Belchertown gunmaker pleads guilty to federal firearm violations

I'm almost wondering if he had his hands on one of those wish glock selectors and that was what he had in the FA glock.
Curiously enough there were other reports though where 07s bought those things and talked their way out of handcuffs, so to speak, but I don't know how true those accounts are. Maybe they had form'ed the end product... ?
 
Curiously enough there were other reports though where 07s bought those things and talked their way out of handcuffs, so to speak, but I don't know how true those accounts are. Maybe they had form'ed the end product... ?
that could be the saving grace but I know that customs was reporting to the atf all sorts of things like the solvent traps, etc.. and they would go pick em up. Combine that with record keeping issues, and some others and the major violations start to stack up. Also it looks like the story on mass live was regurgitated from the DOJ website.

 
that could be the saving grace but I know that customs was reporting to the atf all sorts of things like the solvent traps, etc.. and they would go pick em up. Combine that with record keeping issues, and some others and the major violations start to stack up. Also it looks like the story on mass live was regurgitated from the DOJ website.

More info in the linked article. Thanks.

The terms of your federal license require obeying all state laws. So if you break a state law you can be charged both by the state and by the feds. BUT sale of the Glocks does not necessarily violate state law. It is a civil violation of 940CMR16 as the G17 and G43 are both on the list. If he failed to do a fa10 though, that would be a state law violation. The fact that they were Glocks would then be unimportant unless we are perpetuating myths.
 
Curiously enough there were other reports though where 07s bought those things and talked their way out of handcuffs, so to speak, but I don't know how true those accounts are. Maybe they had form'ed the end product... ?
Purchased, marked (name, location, model, serial) and form 2. At that point there is a thin opportunity for prosecution since you could claim you we’re buying 80% and promptly addressed any issues by “finishing”, marking and filing. That is my “guess” on how handcuffs were avoided.

Possession of a properly marked and registered MG by a 07/SOT is not itself a violation. You could still stretch a charge around purchasing illegally but that gets to intent. The marking and registering counters intent so they would have to really hate you to pursue.
 
The article is crap. They also asserted they illegally sold glocks. Since glocks are on the list (most models), and you have to sell off list guns for it to be "illegal" (MGL 140 123) as opposed to a civil violation (940CMR16), I have to question the accuracy of the reporting. They had some "source" who told them all is bad and clearly knew jack sh*t.
Speeding is illegal, even though the penalty is civil and not criminal.
 
I'm almost wondering if he had his hands on one of those wish glock selectors and that was what he had in the FA glock.
If one does not need the "selection" a simple "buzz plate" (back plate with a protuberance) will do it. I've never actually seen one but this was discussed (and I think photo shown) in a Glock Armorer's course telling the mostly cop audience how to check for a full auto mod.

Interestingly, the instructor went down on illegal possession of a silencer and other technical violations. It was handled by the NY courts (upstate) and his long and honorable service as an LEO may have contributed to his no prison time but lose his NY carry permit and gun rights for three years sentence.
 
The Hughes amendment was added to the FOPA without any discussion. Stopped the mfr/sale of new MGs to the general public. And Bush signed it. Maybe my spelling is off. Jack.

Bush didn’t sign it - Ronnie Reagan did. With the consent of the NRA.

There’s nothing in FOPA’86 that we couldn’t have gotten another day. Try passing a law now to repeal that part of the NFA - it’ll never happen.
 
What I've said in the pasts was that whenever an 07 was contacted by the State Dept re ITAR, it was always with a "Stop IT". kind of letter.

So you stop and the problem goes away. Nobody gets prosecuted.

It would seem that given the ITAR requirement's removal from most requirements, the risk is even lower when it comes to being an 07 without registering.
 
Nobody gets an 07 w/o SOT unless they're a moron.

Not true at all. A person with a FFL in MA can possess a silencer with an 07. But if he doesn't plan to buy or sell them regularly, then the $500 per year for a Class 2 SOT isn't worth it. An SOT doesn't get you the ability to do anything that you can't do without it. Its just a blanket tax. So you pay your $500/yr rather than $200 per item.

Think of it as an all you can eat buffet vs a-la-carte.

When was a kitchen table FFL in CT years ago, I had an 07. I did it because it allowed me to buy a gun like a SCAR, make it AWB compliant and sell it for a $500 profit. Much better than making $50 on a Glock.

It costs you NOTHING to apply for an 07 compared to an 01. There is nothing to lose and only something to gain. Nobody should get and 01.

Fees are low enough so it doesn't matter. 07 -$150 per 3 years. 01 - $200 original application and forst 3 year term, $100 for each 3 year renewal.
 
Wouldn't a gunsmith have an 07 FFL? This makes no sense. The Glock thing I get, Maura was probably chomping at the bit for that, but I though an 07 FFL can manufacture a machine gun?

Glocks are on the approved firearms roster. A page and a half worth, actually. Is the state going to introduce the double secret list as evidence?
 
Glocks are on the approved firearms roster. A page and a half worth, actually. Is the state going to introduce the double secret list as evidence?
I know they are on the roster, We all know that they aren't on the AG's list for consumer protection blah blah blah Wish he would have challenged that shit instead of pleading out. We also don't know the details.
 
Not true at all. A person with a FFL in MA can possess a silencer with an 07. But if he doesn't plan to buy or sell them regularly, then the $500 per year for a Class 2 SOT isn't worth it. An SOT doesn't get you the ability to do anything that you can't do without it. Its just a blanket tax. So you pay your $500/yr rather than $200 per item.

Don't you need to pay SOT to build and keep post samples? And also any other tax-free transfers (which don't take nearly as long as stamp based ones).
 
Does the atf perform yearly or random audits?

The reg I read was they can audit you every 12 months, but in practice it ends up being like in a 2-3 year interval, or longer.

I know a shop that was just audited last year, that literally for many, many years before that, was never audited. There's not always
a rhyme or reason to it.
 
Does the atf perform yearly or random audits?

The reg I read was they can audit you every 12 months, but in practice it ends up being like in a 2-3 year interval, or longer.

I know a shop that was just audited last year, that literally for many, many years before that, was never audited. There's not always
a rhyme or reason to it.

Really depends on luck of the draw for the first one, but afterwards depends on how much good or bad boy you have been with your paperwork. I know a few dealers not at the mill who have been in business upwards of 5 years and not been inspected still.
 
What I've said in the pasts was that whenever an 07 was contacted by the State Dept re ITAR, it was always with a "Stop IT". kind of letter.

So you stop and the problem goes away. Nobody gets prosecuted.

It would seem that given the ITAR requirement's removal from most requirements, the risk is even lower when it comes to being an 07 without registering.
I believe that when they took the items out of the ITAR, they put them under the control of the Dept of Commerce/BIS. And that makes them still licensable, just with a different agency. And Commerce has it's own set of rules and regs....
 
What a disaster!

He HAD a FFL!

All he had to do was keep records and he threw it all away for nothing.
 
The reg I read was they can audit you every 12 months, but in practice it ends up being like in a 2-3 year interval, or longer.

I know a shop that was just audited last year, that literally for many, many years before that, was never audited. There's not always
a rhyme or reason to it.

Probably how I finally got my refund on my Mosin Group buy. The SOB said he thought I already picked it up.
 
as an ffl they want all your stuff marked and you have a timeframe to get it done by. Just ask Stag.


Just what I was thinking. S&W got jammed up for a similar issue with the M&P frames produced by an outside contracted. I believe they just bought the operation to get better control.
 
Just what I was thinking. S&W got jammed up for a similar issue with the M&P frames produced by an outside contracted. I believe they just bought the operation to get better control.
Yea that was tri town precision plastics and its now their deep river plastics company. It was a smart buy because they are big on vertical integration and selling excess capacity like they do with finishing and heat treatment within their springfield plant.
 
The reg I read was they can audit you every 12 months, but in practice it ends up being like in a 2-3 year interval, or longer.

I know a shop that was just audited last year, that literally for many, many years before that, was never audited. There's not always
a rhyme or reason to it.

Yes, they can do what they call a "Compliance Inspection" no more than once in any 12 month period. The inspection can be unannounced during your listed business hours. Outside those hours they can schedule it.

When you apply for your FFL you list where the business will be conducted. They have a right to enter those areas where business is conducted ONLY . There they can check visually for some things like the whether you have your FFL posted or other mandated items like the Youth Handgun Safety Act poster.

They also require you to offer gun locks for sale. So even if you don't do any business with the public, you need to have a lock hanging somewhere in your shop with a price tag on it. Ha.

When you are in the application process for the FFL an ATF inspector will come to your place of business and sit down with you and go over all this stuff including best practices. Generally speaking the inspectors want to help you succeed. When I had mine in CT, my inspector was Stephanie C. She wrote her mobile phone number on her card and told me to call any time if I had a question. She was very pleasant and easy to work with.
 
Local newspaper says 151 Guns, cases date back to 2018. Ouchies.
Reading this article paints a better picture. He really screwed the pooch.
 
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