We Are Guns - Status

[Len-2A Training]

We Are Guns-ATF Says Feinberg Selling Guns w/o Lic

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/6035714/detail.html

Dozens Of Weapons Confiscated In Raid
ATF Says Feinberg Selling Guns Without License

BOSTON -- Federal agents stormed a home on Farm Lane in Norton, Mass., in a gun raid Thursday.

NewsCenter 5's Jack Harper reported that the home's owner, Richard Feinberg, was arrested and armloads of guns were confiscated.

Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents said Feinberg, 56, was selling guns out of his home without a license.

"We have taken some firearms into custody, and we are processing those guns right now. We will trace them and find out where they came from and how they got to this location," said Jim McNally, of the ATF.


A federal prosecutor said agents seized 90 weapons from Feinberg's home and garage. Two of the guns are being tested to determine if they are automatic weapons. If they are, Feinberg could face penalties more severe than five years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

"I knew that he sold guns. But I honestly didn't think he was doing anything wrong. We all knew he was selling them. He is a nice guy," neighbor Stephanie Podielsky said.

Feinberg's lawyer told the court his client previously held a license to deal in firearms. Federal agents said even if that was true, recent sales were illegal. A federal magistrate released Feinberg on $50,000 unsecured bond. The judge told him to take out an equity loan on one of his properties to hire a lawyer.

Feinberg will return to federal court on Feb. 13.

Feinberg was ordered to take three handguns he is licensed to keep in his house to the Norton police station.

 

[Brettbot]

Re: We Are Guns-ATF Says Feinberg Selling Guns w/o Lic

Two of the guns are being tested to determine if they are automatic weapons.

Shouldn't that be rather easy to determine? [?]

 

[Len-2A Training]

Let's just say that the way that the BATFE does it is NOT advantageous to the defendant!

 

[second]

[shock]
Damn......anyone done business with this guy lately?

 

[USMA-82]

I remember driving by his place one day just to check it out. When I found no separate storefront per Mass regs, I just kept driving and didn't stop.

Doesn't surprise me.

 

[Adam_MA]

[shock]
Damn......anyone done business with this guy lately?

If you did.. You should NOT say so on a public forum!

You should contact an attorney and find out what you need to do so you don't lose your privileges, and you stay within the law.

Adam

 

[FalArAk]

Something isn't right here,it just doesn't make sense.Why would someone risk jail time to make a few bucks selling guns ? As usual, I'll bet the news is leaving something important out of this story.

I could see selling some guns that aren't Mass legal,but selling w/o a FFL ? If the ATF is involved,it's on the federal level.I'll bet it has something to do with machine guns..Maybe he bought a bunch of DIAS for $69.95 from Shotgun News.

"This site is operated and maintained by a Federally Licensed Firearms Dealer "

http://www.weareguns.com/specials.htm

 

[terrapin88]

I believe his FFL ran out and he continued to deal. He had one of those old school "kitchen table" FFL's I believe.

maybe the ATF was just waiting for his FFL to expire so they could bust him and take away his FFL? I know they've changed things so folks like him (kitchen table/net dealers) are a thing of the past.

Scary stuff if you've done any ligit business with him in the past.

C-

 

[FalArAk]

maybe the ATF was just waiting for his FFL to expire so they could bust him and take away his FFL? C-

This sounds plausible.Still though..letting your FFL expire???

 

[Chris]

I've been to his place. Was looking for another good dealer after Horton's pretty much closed up shop, but before Carl opened (or I had heard about it) Didn't really care for his setup. Couldn't 'browse' and the place was a mess.

Don't think I bought anything from him, but I'd have to go through the file to be sure. Was a long time ago.

Still, so long as he didn't sell to any unauthorized persons, it is once again a truly victimless crime and a lot of ado about nothing.

 

[FalArAk]

Ya,I would think if you had purchased something "post FFL expiration",all the ATF could make you do is re-register the weapon with a current FFL holder.

I could be wrong though.

 

[Nickle]

Re: We Are Guns-ATF Says Feinberg Selling Guns w/o Lic

Two of the guns are being tested to determine if they are automatic weapons.

Shouldn't that be rather easy to determine? [?]

Strinds, shoelaces and paperclips take time.

 

[Nickle]

maybe the ATF was just waiting for his FFL to expire so they could bust him and take away his FFL? C-

This sounds plausible.Still though..letting your FFL expire???

.

They were refusing to renew small FFL's a few years ago.

You had to have regular hours and they now demand a storefront, IIRC.

 

[Len-2A Training]

I met Richard at gun shows many years ago. He eventually gave up the gun shows and went to Internet sales plus "kitchen table" dealing (which I guess he always did).

I did pay him a visit a while before the 1st EOPS list was issued (stopping all sales of most handguns in MA), as I was looking for the Taurus PT-111. We were literally across a very messy kitchen table!

Most FFLs in non-commercial space had already had their State License and FFLs either yanked (non-compliance with Ch. 180 requirements) or were refused renewal when they expired. Richard claimed that "they made an exception for him".

My spidy sense told me that it would not be wise to do business there, and I took my business elsewhere. Something just didn't smell right!!

When my Wife came into my office last night to tell me about this news story, I was not surprised at all! After posting the story, I checked one of the gun auctions and Richard had 63 active auctions going at that time (mostly firearms)!

If his FFLs were no longer valid (he claimed to be a licensed exporter as well as dealer), his Internet presence is prima fascia evidence that will roast him. His only hope is to plea bargain his way out of it and hope for the best.

If you break the rules and the BAT-boys find out, they don't have a very big sense of humor about it. It isn't a "victimless crime" as the BATFE will make sure that the errant dealer IS a "victim" by the time they get thru with him!

 

[Skald]

Hard to guage the reactions on the thread for this one but...........

If he broke the law and sold firearms without following the law, he broke the law and deserves everything he gets. The true victim here are those dealers who follow the law because this idiot now gives them a bad name.

 

[mark056]

Good point Skald...it just hurts the legitimate dealers. Here in Leominster we had Hembrow's Gun Shop which was retail space in the basement of a private home (zoning was multi-use) when the law changed prohibiting that the Hembrows couldn't stay in business. Chief Roddy here in Leominster apparently even tried to get them some kind of exception but to no avail, so they had a big sale and went out of business...end of story.

With all the empty commercial space I see around, I find it difficult to believe that a dealer couldn't find something suitable if they wanted to stay in business. For the Hembrows apparently it wasn't viable. Since this guy continued, he really needed to think about what he was doing. How he thought he could avoid the Feds is way beyond me.

Mark

 

[Nickle]

Making enough to cover the rental cost can be hard.

 

[Coyote33]

...
They were refusing to renew small FFL's a few years ago.

You had to have regular hours and they now demand a storefront, IIRC.

Any chance of GOAL doing something about fixing that? They claim to do so much to help us, but I haven't seen anything like this so far.

 

[TonyD]

...
They were refusing to renew small FFL's a few years ago.

You had to have regular hours and they now demand a storefront, IIRC.

Any chance of GOAL doing something about fixing that? They claim to do so much to help us, but I haven't seen anything like this so far.

The BAT boys did this nation wide. Nothing GOAL is going to do. Another flagrant move to continue to circumvent the 2nd.

 

[Len-2A Training]

...
They were refusing to renew small FFL's a few years ago.

You had to have regular hours and they now demand a storefront, IIRC.

Any chance of GOAL doing something about fixing that? They claim to do so much to help us, but I haven't seen anything like this so far.

Sorry, but you weren't following this when it happened back after the 1998 law went into effect!

GOAL filed suit, the judge ruled that GOAL is NOT a dealer and thus had NO LEGAL STANDING TO BRING SUIT! There was a Dealers Assn of some sort that sued and lost, but they failed to appeal by the deadline . . . thus the law stayed as written.

GOAL has no ability to do anything about this and those that are effected apparently don't care enough to follow thru on the issue. Horse . . . Water . . . Drink!

 

[Rob Boudrie]

GOAL has no ability to do anything about this and those that are effected apparently don't care enough to follow thru on the issue. Horse . . . Water . . . Drink!

I started to write a reply noting that GOAL could post a note in the Outdoor Message that it was willing to bankroll an individual who wanted a home FFL, and for whom running a home gun shop would not otherwise be in violation of law. I then realized that this would not really count as "doing something about this" as such a case would surely be nothing more than an activity to provide a bunch of billable legal hours, and would convert this from a law to a law which has withstool judicial review.

So, I guess you are right - GOAL has no ability to do anything about this.... but neither do the dealers wanting to operate from their residences.

 

[Garys]

Hard to guage the reactions on the thread for this one but...........

If he broke the law and sold firearms without following the law, he broke the law and deserves everything he gets. The true victim here are those dealers who follow the law because this idiot now gives them a bad name.

I think that we are all victims if he did what he is accused of. It makes us all look bad.

Like others, I was at his "operation" once with a friend who was looking for a carry weapon. It was, as Len notes, messy to say the least. My impression was "weird" to say the least. It seemed, but I'm sure it couldn't have been, that every time my friend asked about a different weapon, Richard pulled one out of a cupboard, or cereal box, or something.

He also said he could get SKS and other mil surp, but he quoted prices were pretty high even compared to gun show prices.

As to the kitchen table dealers, I thought it was the AG, not the Feds who was trying to close all of them down. Was the ATF action related to the AWB? Doesn't really matter in MA as if the Feds don't do it, the AG will at least try.

Oh, I heard this morning from a friend that the charges are somehow related to illegal exporting of firearms.

Gary

 

[SKS Ray]

I've dealt with him in the past, once to buy a scope and once for an M48 using a copy of my C&R license. Seemed like an overall nice guy and did business mostly by appointments rather than having a regular store. I do remember seeing a license and lots of federal paper work laying around so at the time he must have been still legal.

 

[Len-2A Training]

When the 1998 law came into effect, the BATFE teamed up with the AG's goon squad to shut down dealers in MA. I recall Pickett (when he ran CHSB or FRB) crowing that he had reduced the number of FFLs in MA from ~1K to ~400!

Amongst the Fed requirements for an FFL is one that you meet local and state laws. In the past, the BATFE (TTBOMK) did NOT demand written proof that your shop met local zoning laws. However some years ago the BATFE also took on a "personal mission" to close down kitchen table-top dealers where possible.

There were many FFLs operating out of their homes or garages (real shop) in my town. Zoning laws here allow the homeowner to sell things out of their own home as long as they aren't a neighborhood nuisance (too many cars parked blocking other folks driveways, huge trucks delivering products daily, etc.) and didn't have any hired help that didn't live in the residence, but Nowhere does it explicitly say that you can run a gun shop (or a computer consulting business, or a constables office, etc.). If one were to specifically hold a hearing to get such specifically stated approval, I can guarantee that there would be a hue and cry from the liberal sheeple in town to expressly forbid gun shops in residentially zoned areas. Thus, by demanding written proof of zoning compliance the BATFE and AG get their wish (even before the 1998 law), many fewer gun shops in MA.

Exporting damn near anything these days is a very tricky business. It is very easy to go afoul of the law without intending to do so. [I recall DEC paying a hefty fine because they exported some computers to a customer in Canada (normally legal transaction) and the Canadian customer resold the goods to a company in the USSR (forbidden by the US State Dept at that time).] So charges against Richard in this area would not surprise me at all.

 

[Emoto]

I hope there are follow-up stories as this (presumably) makes its way through court. I never went there, but had always meant to. Just never got around to it. I think I will give that place a wide berth from now on...

 

[Len-2A Training]

More on this story. Note: "Feinberg used to hold a valid license, but surrendered it in June after failing to comply with federal regulations . . . " sounds terrible but what it really is about is that he wasn't operating out of a commercially zoned building (now a requirement by BATFE, at least in MA due to Ch. 180)!

http://www.tauntongazette.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15928041&BRD=1711&PAG=461&dept_id=24232&rfi=6

01/14/2006
Norton man charged with selling guns
By GERRY TUOTI Staff Writer

BOSTON - A Norton man has been charged in federal court with dealing firearms without a license, and ATF investigators claim some of the 29 guns he sold have been traced to criminal activity.
Authorities say Richard Feinberg, 56, of 15 Farm Lane, Norton, arraigned on the felony charges Thursday, has sold eight firearms to undercover ATF agents since June.

ATF Agent Daniel Kumor said and federal agents conducted an early morning search at We Are Guns, the shop Feinberg owns and runs out of his home, and seized 90 guns, including two machine guns, for which Feinberg is not licensed.

"The evidence we have uncovered indicates that 29 guns were unlawfully sold between June 2005, and the present, bringing the total number of guns involved to over 119," Kumor said. "This investigation and arrest shows our commitment to ensuring that unlawful gun dealers are brought to justice."

Feinberg used to hold a valid license, but surrendered it in June after failing to comply with federal regulations, authorities said.

Christina Sterling, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said Judge Robert Collings ordered Feinberg released on $50,000 bail. Feinberg was ordered to return to the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston Feb. 13.

He is not allowed to leave Massachusetts or Rhode Island.

If convicted, Feinberg faces up to five years imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

gtuoti@tauntongazette.com

 

[Scrivener]

"He is not allowed to leave Massachusetts or Rhode Island."

Huh? Please explain how he could be in EITHER state without having left the other. For that matter, what does Rhode Island have to do with a NORTON resident?

 

[Garys]

I read that to mean that he could travel between the two, but not go anywhere else. He must have some reason to go to Rhode Island, be it business, family, lawyer or something else.

Gary

 

[Len-2A Training]

Normally as a condition of bail, they make you agree to stay in the state that you are under indictment in. If you violate that, they revoke your bail and you stay in jail until your case comes up (could be years).

Since Norton is damn close to the RI state line, they are giving him 2 states to roam in, so he doesn't get popped for accidentally crossing the line.

Makes perfect sense.

e.g. To give an extreme example on the other side . . .

I know someone who was a "financial adviser" who swindled clients out of >$750K. He was convicted and due to lots of political pull, sentenced to house arrest with an anklet. Terms were that he could NOT go beyond the boundaries of the building itself . . . not even in the back yard (house was on >1 acre).

His dog was on a chain from the back deck and somehow either fell off the deck or was hung up around a tree or something. At any rate, the dog was choking to death and he went down into his own back yard to untangle the dog. They popped him on the violation and sentenced him to serve out the remainder of his term in prison!

 

[Producer]

I talked with him a few times. I just never followed up because of the drive for me. Or maybe I have not, is this the same guy?
http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?ItemNum=7132558
Auction Start: 01/16/2006 at 09:50:25
Is he still selling guns?

If I broke any rules I am unaware of, in this message, I will edit / delete immediately. But come on, the FFL's in the area have enough problems and I don't want to lose my C&R. The media could have a huge circus on this.