Gun stores can be closed by the ATF for even one rule violation, according to recently uncovered internal documents.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) reportedly “has zero tolerance for willful violations that greatly affect public safety and ATF’s ability to trace firearms recovered in violent crimes.”
This was first reported by Fox News, which obtained the ATF’s federal firearms licensee (FFL) inspection guidance from January 2022. Under this guidance, it is notably easier for the ATF to revoke the federal firearm license of a gun store.
The guidance reads that “revocation is the assumed action unless extraordinary circumstances exist, when violations are cited that include … [t]ransfer of a firearm to a prohibited person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe the transferee is a prohibited person.”
Other violations include not performing a background check and “making a false or fictitious written statement in the FFL’s required records or in applying for a firearms license.”
According to the guidance, the “ATF must establish willfulness to proceed with revocation, [but] does not have to establish a history of prior violations to determine willfulness.”
“Accordingly, ATF will revoke a federal firearms license, absent extraordinary circumstances on initial violations, if those violations inherently demonstrate willfulness, such as transferring a firearm to a prohibited person; failing to run a background check prior to transferring a firearm to a non-licensee; falsifying records, or making false statements; failing to respond to an ATF tracing request; refusing to permit ATF to conduct an inspection; or allowing a straw sale of a firearm to occur,” the document continues.
The guidance says the “ATF may also revoke for any other willful first-time violation as it deems appropriate,” adding that the ATF “can establish the knowledge element of willfulness in several ways” including establishing “the FFL has a history of similar, repeat violations, and documentation that an [industry operations investigator] discussed them with the FFL.”
If the ATF revokes the license of a gun store, the store must close and send its transaction records to the ATF. However, the licensee can appeal for the revocation to be reviewed in federal court and possibly reversed. During the appeal process, the gun store may also ask permission from the ATF to continue operations; without permission, it is otherwise closed for business.
A full copy of the guidance can be read here.