gun store sale
Gun shop owner Jesus "Chuy" Aguirre attends to customer Angel Zacarias in Chuy's Gun Shop in El Paso, Texas. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)
Previous Post
Next Post

By Lee Williams

The Biden-Harris administration is not hiding their goal of eliminating as many gun dealers as possible. They recently ordered the ATF to start revoking Federal Firearm Licenses for even the most minor of paperwork issues. This level of weaponization is unprecedented, even for the ATF.

It’s clear that the administration mistakenly believes that if they reduce the number of gun dealers, they will reduce the number of guns. Unfortunately, the White House is unaware that criminals don’t purchase their firearms from federally licensed gun dealers. They get them the old-fashioned way, by stealing them or buying them on the black market from other criminals.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation warned about Biden’s likely weaponization of the ATF during the 2020 presidential campaign. “[Biden] and Vice-President Harris said separately they were looking to weaponize the ATF against the firearm industry,” said NSSF spokesman Mark Oliva. “We predicted this and we are seeing them turning the ATF into a bludgeon against the FFLs.”

For gun dealers, one key to fighting back against Biden’s overreach, Oliva said, are the services and advice of FFL Consultants, which the NSSF provides free to its members. “They are extremely successful and value-added to NSSF,” Oliva said.

gun store
Shutterstock

FFL Consultants’ mantra is “get it right the first time,” according to cofounder John “JB” Bocker.

“Our goal is to prevent an incident from occurring,” Bocker said. “Our goal is prevention – get it right the first time. We are the proactive and preventative arm of the NSSF.”

Bocker and cofounder John “JC” Clark realized long ago that a gun dealer’s ability to succeed depends on their ability to “access, comprehend, understand and train to the requirements of both federal and state oversight organizations.” Bocker and Clark support licensed gun dealers across the country, from smalltime hobbyists and gunsmiths to large firearm manufacturers, importers and exporters.

FFL Consultants
FFL Consultants cofounders John “JB” Bocker and John “JC” Clark. (Photo courtesy FFL Consultants.)

Founded in 2016, FFL Consultants supports all NSSF members. “Anyone can call us,” Bocker said. “We realize the dealer usually has a customer standing in front of them waiting at the gun counter, so we promise 24/7, 365-day live answering – one of us always answers the phone.”

There were far fewer issues to resolve under the Trump administration, Bocker said. Now, unfortunately, business is booming. “The Biden administration – in my opinion, speaking as an independent consultant – is grasping at straws,” Bocker said. “The arm-brace issue is a little scary. We hear there have been 13 million sold in America over the past five years. What will people do with them if they’re no longer legal – register, dismantle, detach? There’s been no guidance for gun dealers who are holding all of this merchandise in stock.”

“Pre-Biden,” Bocker said, the ATF’s attitude was “If you have an error, call us and we’ll help you correct it.” Now, local control and discretion has been removed from the agents and the agency. “It’s the Attorney General’s Office making the decisions,” Bocker said. “Everything goes through D.C.”

atf agents
(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Bocker cited as an example the owner of a multi-million-dollar gun store and range that never had a serious compliance issue before. Now, they’re negotiating with attorneys so the owner can surrender his FFL rather than face revocation, all because an employee misread a background check and allowed a firearm to be temporarily transferred to a prohibited person.

The employee caught her error, and the gun dealer called the customer. The weapon was recovered and the whole error was immediately reported to their local ATF inspector. Still, during an audit three months later, even though the gun shop had self-reported the transfer to a prohibited person and corrected the error, a revocation of the FFL was ordered.

“That’s one of the ugliest ones and the most impactful,” Bocker said. “There is a very short list of important pieces of a regulatory process that all must be perfect. The sad part is that we have humans running these stores who can make mistakes.”

Case study

Mark Glavin owns the Fox Valley Shooting Range in Elgin, Illinois.

Fox Valley Shooting Range
Courtesy Fox Valley Shooting Range

Glavin first met John Bocker at the SHOT Show in 2017, after being introduced by the NSSF. Glavin was a self-described “gun industry outsider” who had a dream of owning a gun shop and indoor range, but no knowledge or practical experience in how to make it happen.

“As we progressed from an idea to a business plan to getting through the regulatory hurdles, they helped us out from a logistics perspective,” Glavin said. “I was not from the gun industry. I was walking in blind. FFL Consultants helped guide us through city and ATF regulations. Our city needed a security plan. We spent half a day with John back and forth on the phone. He recommended some additional safeguards, which we used, and we were able to produce a document substantial enough for the city to give approval.

“They showed us things we were doing wrong and the steps to take to correct it. They did mock audits with us, which proved extremely beneficial, especially during our first year,” Glavin said. “The FFL Consultants help an FFL stay out of hot water with the ATF. We’ve been open for four years now – two during COVID, so we have not had a visit from the ATF. They’re help will prove out when we get our first ATF audit and walk away with our FFL. I strongly recommend them. I definitely value having them on speed dial.”

 

The Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project wouldn’t be possible without you. Click here to make a tax deductible donation to support pro-gun stories like this.

This story is part of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and is published here with their permission.

Previous Post
Next Post

42 COMMENTS

    • “Anyone keeping the AFT at bay is a hero.”

      In that light, check out this story that the Leftist Scum just dropped :

      “The Supreme Court May Soon Shut Down the Regulatory State. Let’s Use It While We Still Can.”

      “Progressive Democrats are right to call for more aggressive use of regulatory powers. But like the Democrats’ congressional majorities, these may not last forever.”

      https://newrepublic.com/article/165802/supreme-court-chevron-deference-biden-regulatory-state

      This might explain the BATF over-reach on home-built firearms about to drop in a few weeks…

      • did you read the link to suggestions for executive actions?
        that source is demented. nice to see how they think, though.

      • It appears that the progs will get (another) totally unqualified “judge” approved to SCOTUS. If you have followed the current hearings, it is clear that this affirmative action marxist activist bimbo has no business sitting on any court. Attended/grad of Yale/Harvard should, today, preclude employment with Fed gov.

        That she was rubber stamped 3 previous times for judgeships is supposed to count for something (but is pathetic).

  1. WONDER IF HAVING TO USE FINGER PRINT AND SOCIAL SECURITY NMBR , FACE RECOGNITION , WILL BE NEXT MOVE , HAVE TO PROVIDE WHEN PURCHASING A GUN . ???
    CRIMINALS REALLY MESS IT ALL UP FOR LAW-ABIDING .

    • PLEASE KILL YOURSELF NTEXAS, THE SHOUTING IN YOUR HEAD WILL FINALLY STOP. THANKS ALWAYS

      • If all you guys have to worry about is N Texas using all caps. You guys really need something to worry about.

        • Almost no CAPS!!! Did you hear me? I can hardly hear myself for someone shouting. You guys don’t know a damn thing about N TX. Maybe he uses caps because he has a disability that makes it difficult to switch from one to the other. Maybe his computer is stuck in that mode and it is all he has. Maybe. Just maybe, he types in caps, because, “FUCK YOU! HE CAN!!” Did everyone hear that? Let’s talk about something important now. Please.

        • I wasn’t the one being downright mean and wishing death. And at the moment I’m on disability after back surgery and I got nuttin else to do! SO GET OFF MY BACK! Seriously cuz my back really hurts.

    • Criminals ain’t messing nothing up. Tyrants in the .gov see an opening and swoop in to punish all.

      • Once again Mr. ‘Hitler was just ahead of his time’ jwm comes strong with the hard hitting, relevant commentary we’ve come to expect from a ‘man’ with the IQ of a potted plant.

        • WTF is your major malfunction? Do you really just lurk here all day waiting for certain people to post so you can beclown yourself repeatedly? I’ve seen turds on the sidewalk that provide more social value.

        • avatar Geoff "A day without an obsessed, obviously brain-damaged and mentally-ill demented troll (who deserves to live in New Jersey) PR

          “…from a ‘man’ with the IQ of a potted plant.”

          Your extensive personal experience with living every day with an IQ of a potted houseplant certainly qualifies you, little boy.

          Do you apologize to your wife when you ‘gratify’ yourself on her? You really should, that poor woman is stuck with a lifetime sentence of living with a worthless POS like you, little boy… 🙂

  2. This appears to be a fantastic resource for shops, now if we could only get manufacturers to start their own “credit” operations like GMAC/Ford/Chrysler Credit so retailers wouldn’t have to rely on the easily influenced “Woke” banks for capital.

  3. Everything was going pretty smooth, exporting oil, decent food prices, bringing back our manufacturing, we the people were decently content.
    And then along came theBiden.

    • It just amazes me how the democrat party is willing to let their constituents suffer, some of the severely, to push forth their green agenda. Even at the expense of our national security. Effing aholes!

        • The fallacy of single stage thinking.

          “Orange Man bad”. Vote him out by any means necessary. Did anyone think about the replacement?

      • “constituents”? they don’t have any, it’s the prog aristocracy and their demented agenda that matters.

    • “exporting oil”

      Please tell me more about how President Biden stopped oil exports, thanks!

      • Do you mean importing oil like Donald Trump?

        “But it’s inaccurate for Hannity to claim that “pre-COVID” under Trump, the U.S. “didn’t import a single barrel of oil from Saudi Arabia.”

        In 2019, the last year before the pandemic, the U.S. imported about 500,000 barrels of crude oil from Saudi Arabia per day, and over 182 million barrels in total, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Imports also came from other countries in the Middle East.

        In 2017 and 2018, Trump’s first two years as president, the U.S. imported about 949,000 and 870,000 barrels of crude oil per day, respectively. In 2020, when demand crashed in the middle of the year because of the pandemic, the number was down to about 498,000 barrels per day.“

        https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/dec/02/sean-hannity/hannity-falsely-claims-us-didnt-import-single-barr/

        Didn’t the 9/11 hijackers come from Saudi Arabia? The people that Donald Trump did the sword dance with?

        So I guess releasing 5000 Taliban fighters to destabilize the Afghan gov’t wasn’t the only time Trump helped out the Muslim fundamentalists.

        • Minor MINER49er I regret to inform you that Donald Trump made us energy independent for the FIRST time in our history.

  4. “The sad part is that we have humans running these stores who can make mistakes.”

    No, the sad part is that the humans who make and enforce these stupid Byzantine rules haven’t been hung from lamp posts yet.

  5. STATE OF WASHINGTON TODAY BANNED HIGH CAP MAGAZINES AND GHOST GUNS

    Violations would be a gross misdemeanor, which in Washington is punishable by up to 364 days in county jail, a maximum fine of up to $5,000, or both.

    The measure was requested by Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who said that a 2016 shooting at a party in Mukilteo — in which a 30-round magazine was used, killing three teens and seriously injuring another — and his conversations with the parent of a survivor motivated him to push for the bill every year since.

    Inslee also signed a measure that prohibits people from knowingly bringing weapons — either openly carried or carried with a concealed pistol license — to ballot counting sites and on-campus school board meetings. The new law also bans openly carried firearms at local government meetings and election-related facilities such as county election offices, off-campus school board meetings and local government meetings, though people who have concealed pistol licenses would be allowed to carry their concealed weapon in those locations.

    “No one — no one — should be prevented from accessing their government due to fear of armed intimidation,” said Democratic Rep. Tana Senn, the bill’s sponsor.

    Law enforcement is exempt from the restrictions, as are any security personnel hired at a location.

    Violation of the law would be a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and fines of up to $1,000. Second or subsequent violations would be a gross misdemeanor.

    Additionally, any person convicted would have their concealed pistol license revoked for three years.

    A third measure signed by Inslee on Wednesday adds further restrictions to the law on the manufacture, sale, or possession of so-called ghost guns by prohibiting people from possessing components to build an untraceable firearm, as well as possessing any firearms built after 2019 that don’t have serial numbers. Hobbyists will be able to continue making guns at home, but under the new law they must use components with serial numbers.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/washington-governor-signs-bills-tightening-gun-rules/ar-AAVqc5p?li=BBnb7Kz

        • jwm, will trump release another 5000 Taliban terrorists when he’s elected in 2024?

          Asking for a friend…

        • Minor MINER49er Sorry but you can’t release what we don’t have. I am sure though you would love to release the slime who gave us 9/11.

    • dacian the Dunderhead, That would be one “victory” for you anti-Gun Radicals. but I regret to inform you that I already know that most of the eastern counties in the State will refuse to enforce this edict.

  6. The SAF Wrote: “It’s clear that the administration mistakenly believes that if they reduce the number of gun dealers, they will reduce the number of guns. Unfortunately, the White House is unaware that criminals don’t purchase their firearms from federally licensed gun dealers. They get them the old-fashioned way, by stealing them or buying them on the black market from other criminals.”

    On this, I believe they are wrong. I believe that the administration knows perfectly well where criminals get their guns. They just don’t care. They would rather go after legal gun owners and the FFLs that serve them because that action serves their control agenda better.

    We need to call a spade a spade. The progressives in and out of the administration want to disarm law abiding citizens so they will not face resistance to their attempts to impose socialism.

Comments are closed.