BATFE AGAIN! Bureau Of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms & Explosives Great Northern Guns in Anchorage, Alaska was asked to give up their “Bound Book” to a BATFE Agent so it could be copied. The Bound Book is a complete record of all firearms transactions by the FFL holder. They are not required by law to do so and they refused. In fact this would be a violation of FOPA. (Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986) Our concern is that the administration may be trying some type of defacto registration scheme. We have been unable to ascertain who authorized this action and why. The Agent when asked said the orders came from “on high”. We suspect the Seattle office directed this action. We are inquiring from FFL holders in other states to see if this is a national in scope. We have been told there were other dealers asked to give up the “Bound Book” in Alaska but have been unable to verify any others yet. Generally in Alaska BATFE has a good relationship with the gun community. A call to the local BATFE office did not yield any information. The individual that we spoke with didn’t divulge much except he stated the “Bound Book” is the property of the BATFE and they can pick it up anytime they choose. Read the provisions of FOPA below to learn what the restrictions are. FOPA is contradictory but there are distinct limitations on what government agents can access when and how. There is a very good paper on FOPA here. THE FIREARMS OWNERS' PROTECTION ACT: A HISTORICAL AND LEGAL PERSPECTIVE We must ask our legislators to launch an inquiry into why and who authorized the request. Please let every FFL holder you know about this.
Below you will find the provisions under FOPA on record keeping and access to FFL records by authorities. The records are not to go to any government agency except under specific circumstances. Provisions Of The Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986: Inspection and Acquisition of Licensee Records 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. Three exceptions, however, nearly swallow this rule. Neither warrant nor reasonable cause is needed for (1) a reasonable inquiry in the course of a criminal investigation of a person other than the licensee; (2) an annual inspection for ensuring compliance with record keeping requirements; or (3) tracing a firearm in the course of a bona fide criminal investigation. While these sizably reduce application of the warrant and cause requirement, it remains effective for its primary purpose in any event: to prevent inspections undertaken without immediate law enforcement need, or abused for the purpose of harassment. FOPA also institutes some measures designed to minimize the harassment potential of an otherwise authorized inspection or search. Only records material to a violation of law may be seized and even as to these, copies must be furnished the licensee within a reasonable time. The unusual appearance of the last protection vanishes upon reflection; because a licensee is legally bound to buy and sell only upon recordation, removal of his records is more than an inconvenience. The power of the Secretary to acquire licensee records is likewise limited by FOPA. Requirements to (1) submit records upon going out of business, (2) submit a report upon sale of more than one handgun to the same person during the same week and (3) submit reports of sales when ordered to do so by the Secretary, are enacted into law. Conversely, the Secretary is forbidden to require submission of reports "except as expressly required by this section." Paralleling this prohibition is the proviso that no future regulation may require that any records required by the Act "be recorded at or transferred to a facility owned, managed, or controlled by the United States or any state or any political subdivision thereof, nor that any system of registration of firearms, firearms owners, or firearms transactions or dispositions be established." This information provided by Alaska Libertarians |
Jan 2012 Newsletter |
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