ATF visits in videos worry gun rights advocates.

Videos of Law Enforcement Questioning Gun Owners Raise Concerns

Recent videos of law enforcement agents knocking on doors to question residents about firearms or gun parts they may have purchased are causing alarm in the Second Amendment community online. Gun Owners of America (GOA) director of Federal Affairs, Aidan Johnston, warns that such encounters have the ingredients for a Ruby Ridge/Waco-type tragedy.

What the Videos Show

In two videos reviewed by The Epoch Times, armed people clad in body armor identified as Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) agents and police officers ask residents about firearms or components they allegedly purchased. The officers are friendly and tell the residents they will be on their way as soon as they can inspect or confiscate the items. They repeatedly tell the residents they aren’t in trouble and have done nothing wrong.

In one video, agents ask the resident if he has purchased a forced reset trigger (FRT). This is an aftermarket device to increase a rifle’s rate of fire. The ATF has ruled that the device is a prohibited machine gun under the National Firearms Act of 1934. In “Operation Reticent Recall,” ATF sent letters to FRT owners to turn them over to the ATF or provide proof they had been destroyed.

In a second video, a man identifies himself as a police officer working with the ATF. The man tells the homeowner that he has proof that the homeowner recently purchased multiple guns in one transaction. This is sometimes evidence of an illegal straw purchase, in which a person buys a gun for someone who cannot legally own a firearm. The officer in the video asks to see the guns the resident allegedly bought.

What Gun Owners Can Do

Attorneys specializing in the Second Amendment say there are things citizens can do to avoid misunderstandings. William Kirk, president of Washington Gun Law, based in Washington state, said the first thing any gun owner should do is research the law. Citizens must know their legal rights when speaking with any law enforcement agency.

Kirk said that if police have a search warrant, most niceties will be dispensed with, and the agents will get to work. Attorney Dillon Harris agreed. Harris is a lawyer with the Pennsylvania-based Civil Rights Defense Firm. Like Kirk, he said that if the agents have a search warrant, arguing your case will only make matters worse.

Both men said it’s important to be cooperative and polite. They said to get the agent’s name and contact information and to let them know you can’t answer any questions without an attorney. “You shouldn’t speak to any law enforcement in any context without an attorney,” Harris said. “Especially the ATF.”

Exceptions to the Search Warrant Requirement

According to Kirk, there are four exceptions to the search warrant requirement. The first and most common exception is consent. The property owner gives the officer permission. Next is probable cause or exigent circumstances. This applies when the officer can show a reasonable basis for believing a crime has been committed or evidence of a crime is present. The other two exceptions are when evidence is abandoned, such as when it is thrown out with household trash.

Remember, in the online videos, the agents don’t have a warrant. In that situation, law enforcement’s authority is minimal. “They will not have any legal authority unless you give it to them,” Kirk said. And they will try to get it.