On Lee’s Resolution day, I want to state for the record that I am entirely serious about disbanding the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (and Really Big Fires). With the relatively recent revelations about the ATF’s DOJ-approved anti-gun running gun running operations, the ATF is revealed, once again, as a criminal conspiracy. Just in case Waco, Ruby Ridge and other ATF assaults lead you to believe that the ATF only targets “gun nuts,” clock this from cleanupatf.org, the original home of the Gunwalker scandal.

May 2004 – August 2005. Richmond, VA and Pittsburgh, PA. ATF Agents, in conjunction with Virgina State and local police, conducted an operation at some eight gun shows in Virginia. With special attention to female purchasers, hundreds of gun show attendees were stopped by Virginia State Police (VSP) as they returned home, were detained and interrogated by ATF Agents, and many had their purchases confiscated by these ATF agents who failed to cite any legal authorization for confiscation . . .

The purchasers were compelled by an ATF letter (under threat of arrest) to appear later at ATF offices to explain and justify their purchases. ATF provided purchaser names and addresses to the local police who then conducted “residence checks”. ATF task force personnel involved in the operation were Ed Melton, Andrew Stanley, and Ricky Williams. The Resident Agent in Charge, Scott L. Sammis signed the confiscation letter. “One ATF Agent had a t-shirt on which read, “If you can read this, the bitch fell off”. Gun show participants objected. (From an official Virginia State Police Report, dated 22 August 2005)

In addition, in Pittsburgh, Pa., ATF agents showed up at gun show customers’ homes a week after a show, demanding to see the buyers’ guns or sale paperwork and arresting those who couldn’t — or wouldn’t — comply.

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13 COMMENTS

  2. Damn, you got that right. I would hope there were lawsuits, even the smallest ones to harass them back one iota.

  3. What! Did I just read that? Sooo… I just went and picked up a Smith 915 from my LGS yesterday. Will I be getting a visit next week from some ATF thug? Making sure I still have it? What if I gave it to my mom? I don’t (yet) need any paperwork to give a gun to an immediate family member. What the hell is going on here?

  4. We’re going to be going to the LGS here in Charlotte July 23-24. Who knows if we’ll buy anything? Maybe the ATF will target us because we’re women. Whatever happened to habeas corpus and due process??

    • Rebecca, unfortunately, it would appear more and more that in this country habeas corpus and due process, along with equal protection and the rightful privileges or immunities of citizenship, are being relegated to quaint anachronisms from a bygone era. When more of our fellows start acting like citizens rather that subjects to be lorded over, our collective condition will improve. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. When so many of us would rather be entertained by trivialities and have our every need taken care of and paid for by someone else, can we expect anything less than severe societal decline? There is hope though. and the times, they are a changin’. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you can see the way to get back on the right course. Americans, in general, are a clever, wise and tenacious lot. If most of us do our part, we’ll be OK. If not, well…..

      By the way, welcome aboard! Please do spread the word, bring some friends, take them to the range and make a few converts to the cause.

    • I have to kinda disagree with Greg in Allston. Due process, equal protection, blah blah blah, they’re all alive and well. IF you are a criminal. The rest of us are screwed.

  5. We’ve been losing our so called freedom a little at a time over the years and soon we’ll be another COMMIE/NAZI country. If we allow these fools to screw us, then we get what we deserve.

  7. Wow, not subtle. If it were to happen to me I would refuse to cooperate and make the biggest, unholy stink about it imaginable. We have courts and I would use them. Hell I live in Fresno, it was one of our judges that stalled the law that would have banned online ammunition sales in California.

  8. Damn! I was at a gun show in Richmond during that time period and watched a woman get interrogated outside of the show as I was leaving. My memory is a little fuzzy, but the guys doing it were not wearing local police uniforms. I wonder if I was a witness to this?

  9. The ATF is a superfluous organization and should have been disbanded long ago. Other agencies are adequate to do their job. In order to try to keep on the scene
    harassment and intimidation is their guide. Our country is turning into a police
    state the likes of which the ex Soviet Union would have been proud.

  10. “With special attention to female purchasers” Why? I wonder if it’s the same sort of special attention the TSA gives to female travelers…

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