According to local news stations, the ATF this morning raided the “Gunsmoke” gun store in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. That gun store, owned by Rich Wyatt, was briefly featured in the Discovery Channel reality TV show American Guns and aired along side their other hit TV show Sons of Guns. According to those sources, this isn’t the first time the store has been under scrutiny . . .
Gunsmoke Guns was searched by a different federal agency, the IRS, in March of 2013. At the time, a spokesman said that search was part of an “ongoing financial investigation. At this time, there is no information about whether the current search has any relation to the IRS’ work.
Also in 2013, the store was the victim of a high-profile burglary. On February 27, suspects allegedly broke in through a hole in the roof and took 12 handguns and three rifles.
No charges have been filed at this time. The American Guns show was cancelled in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook school shooting, ostensibly as a political move on the part of Discovery, but more recent findings indicate that the real reason for the cancellation may have been that the Wyatt family had been ripping off the IRS for years and not paying their taxes. From that source:
Shortly thereafter, agents discovered that while the Wyatts — including wife Renee and kids Kurt and Paige — have long been thought to own Gunsmoke, a certain Victor Rodriguez is actually the man with his name on the paperwork, although Wyatt told investigators he “did not have a hand in day-to-day operations.” Rodriguez subsequently revealed that he’d purchased Gunsmoke from Wyatt in 2005 after Wyatt “went through a serious divorce.” At the time, Rodriguez said the business wasn’t profitable, but once it returned to the black, he’d agreed to sell it back to Wyatt.
Nonetheless, Wyatt’s signature was on sales tax returns for Gunsmoke for most months between January 2008 and October 2011, but not on individual tax returns from the years 2008, 2009 and 2010 — because he didn’t submit any. He did file a 2011 form listing a loss from Gunsmoke of more than $98,000 — and presenting no other sources of income, despite the fact that the Discovery show was on the air at that time. The affidavit adds that “neither Gunsmoke Inc. nor Gunsmoke Guns Inc. has ever filed Federal Income tax returns.”
Looks like Discovery Channel is having a bad run of luck when it comes to finding a subject for a gun related show.
I don’t understand, what did he do again? Some kind of tax evasion, maybe? allegedly?
We would all be outraged if it was a regular FFL or someone who sold 80% lowers, demanding proof beyond a reasonable doubt. But since it is an FFL holder from a TV show he must be guilty and in this case the IRS and ATF are clearly the good guys. Yeah, right.
The info is on the why is so scant as to be nonexistent. Could it be a “Operation Choke Point” “followup”?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/05/24/operation-choke-point/
does anybody know why the ATF is needed anymore? please think about it once.
The word has it that two employees were found to be in non-compliance by the ATF for “improper storage and display of chemical substance” …….Silicone violation.
Smuggling so to speak. Which reminds me of the “Oprah and 20 lbs. of crack” joke…….
No it was OSHA, the employees should have been wearing back braces with those.
Did they sign a contact with the IRS to file any returns? Like most CITIZENS (euphemism for tax payer), I doubt they did. So, what exactly is the crime again? “Congress [meaning each member] shall have the power … to collect…” [16th amendment] There is ZERO mention of enabling legislation to establish a collection agent or agency.
To bad liked the show, getting away from some of the reply. the guns that came into the shop both new and old. That Is what Iiked about the show . No expert here but I liked the engraving. I would to see the show back on. just saying.
Someone’s got some splainin to do.
I know Rich Wyatt enough to say hi to him. Took my CCW class from him. He’s an ex-cop, and not a bad guy but is a master of self-promotion, which can be a bit off-putting. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is part of an effort to take down a high visibility advocate of the 2A, as he’s quite vocal about defending our rights. Even if he’s not charged with anything, this kind of activity sure throws a wrench in conducting business and plays hell with cash flow.
. . . and they sure let you “know it” if you carry anything other than a 1911 .45. Everything else is just bad . . .
He was complaining about Glocks in my class, because of how you have to take them down. To prove his point, he asked “What’s the first thing you do when you field strip a Glock?”
When I said “Clear it”, it threw him off for a few seconds.
Nice! LOL I’ve never taken any classes from him but have been in the shop quite a few times. I’m now out of LE but have been a LE handgun/shotgun instructor since 2007. The 1911 thing was quite “in your face” even when pursuing the shop . . .
“Clear it.” Lol. Best answer ever.
Follow-up question to him:
(Raise Hand)
Rich: “Yes sir.”
You: “How do you decock a 1911? Is it that little lever on the side of the gun?”
😀
Yeah his tendency to point first time shooters towards the 1911 platform, specifically custom in house made 1911’s bugged me a bit.
Although they do a co – branded semi custom Smith revolver that’s nice, just pricey.
What was the insane show?
There was one where the father is accused of molesting the daughters (Sons of Guns or some such). I tjhink there was another show too. I know too much about what goes into “reality” TV to stomach watching almost any of it.
They must owe more than Al Sharpton or they are just being targeted.
Hah!
Spot on.
That would, more properly, be Alison Charlatan.
Fine, let me be the one to say it: the four reasons to watch that show were mother and daughter. Figure it out for yourselves. Still, that ain’t a crime and I’m always suspicious whenever the ATF raids anyplace.
Yep, you brought up some good points 😀
Four of them to be exact!
Base only on the photo above you must refer to at least one hideous bolt-on (rifle is obscures).
Would be very nice to look at if not for those nasty overinflated skin balloons they’ve attached to themselves (not to mention the botox face and pneumatic lips). I don’t care what else she’s got going on, any female with that level of anatomical fakery is an automatic nope.
Gives her the appearance that if the vacuum between her ears was any lower pressure, her skull would implode.
Remember Mt. Carmel, Waco TX. Nothing to do with STATE law about child abuse, though that was the camel nose under the tent edge the FEDS used as an excuse to lay siege, and ultimately MURDER 80+ innocent men, women and children (children they SAID they were trying to protect). LIARS. All “swarms of officers sent hither to harass our people” [Declaration of Independence complaint about King George III, 1776]. The more things “hopefully change”, the more they stay the same, or get worse.
Operation Choke Point much?
David Carradine had a gun show? Who knew?
You win the internetz today. I narrowly avoided spewing martini through my nose.
Snot rocket right out my nose!
Why must the high profile “gun show” families have major legal issues? My family owns a 200 year old steel business, we are quite boring on paper……is discovery not doing their due diligence, or are these people generally criminal in nature and able to conceal their true selves?
The kinds of people who want to put themselves on display in a “reality” TV setting tend not to be the responsible, level-headed sort. If you’re not a self-promoting asshole with severe personality defects, you’re probably not going to be put on TV.
Damn you eyes, Man! You’re trying to tell me Honey Boo Boo has no redeeming social or parental values? That’s it then! I’m taking the kids back to the stalwart of finesse, refinement and American family culture that is Spongebob!
I honestly want to know the hell these TV shows thing they’re doing. The topic of firearms is politically loaded at best. Did you think the scum sucking Feds aren’t going to go after you for any infraction?
Put yourself under a microscope and someone is going to look.
Seems to be a correlation between trashy folk and “reality” TV shows. Though, I suppose it is hard to manufacture drama with the boring, straight-edge type. Sucks that this just sullies gun owners everywhere again.
Also, I love the juxtaposition of a cross hanging between a pair of plastic bags. And the jailbait thing… come on now.
My favourite subject in TV,
I appreciate the family members for the show and know how! I applause the daughter for her efforts ,she contributes to the family business in a way!
Do they have Their own contacts !
ATF cited Gunsmoke for overuse of silicone and drama.
One of my favorite moments of the show, they’re doing the big finale and as usual, big explosions, and in the middle you hear Paige whine,
“Why does everything have to explode?”
My sentiments exactly, Paige.
It’s not Rich Wyatt’s only show …just saw the self proclaimed industry icon reporting from Shot Show on Modern Shooter(on Sportsman Channel). I don’t know what’s going on but wow Discovery sure doesn’t vett too well. Then again it might just be political BS…
I think its a pre-requisite for all Discovery/Reality programs that you have to have a poorly run, shady business that looks legitimate before they will turn you into a show. Just look at all the legal trouble that the Sons of Guns crew had BEFORE they launched the show.
Come on, didn’t file federal tax returns? What were they thinking?
Article says Gun Smoke never filed any returns. If it’s a proprietorship then it would be nothing more than a Schedule C on its owner’s individual tax return. Reportedly that’s Rodriquez. The article didn’t say the Wyatts failed to file.
Hard to know what to think here, but unless you think the feds never raid anyone who isn’t guilty, then I think we need to let justice run its course. The feds raided Ares Armor too, and we didn’t all think they were crooks.
Did I misunderstand this part?
I may have misunderstood it. It’s not written very well.
Whoa, an it didnt last long.
Seen a episode where they sold a Barrett 50 cal.
But I blinked and it was gone. 1hr long shows on discovery channel minus 15 min ~20 min for commercials.
Glad I have antenna now, an not satellite, or cable. Heck my internet is only on my phone! An I dont have social media like faceplant, tweeter, ghost chat, or my page. 🙂
I stopped the during a trip to Colorado. That place was a joke!
“Looks like Discovery Channel is having a bad run of luck when it comes to finding a subject for a gun related show.”
From talking to and knowing a few people in the industry, that’s because a lot of sane people want exactly f***all to do with the kind of crap that comes with a reality show.
is that girl’s neck photo shopped?
I had a smarmy reply and then thought it was cruel so i tried to delete it which of course didn’t work So, here’s my edited reply
It’s real…dozens of internet images. And now she’s not jailbait,,,
I wasn’t trying to be mean, I was genuinley curious if the photo company shopped it for some reason or another. It just doesn’t look real
The boob job was supposed to divert your attention away from that.
I know lets draw a bunch of attention to ourselves with a tv show! there is no way that can backfire!
They were a bunch of smug pricks and I hated the show anyway. This article makes me laugh.
That was pretty much my opinion also.
Did they misplace any select fire weapons, ?
Maybe they suspected the guy of being a pimp after seeing how hard he tried to capitalize on his wife and daughter?
That is some funny shit right there. Well played, sir!
Agreed. I enjoy a nicely filled pair of Daisy Dukes as much as the next guy, but in this case I just found it creepy and disgusting. This is what you get when people are greedy and have no self respect.
The soap opera drama surrounding Rich Wyatt goes back at least to 2005 when he was arrested for contempt of court related to nearly $100K he owed his ex-wife in a divorce settlement, apparently a Colorado Divorce Court Judge took offense to Wyatt’s refusal to pay his ex and/or attempts to conceal community property assets from the marriage.
Wyatt hooked up with his reality TV wife Renee not long before the American Guns reality TV shtick aired in 2011. Kurt Grewcock and Paige Grewcock are not Rich Wyatt’s children, their use of the last name Wyatt was fictional for the American Guns story line. Renee divorced her children’s father Charles Grewcock of Connecticut in 2007 when Kurt was 17 and Paige was 13.
Rich Wyatt has quite an infamous reputation for his hostile and obstinate dealings with a much larger than normal number of dissatisfied customers at the Gunsmoke gun store. Although Rich claims he is a “retired Chief of Police”, he actually was fired in 2005 as Police Chief (and Indian) at the one man police department of Alma Colorado, population 225, and was subsequently sued by the town for refusing to turn in his badge when terminated. Wouldn’t be at all surprised if Wyatt’s latest legal woes are more of the same shenanigans by hard headed a**hole who believes he is smarter than everyone else and continually tries to beat or scam the system to fend off ex-wives, bill collectors, civil judgments, the IRS, and now apparently the ATF as well.
But who knows, maybe Rich is really one-hell-of-a-good-ole-boy who’s constantly in a sh*t storm or p*ss*ing contest simply because he has really bad luck.
Yeah, he does bring on some of his own “bad luck”, that’s for sure.
Paige Grewcock? Well damn… That’s the most appropriate name for her if you catch my drift…
Grewcock? Really? You can’t make that shit up! ROTFL
To use local CO guys and gal, “GUNSMOKE” has always been a joke, even prior to the TV show. He was way overpriced.There is a lot more than floats around local about all the troubles that is going on.The man himself was even sued to return his old police badge from the Cityof Alma, CO.http://www.theflume.com/news/article_e9876512-cfbd-11e2-bb96-001a4bcf6878.html Most of us truly do not know how he is keeping the doors open. He has no FFL, everything in the store right now everything appears to be display “only” or black powder. We all suspect he is keeping it open because of his minor post fame and classes. The break in in 2013 was reported as “suspicious” by the authorities as quoted by local news. No serious firearms enthusiast ever goes in there.
Good riddance to him and eventually his store.
BTW it is the “Giraffe.”
Let’s be realistic, the ATF just did this as an excuse to strip search Paige Wyatt. They were jealous of the DEA getting to bang South American hookers at parties with drug cartels, so they figured they’d get some action of their own.
If you’re evading taxes, probably the single stupidest thing you could ever do is agree to do a TV show…
Ya think?
I actually used that store a couple of times in the early years of my firearms ownership. It was pretty obvious looking back on it that it was a pretty terrible store. I received an old milsurp rifle that I wanted to have safety checked. I also asked them to clean it while they were at it (it was covered in cosmoline). It took them nearly a month to work on it. I called pretty much every week and their response was “well, it’s not up here” [the gunsmith worked in the basement] rather than actually looking for the status of the rifle. They never seemed all that interested in being a gun store that actually carried guns. They had a meager selection while most of the store was dedicated to comfortable chairs and essentially showing off some furniture. I’m not surprised they ended up under investigation.
Sounds like he has his share of troubles with the IRS and that ATF decided to take a close look in light of that.
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Not at all uncommon for someone other than the owner of the business to sign and file sales tax returns (at least here in CA).
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Not good at all. This could be his biggest problem.
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The show and the business are two different things. He could have a legit loss on the business, and still be making money off of the show. Folks on reality TV are paid as actors (just like pro wrestlers). They have to be paid at least union scale and have contracts just like any other actor (like x number of dollars per show, plus residuals, etc. The point is that, if he actually owned the business in 2011, he could have lost money on that, while making money from the show.
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Wow, they sure took their time getting around to busting him if the store has never filed a return for what – ten years?
well.. don’t we all agree that, like, F**k taxes and all that? i mean.. what the hell would happen if we audited the federal reserve? think their books are clean? maybe the only true currency left is steel, lead and whiskey? oh.. and high fives.. naturally.
Why would the BATF launch a raid over taxes? Might be a case of the federal government piling on.
Far as Rich Wyatt and his arrest over not paying out a ex? The family law courts are one of the most abusive systems in America, one`s wealth can be stripped away at the stroke of a judge`s pen without the right of trial by jury. Having said this, American Guns was not very enjoyable to watch. They lost me when they butchered a original 30-40 Krag military rifle.
I saw him hosting a segment about the SHOT Show the other night. Early on he stated that only industry people like him were allowed in the doors, no public admitted. At the end of the show, he urged everyone to get out and come on down the SHOT Show! Confusing? Yes.
I saw that too. My wife pointed out the amazing coincidence that the manufacturers he featured all happened to be sponsors of the TV show.
Now I’ve never been to SHOT Show, but I don’t think Las Vegas is big enough to let the public attend. The crowds would be so thick you couldn’t stir ’em with a stick.
Holy shit in a hat: the one in the middle.
Where the money go?
Check those stuffed bras.
Two pairs of Mattel chests, all pushed up to look like bowling balls, when it should be about the guns ! Sad people who watch this !
Bloomturd to Shannon Twatts: “WHAT! A positive show on guns on cable!? Make some calls to Holder. We CAN’T have that when I’m spending $50 million to demonize gun owners.
Really horrible “reality” show, almost as bad as that dumb short-lived show about the family of oil drillers or those Cajun Johnny Reb types in Sons of Guns (which includes a really stupid son-in-law who appears as himself). What with Kurt’s lousy engraving, two generations of irritating pushed-up phony blonds where the drapes don’t match the carpets, and entrepreneur Rich zooming around in his private helicopter (paid for by Discovery) and showing up in the hinterland with a huge wad of cash and sealing the deal with a crappy knife or a small bar of gold. Come on! I quit after a couple of shows and I’ll never get that time back.
The dumb mother fcukker that wrote this article so eloquently used the phrasing “the Wyatt family had been ripping off the IRS for years and not paying their taxes”. The IRS is all FRAUD!! Taxation is theft. God forbid someone actually knows this and decides to not roll over like a submitting dog and give away money that they worked for! Fcuuk the IRS and the corrupt US Government that breathed life into the IRS. The writer of this article is a mindless brainwashed sheep, incapable of critical thought or knowing how big of a government d1cck he’s got up his arsee
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