors that are likely to occur in any context in which transactions are subject to a highly bureaucratic process that involves multiple ledger entries, forms, requirements for the production and recording of identification, and database inquiries.

Examples of the most common violations,” according to the ATF, include [f]ailure to complete forms as prescribed” and missing signatures or dates.

Indeed, one of the reasons the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) itself doesnt always work as intended is because the millions of mostly government forms and computer entries on which it relies are themselves commonly incomplete, ambiguous, or simply erroneous.

This is why the ATF inspection process is not always or even usually a harshly punitive endeavor. Rather, it can also serve to help these heavily regulated businesses identity areas of operation or processes that need to be improved. The process, for example, includes a post-inspection conference so the FFL has an opportunity to respond to the alleged violations, initiate corrective actions, ask questions, and review relevant federal firearms laws and regulations with the inspectors.

This is also why the NRA supported the landmark Firearms Owners Protection Act in 1986, which ensured that the ATF inspection process could not be abused by anti-gun administrations simply to reduce the number of FFLs by any means possible.

To some degree, the process is similar to a students report card, which can help with self-assessment and identify areas in need of improvement. But, just as academic report cards are not necessarily or usually about finding a pretext to kick the student out of school, ATF compliance inspections are not necessarily or usually aimed at shutting down the FFL.

There is no college degree specifically aimed at running a gun shop. FFLs are often small businesses that face the challenge not just of complying with federal law but the business, licensing, and zoning laws of states and localities as well. Some learning inevitably occurs on the job. It is hardly surprising that boxes sometimes get missed on forms, serial numbers get transposed, or someone forgets to make a copy of an identification document.

Fortunately, these scrivener type mistakes rarely have any material impact on public safety. That ATF usually recognizes this is laudatory and does not mean the agency is lax in holding industry members accountable.

As much as Brady may hate the idea, commerce in firearms is a legitimate, constitutionally protected business in the United States. There is nothing inherently shady or suspect about it, and members of the firearms industry should not be portrayed as criminals or public menaces for every mistake that winds up on a bureaucratic report. The inspectors themselves, after all, have to justify the work that they do and would risk total irrelevance and constantly diminishing resources if their labor didnt generate some sort of corrective action now and then.

Ironically, Bradys effort mostly underscores that FFLs operate within a heavily regulated environment and still mostly manage to do so safely, accurately, and with high levels of compliance.

It is true, as Brady asserts, that the ATF does not have the resources to inspect every single FFL right up to the legal limit. But the big picture that emerges from the ATFs own published data from inspections that do occur strongly indicates that would be a waste of time and resources, anyway. 

[ad_2]

Source link

Articles You May Like

Our opinion: Verdict protects freedom of speech | News, Sports, Jobs
Moore Township Supervisors approve park improvements; consider firearms ordinance
Senate Republican tax bill would end federal taxes on many guns, silencers
Public hearing offers early glimpse of debate over this fall’s ‘red flag’ ballot question
Fall of a Powerbroker: Michael Madigan Faces Sentencing in Sweeping Bribery Case

27 Comments

  1. 219462 596511forty individuals that function with all of the services Oasis provides, and he is a very busy man, he 67031

  2. 542920 841536magnificent post, extremely informative. I wonder why the other specialists of this sector do not notice this. You should continue your writing. Im sure, youve an excellent readers base already! 746842

  3. 703251 495724I admire the beneficial facts you offer inside your articles. I will bookmark your weblog and also have my children verify up here often. Im very sure theyll learn a lot of new issues appropriate here than anybody else! 569675

  4. 960462 546112Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive read anything in this way before. So nice to locate somebody by original thoughts on this topic. realy thanks for beginning this up. this fabulous site is 1 thing that is needed on the internet, a person with a bit of originality. beneficial project for bringing a new challenge towards internet! 380133

  5. 955702 819089A extremely exciting go by means of, I may not agree completely, but you do make some really legitimate factors. 415781

  6. 668189 884584Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive read anything in this way before. So good to uncover somebody with some original suggestions on this subject. realy appreciate starting this up. this excellent site is something that is required over the internet, a person if we do originality. valuable function for bringing something new towards the internet! 479416

  7. 120599 734720Well written articles like yours renews my faith in todays writers. Youve written info I can finally agree on and use. Thank you for sharing. 657147

  8. 162724 251138Wow, fantastic weblog layout! How lengthy have you ever been running a blog for? you make running a weblog glance easy. The total look of your internet internet site is magnificent, well the content material! 595467

  9. 746617 269703Hi there, just became aware of your blog by way of Google, and discovered that its truly informative. Ill be grateful in case you continue this in future. Lots of folks will benefit from your writing. Cheers! 901181

  10. 199850 273662my grandmother is always into herbal stuffs and she always say that ayurvedic medicines are the most effective stuff 569333

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *