Mike Irwin
Member
Again from the Seattle Post Intelligencer
(Be sure to catch the last paragraph. Anyone know anything about that group? Sounds like a wolf in sheeples' clothing...)
Federal regulators have revoked the license of the gun seller whose Tacoma store was the source of the rifle linked to the Beltway snipers who terrorized the nation's capital last fall.
The ruling by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives effectively closes Bull's Eye Shooter Supply after a short grace period during which the store can wrap up pending business. The doors will then be shut unless a new owner with a federal firearms license takes control of the gun shop.
A Bushmaster carbine -- apparently stolen from Bull's Eye -- was found in a car when police arrested accused snipers Lee Boyd Malvo and John Muhammad in October. Investigators say the military-style weapon was used to kill 13 people. Five others were wounded.
The bureau's investigation of Bull's Eye portrays a shop whose owner, Brian Borgelt, lost control of his inventory of deadly weapons.
Although the exact number of guns that have gone missing at Bull's Eye has been at the center of the dispute between the store and the bureau, no one disputes that at least dozens of firearms are unaccounted for.
And that, bureau Special Agent in Charge Kelvin Crenshaw said, is unacceptable.
"We expect everyone that has guns, the public and those involved in the business of selling guns to act responsibly in that ownership and business," Crenshaw said yesterday from his Seattle office. "We feel that we've acted responsibly by issuing a notice of revocation.
"We've looked at the facts. All those folks that worked for Mr. Borgelt were his agents and acted on his behalf. The new owner is going to be ultimately responsible for the way his business operates.
"We feel what we've done is reasonable and within the bounds of the law to protect the public."
As well as losing his license, Borgelt faces the prospect of prison time. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported in April that the bureau referred Borgelt to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle for possible criminal prosecution for willfully failing to maintain proper records. A more complicated criminal investigation into Bull's Eye and Borgelt by the Internal Revenue Service is also under way.
The continued existence of the gun store may be determined in the next few days. A deal between Bull's Eye owner Borgelt and longtime friend Chris Kindschuh to buy the shop has been delayed pending a ruling by the bureau on Kindschuh's application for a license to run the store.
Borgelt could not be reached for comment yesterday. But his attorney, Jim Frush, declared that "this revocation will make no difference in the long run. We anticipate Kindschuh's application (for a license) will be resolved soon and that there will be no break in Bull's Eye operation."
Frush confirmed that under the terms of the sale to Kindschuh, Borgelt "is going to be out of the retail business." Although he will continue to operate a shooting range in the building, he also will be selling the inventory of firearms along with the retail business.
And Frush accused the bureau of "attempting to paint as black a picture as possible of Bull's Eye by all means, including in this licensing proceeding, simply desiring to put it out of business because this is a high profile case."
"The ATF feels they received a black eye for their handling and participation in the sniper killings," Frush said. "From day one, they were bound to put Brian out of business as though that would somehow make their own failures less relevant."
Frush acknowledged that Bull's Eye did commit violations of bureau regulations governing records that track the guns.
But he insists that the violations did not meet the standard required to revoke a license because Borgelt did not willfully break the rules.
And he said that the loss of perhaps 50 firearms out of an inventory of 25,000 is within industry standards.
He said Borgelt would appeal the revocation in U.S. District Court.
Bureau action to revoke federal firearms licenses is relatively uncommon. In the past three years, the Seattle ATF division has recommended the revocation of eight licenses.
Nine families whose members were sniper victims have sued Bull's Eye, Borgelt and Bushmaster distributors in Pierce County Superior Court.
Hoyal yesterday noted the bureau's revocation yesterday by saying: "Gun dealers and gun manufacturers are under a duty to use responsible care. We are alleging in the lawsuit that Brian Borgelt and Bull's Eye did not use responsible care to keep the guns out of the hands of persons like Mohammed and Malvo."
Joe Waldron of Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, a national group based in Bellevue, said if sufficient evidence exists that Bull's Eye failed to follow the law, "the appropriate action should be taken, whether it's revocation or criminal charges."
(Be sure to catch the last paragraph. Anyone know anything about that group? Sounds like a wolf in sheeples' clothing...)
Federal regulators have revoked the license of the gun seller whose Tacoma store was the source of the rifle linked to the Beltway snipers who terrorized the nation's capital last fall.
The ruling by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives effectively closes Bull's Eye Shooter Supply after a short grace period during which the store can wrap up pending business. The doors will then be shut unless a new owner with a federal firearms license takes control of the gun shop.
A Bushmaster carbine -- apparently stolen from Bull's Eye -- was found in a car when police arrested accused snipers Lee Boyd Malvo and John Muhammad in October. Investigators say the military-style weapon was used to kill 13 people. Five others were wounded.
The bureau's investigation of Bull's Eye portrays a shop whose owner, Brian Borgelt, lost control of his inventory of deadly weapons.
Although the exact number of guns that have gone missing at Bull's Eye has been at the center of the dispute between the store and the bureau, no one disputes that at least dozens of firearms are unaccounted for.
And that, bureau Special Agent in Charge Kelvin Crenshaw said, is unacceptable.
"We expect everyone that has guns, the public and those involved in the business of selling guns to act responsibly in that ownership and business," Crenshaw said yesterday from his Seattle office. "We feel that we've acted responsibly by issuing a notice of revocation.
"We've looked at the facts. All those folks that worked for Mr. Borgelt were his agents and acted on his behalf. The new owner is going to be ultimately responsible for the way his business operates.
"We feel what we've done is reasonable and within the bounds of the law to protect the public."
As well as losing his license, Borgelt faces the prospect of prison time. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported in April that the bureau referred Borgelt to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle for possible criminal prosecution for willfully failing to maintain proper records. A more complicated criminal investigation into Bull's Eye and Borgelt by the Internal Revenue Service is also under way.
The continued existence of the gun store may be determined in the next few days. A deal between Bull's Eye owner Borgelt and longtime friend Chris Kindschuh to buy the shop has been delayed pending a ruling by the bureau on Kindschuh's application for a license to run the store.
Borgelt could not be reached for comment yesterday. But his attorney, Jim Frush, declared that "this revocation will make no difference in the long run. We anticipate Kindschuh's application (for a license) will be resolved soon and that there will be no break in Bull's Eye operation."
Frush confirmed that under the terms of the sale to Kindschuh, Borgelt "is going to be out of the retail business." Although he will continue to operate a shooting range in the building, he also will be selling the inventory of firearms along with the retail business.
And Frush accused the bureau of "attempting to paint as black a picture as possible of Bull's Eye by all means, including in this licensing proceeding, simply desiring to put it out of business because this is a high profile case."
"The ATF feels they received a black eye for their handling and participation in the sniper killings," Frush said. "From day one, they were bound to put Brian out of business as though that would somehow make their own failures less relevant."
Frush acknowledged that Bull's Eye did commit violations of bureau regulations governing records that track the guns.
But he insists that the violations did not meet the standard required to revoke a license because Borgelt did not willfully break the rules.
And he said that the loss of perhaps 50 firearms out of an inventory of 25,000 is within industry standards.
He said Borgelt would appeal the revocation in U.S. District Court.
Bureau action to revoke federal firearms licenses is relatively uncommon. In the past three years, the Seattle ATF division has recommended the revocation of eight licenses.
Nine families whose members were sniper victims have sued Bull's Eye, Borgelt and Bushmaster distributors in Pierce County Superior Court.
Hoyal yesterday noted the bureau's revocation yesterday by saying: "Gun dealers and gun manufacturers are under a duty to use responsible care. We are alleging in the lawsuit that Brian Borgelt and Bull's Eye did not use responsible care to keep the guns out of the hands of persons like Mohammed and Malvo."
Joe Waldron of Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, a national group based in Bellevue, said if sufficient evidence exists that Bull's Eye failed to follow the law, "the appropriate action should be taken, whether it's revocation or criminal charges."
