Virginia - BATFE and local police - jack booted thugs?

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BB62
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Virginia - BATFE and local police - jack booted thugs?

Post by BB62 »

Read this thread and quake in your boots:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.p ... ge=1&pp=25

If you know anyone in the media, Congress, or the legal profession who can help VCDL (www.vcdl.org), let VCDL know.

This is SCARY stuff.

The short of it is that some gun buyers at an organized gun show had their house visited, neighbors visited, etc. - in general all the stuff the antis would love to have happen.


BB62
Yes, I do believe in open carry. An openly armed man is clear in his intentions. Concealed carriers are sneaks and skulkers and elitist, boot licking, political contribution making, running dog lackies of The Man. <wink> (thx grumpycoconut - OpenCarry.org)

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Post by marinecorpsmike »

Most law abiding citizens believe that when a police officer stops you and asks questions you will gladly answer them if you "have nothing to hide". The vast majority of police/citizen contact falls into that catagory but our cooperation is just that, OUR cooperation! If you do not wish to engage the police (BATF etc.) you don't have to. You can just politely say "no thanks" and walk away. This takes a little courage since most of us respect the police and feel a duty to act appropriately. But, if BATF tries to question you at a gun show ( or anywhere) you can respond by saying " Am I free to go?" If you are not free to go then you are under arrest (or at least temporary detention as they put it) and you probably should ask for your attorney right away. If they have no probable cause to arrest you they must (or at least the law says they must) release you. If they respond by saying " we just have a couple questions..." your response should be "Am I free to go!" If they get mad , so what, you DO NOT have to answer any questions that you don't want to. This ,of course, applies if they show up at your house or anywhere. When you respond with "Am I free to go?" it changes the dynamics of the confrontation and puts the burden on the officer to justify further detention or arrest at that moment. So, a polite response that communicates your knowledge of your right to decline to answer or participate in an interview is certainly one of your choices in these situations.
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Post by Ursus americanus »

Posted on CNSNEWS.COM
ATF, Virginia Police Accused of 'Persecuting' Gun Shows
By Jeff Johnson
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
August 23, 2005


(CNSNews.com) - The federal agency that regulates U.S. gun dealers stands accused, along with at least three Virginia law enforcement agencies, of trying to shut down legal gun shows through alleged intimidation of gun buyers and sellers. The law enforcement organizations also allegedly broke the law by sharing gun buyers' information with members of the public.

Annette Gelles, owner of gun show sponsor Showmasters.us, told Cybercast News Service that at least 30 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) along with nearly 500 Virginia State Police, Henrico County Police and Richmond City Police officers were assigned to the ATF operation targeting her gun show on Aug. 13 and 14 at the Richmond International Raceway and Fairground Complex, outside Richmond, Va.

Gelles said four marked police cars were stationed at the main entrance to the raceway parking lot and more than 50 marked and unlabeled but obvious law enforcement vehicles were positioned just outside the public entrance to the building. The officers' presence, Gelles said, was intended to intimidate her customers.

"It's just a persecution thing. It's not really an attempt to solve crimes or stop them," Gelles said. "It's their way of trying to get rid of gun shows. That's the only way you can explain that large a police presence at the gun shows."

Gelles said ATF Resident Agent in Charge Brian Swann told her that the officers were part of a "Virginia State Police, ATF task force" and represented the "same amount of force that we've used in all the shows." The only difference in Gelles' case, Swann told her, was that the command post was established at the site of her gun show.

Virginia State Police (VSP) spokeswoman Corinne Geller told Cybercast News Service that her agency does participate in a task force with ATF and other Virginia law enforcement agencies. As part of the agreement that created the task force, Geller said, VSP agreed to refer questions regarding its operations to ATF.

Richmond Police spokeswoman Kirsten Nelson e-mailed her response to questions about the apparent sting operation.

"I have done some checking and as I said on the phone, the gun show was not in our jurisdiction," Nelson wrote, "so I have no record of our officers' participation."

Gelles said the participation of Richmond Police officers in the operation has already been documented, by Richmond Police officers.

"My own Richmond City Police officers that are there, that I hire for my security purposes, told me that they saw 14 (Richmond City Police officers) on Saturday in plain clothes," Gelles said.

Lt. Doug Perry with Henrico County Police acknowledged that his department's officers took part in the operation, but he would not say how many participated.

"We wouldn't normally release that anyway. That's part of our operational plan, the number of officers involved," Perry said. "We're not on overtime when we're doing that so it wouldn't be public information."

One gun show exhibitor said he counted 72 uniformed and plainclothes officers and agents in and around the vehicles near the entrance to the building. Gelles claimed that an unidentified officer tried to stop the exhibitor from counting the number of law enforcement personnel present, but walked away when the exhibitor refused.

While normal attendance at her two-day show is nearly 4,000, Gelles said she attracted approximately 2,300 the weekend of Aug. 13 and 14, costing Showmasters.us more than $7,000.

'There's no way that's legal'

"They did something else, which is highly illegal," Gelles charged. "They did something called a residency check."

Gelles explained that, when gun dealers took the paperwork to the Virginia State Police on-site office to complete the background checks on prospective buyers, ATF agents copied the names, home addresses and telephone numbers of the applicants.

Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, told Cybercast News Service that he has received numerous complaints alleging that as handgun buyers were waiting for their National Instant Check System (NICS) background investigations to be completed, ATF was secretly conducting the so-called "residency checks."

According to the complaints he received, Van Cleave said officers were dispatched to the homes of the prospective gun buyers to speak with family members, asking for example: "Gee, did you know your husband was going to a gun show today? Do you have his cell phone number? Did you know he was buying a gun?

"If people weren't home they, in some cases, went to neighbors" to ask the same questions, Van Cleave said.

"I'm not an attorney but, I'll tell you what, in my opinion that would be a violation of federal law," Van Cleave said. "To go off on a fishing trip with that information, much less sharing information like that with neighbors, there's no way that's legal."

Title 18 Section 923 of the U.S. Code concerns the licensing of gun dealers and appears to support Van Cleave's position. It contains the following restrictions on the information collected during the process of a gun purchase:

"(g)(3)(B) Except in the case of forms and contents thereof regarding a purchaser who is prohibited by [federal law] from receipt of a firearm, the department of State police or State law enforcement agency or local law enforcement agency of the local jurisdiction shall not disclose any such form or the contents thereof to any person or entity, and shall destroy each such form and any record of the contents thereof no more than 20 days from the date such form is received."

VSP's Geller could not comment on the "residency checks," but said the ATF did not get gun buyers' addresses from her agency. "I can assure you, they weren't getting it from our records," Geller said, "because we don't take addresses."

In fact, the "Department of State Police - Virginia Firearms Transaction Record" form asks for the purchaser's name, date of birth, Social Security or driver's license number and citizenship status. No other identifying information, such as addresses or telephone numbers is requested.

But ATF Form 4473, the "Firearms Transaction Record Part I - Over-The-Counter," does request the purchaser's address. Those forms are kept together as part of a "buyer's packet" when the VSP form is submitted for the NICS check.

Erich Pratt, communications director for Gun Owners of America (GOA), told Cybercast News Service that these types of allegations against ATF are exactly why GOA members opposed the NICS background check when it was initially proposed.

"Whenever you force good people to jump through hoops before they exercise their rights, you give rogue bureaucrats a chance to harass decent citizens," Pratt said.

"We have a Bill of Rights because government does not always act in our best interest," he continued. "Rather than being spied upon, the American people should be the ones questioning family members and neighbors - not of gun owners - but of these rogue bureaucrats."

ATF agent allegedly 'got quite rude' with gun show customer

James Lalime, who works part time for a gun dealer, was attending the Richmond show on his own. He had brought two firearms and part of a third from his personal collection to offer for sale at the show, which is legal and does not require a federal firearms license (FFL) or local business license.

Lalime claims a man approached him and verbally identified himself as an ATF agent but did not show his credentials or badge.

"He was accusing me of running a business and telling me that I needed to get a business license if I was going to sell firearms," Lalime charged.

The agent allegedly had state police check Lalime's driver's license and learned that it was suspended. He said he was placed in the back of a police car and questioned by the agent while the suspension was investigated.

"He kept asking me all kinds of questions: 'How often do you buy guns? When do you buy guns? When was the last time you bought a gun? How many guns did you buy the last time you bought guns?'" Lalime continued. "All that is irrelevant and I told him that. I said, 'That's my personal business.'"

Lalime was released when it was learned that his license was valid and the alleged suspension was caused by a computer error. He went back into the gun show and told Gelles about the encounter and she suggested that Lalime get the agent's name.

When he found the agent, who identified himself as Special Agent Brian McComas, Lalime claims McComas tried to intimidate him.

"He said, 'You know you're making a big deal about nothing,' and I said, 'No sir, I am not,'" Lalime explained. "Then he got right in my face, almost touching his chest to mine, in real threatening posture, and said, 'You're making a real big mistake.'"

Lalime claims Swann interrupted the confrontation and the two federal officers walked away. "Once I got over the initial shock, it really made me angry," Lalime said.

ATF is 'out of the residency check business'

Gelles and her attorneys were in Washington, D.C., Aug. 15 to meet with ATF officials and seek an explanation for what happened over the weekend. After talking with several people in the ATF headquarters, Gelles said she finally spoke with a supervisor, whom she would not identify, who assured her that ATF "is out of the residency check business, effective immediately."

She was hesitant to give further details about the meeting in the event that a lawsuit is filed over the agency's actions.

In addition to the $7,000 she said she lost from reduced attendance at the show, Gelles added that she has already spent more than $12,000 in legal fees trying to prevent a repeat of the ATF operation of Aug. 13 and 14 and other previous incidents of what she considers improper agency behavior.

Van Cleave said his groups will be "watching in Virginia with a microscope to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.

"If they do it again, we'll get active in contacting the ATF, the police and the media," Van Cleave warned. "If they break their word on this and start this crap again, then we will be in touch with the media."

After more than a half-dozen calls by Cybercast News Service seeking comment for this article, an ATF spokesman said the agency was "still gathering information" about the events of Aug. 13 and 14 and would not be able to comment until sometime on Tuesday.
Last edited by Ursus americanus on Wed Aug 24, 2005 12:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by NavyChief »

Part of the problem is...
"If they do it again, we'll get active in contacting the ATF, the police and the media," Van Cleave warned. "If they break their word on this and start this crap again, then we will be in touch with the media."
...who ya' gonna call? ABC? CBS? NBC? Yep, they'll give it great coverage - right between their latest hatchet jobs on .50Cal rifles and the tragedy of children and firearms. By the time they're done, it'll sound like the "regulators" aren't doing near enough.

Stop and think about it. How many of the general population even know the name "Randy Weaver" (as a for example)? And even if they do, their knowledge is pretty much limited to, "Oh yeah, wasn't he some neo-Nazi or sumthin' that sued the government?"
Total repeal of ALL firearms/weapons laws at the local, state and federal levels. Period. Wipe the slate clean.
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Post by Scott »

Ursus americanus wrote:Posted on CNSNEWS.COM

"I have done some checking and as I said on the phone, the gun show was not in our jurisdiction," Nelson wrote, "so I have no record of our officers' participation."

Gelles said the participation of Richmond Police officers in the operation has already been documented, by Richmond Police officers.
Great, so now cop management is lying to cover their tracks--I hope the next gun show has dozens of participants documenting every participating LEO with cameras; just in case their record keeping should ever fail them again.

I understand by talking to a newly found bud today that our new Attorney General Gonzales is behind this [expletive deleted -- TR]. Memories of Clinton/Reno again. How can Bush rein him in? That's not W's style...

I Knew that Gonzales wasn't a rabid RKBA supporter, but I sure didn't think he'd take us back 10 years.
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Post by NavyChief »

Scott wrote:I Knew that Gonzales wasn't a rabid RKBA supporter, but I sure didn't think he'd take us back 10 years.
What little I've learned of him is that he thought the AWB was just peachy - and should be replaced/reinstated.
Total repeal of ALL firearms/weapons laws at the local, state and federal levels. Period. Wipe the slate clean.
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Post by Scott »

o
NavyChief wrote:
Scott wrote:I Knew that Gonzales wasn't a rabid RKBA supporter, but I sure didn't think he'd take us back 10 years.
What little I've learned of him is that he thought the AWB was just peachy - and should be replaced/reinstated.
Touché, Chief!
You're absolutely right about that. Now we get to see what other manifestations of Gonzale's lack of appreciation for our RKBA will take.

Hang on kids, if they're going to gleefully pull this [expletive deleted -- TR] in 2005 with a REPUBLICAN administration, we'd damn sure better not lose control of both Houses of Congress and the Whitehouse next trip of the train.

[various expletives deleted -- TR]
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Post by Glock and dagger »

I know I've said before that we are fighting an uphill battle, but so far, the only good thing to consider is that enough of us are not listening to the media, and those who are were convinced a long time ago that they were right.
I'm Glock and Dagger and I approved this message.

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