{"id":1502196,"date":"2022-06-03T09:39:05","date_gmt":"2022-06-03T13:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1502196"},"modified":"2022-06-03T09:39:22","modified_gmt":"2022-06-03T13:39:22","slug":"500-percent-spike-in-biden-administration-shutting-down-gun-retailers-over-typos-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/500-percent-spike-in-biden-administration-shutting-down-gun-retailers-over-typos-2\/","title":{"rendered":"500 Percent Spike In Biden Administration Shutting Down Gun Retailers Over Typos"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2F500-percent-spike-in-biden-administration-shutting-down-gun-retailers-over-typos-2%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1502196&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/guns-e1654134175328.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>President Joe Biden is overzealously targeting firearm retailers to drive them out of business. Federal firearm license revocations for retailers have increased 500 from previous years. That\u2019s got gun control groups excited, but it is casting a pall over the cooperative relationship firearm retailers maintain with law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>President Biden never hid the fact that he intended to use the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to drive his gun control agenda. He campaigned on a platform of targeting the firearm industry instead of focusing on criminals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur enemy is the gun manufacturers, not the NRA, the gun manufacturers,\u201d President Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssf.org\/articles\/called-industry-enemy\/\">said<\/a> from the presidential campaign debate stage.<\/p>\n<p>That hostility produced a platform that turned the ATF from the bureau that regulates the firearm industry and enforces federal gun laws into the hammer and anvil by which the Biden administration is pummeling flat firearm retailers. Instead of compliance inspections by ATF Industry Operations Investigators to work to ensure firearm retailers remain within federal firearm regulations, those inspections are now driving firearm retailers out of business.<\/p>\n<h2>Revocations<\/h2>\n<p>Lee Williams, an independent investigative reporter specializing in covering firearms, revealed that ATF once revoked the licenses of federal firearms licensees (FFLs) at a rate of about 40 each year. \u201cBut, in the 11 months since Joe Biden declared war on \u2018rogue gun dealers,\u2019 the ATF has revoked 273 FFLs \u2014 an increase of more than 500%,\u201d Williams <a href=\"https:\/\/thegunwriter.substack.com\/p\/special-report-atf-federal-firearm?s=r\">reported<\/a>. \u201cHowever, rather than targeting the true rogues, Biden\u2019s ATF is revoking FFLs for the most minor of paperwork errors, which were never a concern for the ATF until Biden weaponized the agency.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s due to the Biden administration\u2019s \u201czero tolerance\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2021\/06\/23\/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-comprehensive-strategy-to-prevent-and-respond-to-gun-crime-and-ensure-public-safety\/\">inspection policy<\/a>. That means inspectors are revoking federal firearms licenses for even minor clerical errors that previously would warrant a warning letter. <\/p>\n<p>ATF has the authority to revoke licenses for even these minor clerical errors but used to be more interested in compliance. That changed under the Biden administration and the Department of Justice (DOJ) led by Attorney General Merrick Garland. National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) is providing retailers with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pathlms.com\/nssf\/courses\/41330\/video_presentations\/234317\">guidance<\/a> to be prepared for these inspections.<\/p>\n<h2>Misplaced Priorities<\/h2>\n<p>The White House budget request clearly identified that driving gun stores out of business was a higher priority than pursuing criminals. President Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssf.org\/articles\/president-bidens-budget-request-targets-firearm-industry\/\">proposed<\/a> earlier this year to spend $20.6 billion on the Justice Department for federal law enforcement, crime prevention, and intervention. <\/p>\n<p>Tucked into that spending proposal were plans for the ATF to hire 140 special agents and another 160 Industry Operations Investigators. That\u2019s more inspectors to revoke licenses than special agents to actually lock up criminals. The Biden administration refuses to get tough on crime but is zealous in targeting the firearm industry.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Brandon, former ATF acting director, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/in-depth\/news\/investigations\/2021\/05\/26\/gun-dealers-let-off-hook-when-atf-inspections-find-violations\/7210266002\/\">told USA Today<\/a> that the goal of inspections is to get dealers compliant, not to penalize them. \u201cThe high majority of FFLs are good hardworking people running businesses, and they\u2019re our front-line of defense for intelligence for diversion of firearms with straw purchases,\u201d Brandon said, referring to when someone attempts to purchase a firearm for someone else who can\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>The firearm industry absolutely wants firearm retailers that flout the law to be held accountable, but addressing the rare instances of criminal activity at the gun counter neglects the larger problem of criminal misuse of firearms. Indeed, that policy of targeting \u201crogue gun dealers\u201d could have unintended consequences.<\/p>\n<h2>Unintended Consequences<\/h2>\n<p>Firearm retailers willingly cooperate with ATF special agents on suspect attempts to purchase firearms. They are often the ones providing tips to special agents on suspected straw purchases. Now, those same retailers are forced to consider the consequences of inviting ATF into their retail locations. When a potential tip to criminal activity by a random person wandering into their store could result in a business owner losing a license and income, that threatens the ability of the ATF to enforce the law.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s got special agents in the field concerned. Agents in ATF field offices who chose to remain anonymous have told NSSF the \u201czero tolerance\u201d policy will do more harm than good. It will dry up their most valuable source of intelligence on criminal activity \u2014 the local gun store owner who wants criminals to be locked up. <\/p>\n<p>Now, owners are forced to consider the unintended consequences of trying to do the right thing. Tips of suspect activity could lead to an inspection and a misplaced entry in a record book could put that gun store owner out of business.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s little reason to believe the policies will be reversed. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee questioned President Biden\u2019s nominee to become ATF director, Steve Dettelbach, in a confirmation hearing last week. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?520566-1\/threats-public-safety-rise-atf-nominee-warns-lawmakers\">confronted<\/a> Dettelbach about the \u201czero tolerance\u201d policy and the Biden administration\u2019s policy of rooting out \u201crogue dealers.\u201d Dettelbach demurred on defining a \u201crogue dealer,\u201d adding only that federal firearm license revocations should be reserved for \u201cwillful violations\u201d and not \u201cinadvertent errors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe key to enforcement programs, it has to be fair, it has to be consistent, and it has to be effective,\u201d Dettelbach told Sen. Grassley. The Biden administration\u2019s \u201czero tolerance\u201d policy to decimate firearm retailers is proving to be counterproductive.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Mark Oliva is managing director of public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Joe Biden is overzealously targeting firearm retailers to drive them out of business. Federal firearm license revocations for retailers have increased 500 from previous years. That\u2019s got gun control<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":881,"featured_media":1502230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1502196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1502196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/881"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1502196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1502196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1502230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1502196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1502196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1502196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}