RoyG
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FYI... for those of you that have been to Fayetteville, NC
Published on: 2005-11-18
Jim's Pawn & Gun Jobbery's firearms license in danger
By Matt Leclercq
Staff writer
The ATF, which announced this week the revocation of firearms licenses for two Fayetteville pawnshops, is pursuing similar action against one of the city's most well-known dealers: Jim's Pawn & Gun Jobbery.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives decided that the business on Yadkin Road should lose its license based on inspections that turned up paperwork discrepancies. The allegations include 80 instances in which firearms transactions weren't properly documented, according to court filings.
Jim's is fighting to retain its licenses for its Fayetteville location - a fixture for decades - and for another shop in Wilmington. Lawyers for the business's owner, James M. Faircloth, have filed a federal lawsuit appealing the ATF's decision.
The problems facing Jim's - dealing mainly with procedural errors - are unlike the case of Cumberland Pawn & Loan Co., which the ATF said Wednesday had lost licenses to sell guns at two of its Fayetteville shops. In that case, the bureau's investigators said employees had sold firearms to felons or people associated with felons. Cumberland Pawn could have appealed the revocations in court but declined to do so.
Lawyers for Jim's blame human error. The government must prove that employees willfully violated the law. Gerald Beaver, one of the lawyers, said that's not the case with Jim's. Shutting down a reputable business such as Jim's, which also houses a firing range popular with soldiers and lawmen, would encourage shady gun dealers elsewhere, he said. The Fayetteville shop has held a firearms license since 1977, according to court documents.
"Here, the rate of error is exceedingly low," Beaver said. "Jim's is respected throughout the entire industry. ... When the government comes in and puts unrealistic expectations upon a business and puts good, honest, hard-working, respected people out of the business, it's just encouragement for the type of clandestine firearms transfers that go on."
The ATF has not commented on the proceedings.
The case against both Jim's pawnshop locations is outlined in paperwork filed in U.S. District Court. ATF investigators conducted an inspection and audit of the businesses last year. The ATF conducted an in-house hearing on the violations and recommended that the shops lose their licenses. A third location of Jim's, in Moore County, is not a part of the proceedings.
According to court documents, the audit's findings for the Fayetteville shop include:
Employees failed on 20 occasions to record the acquisition of firearms by the end of the next business day, as required by law.
Employees failed to record documentation of a customer's identification on five occasions. The business argues in court paperwork that the customer in question was a regular whose identification had previously been verified.
On nine occasions, employees failed to record documentation of ID verifying the home address of customers.
On six occasions, employees failed to "timely" report the sales of multiple handguns.
Employees failed to properly document firearms transactions on 80 occasions. The inspection originally found 230 instances of missing records, though most of them were later accounted for. Lawyers for Jim's filed paperwork explaining the 80 instances of unrecorded transactions, including that 16 of those firearms were sold but had discrepancies in serial numbers; 17 were transfers to another store owned by Jim's; 18 were multiple-gun sales in which only one transaction was recorded; and 25 were instances involving gun repairs or customer returns.
The mistakes were "inadvertent, technical record-keeping errors," the documents say.
At the Wilmington location, the ATF inspections found 28 instances of failing to have the proper paperwork filled out for the sale or other disposition of firearms and failure to timely record the sale or disposition of 20 other firearms.
Earlier warnings
Jim's has been warned before about filing proper paperwork, according to the ATF's court filings. Investigators who conducted similar inspections of Jim's Fayetteville shop found problems with record-keeping in 1996, 2000 and 2001, according to court documents. Those cases led to warnings that future violations could lead to license revocation.
"I don't know how much perfection the government expects from human beings in the operation of a business," Beaver said. "You try your best, you try to come up with proposals and arrangements to make sure that things don't happen, and sometimes they do."
Staff writer Matt Leclercq can be reached at [email protected] or 486-3551.
Published on: 2005-11-18
Jim's Pawn & Gun Jobbery's firearms license in danger
By Matt Leclercq
Staff writer
The ATF, which announced this week the revocation of firearms licenses for two Fayetteville pawnshops, is pursuing similar action against one of the city's most well-known dealers: Jim's Pawn & Gun Jobbery.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives decided that the business on Yadkin Road should lose its license based on inspections that turned up paperwork discrepancies. The allegations include 80 instances in which firearms transactions weren't properly documented, according to court filings.
Jim's is fighting to retain its licenses for its Fayetteville location - a fixture for decades - and for another shop in Wilmington. Lawyers for the business's owner, James M. Faircloth, have filed a federal lawsuit appealing the ATF's decision.
The problems facing Jim's - dealing mainly with procedural errors - are unlike the case of Cumberland Pawn & Loan Co., which the ATF said Wednesday had lost licenses to sell guns at two of its Fayetteville shops. In that case, the bureau's investigators said employees had sold firearms to felons or people associated with felons. Cumberland Pawn could have appealed the revocations in court but declined to do so.
Lawyers for Jim's blame human error. The government must prove that employees willfully violated the law. Gerald Beaver, one of the lawyers, said that's not the case with Jim's. Shutting down a reputable business such as Jim's, which also houses a firing range popular with soldiers and lawmen, would encourage shady gun dealers elsewhere, he said. The Fayetteville shop has held a firearms license since 1977, according to court documents.
"Here, the rate of error is exceedingly low," Beaver said. "Jim's is respected throughout the entire industry. ... When the government comes in and puts unrealistic expectations upon a business and puts good, honest, hard-working, respected people out of the business, it's just encouragement for the type of clandestine firearms transfers that go on."
The ATF has not commented on the proceedings.
The case against both Jim's pawnshop locations is outlined in paperwork filed in U.S. District Court. ATF investigators conducted an inspection and audit of the businesses last year. The ATF conducted an in-house hearing on the violations and recommended that the shops lose their licenses. A third location of Jim's, in Moore County, is not a part of the proceedings.
According to court documents, the audit's findings for the Fayetteville shop include:
Employees failed on 20 occasions to record the acquisition of firearms by the end of the next business day, as required by law.
Employees failed to record documentation of a customer's identification on five occasions. The business argues in court paperwork that the customer in question was a regular whose identification had previously been verified.
On nine occasions, employees failed to record documentation of ID verifying the home address of customers.
On six occasions, employees failed to "timely" report the sales of multiple handguns.
Employees failed to properly document firearms transactions on 80 occasions. The inspection originally found 230 instances of missing records, though most of them were later accounted for. Lawyers for Jim's filed paperwork explaining the 80 instances of unrecorded transactions, including that 16 of those firearms were sold but had discrepancies in serial numbers; 17 were transfers to another store owned by Jim's; 18 were multiple-gun sales in which only one transaction was recorded; and 25 were instances involving gun repairs or customer returns.
The mistakes were "inadvertent, technical record-keeping errors," the documents say.
At the Wilmington location, the ATF inspections found 28 instances of failing to have the proper paperwork filled out for the sale or other disposition of firearms and failure to timely record the sale or disposition of 20 other firearms.
Earlier warnings
Jim's has been warned before about filing proper paperwork, according to the ATF's court filings. Investigators who conducted similar inspections of Jim's Fayetteville shop found problems with record-keeping in 1996, 2000 and 2001, according to court documents. Those cases led to warnings that future violations could lead to license revocation.
"I don't know how much perfection the government expects from human beings in the operation of a business," Beaver said. "You try your best, you try to come up with proposals and arrangements to make sure that things don't happen, and sometimes they do."
Staff writer Matt Leclercq can be reached at [email protected] or 486-3551.
