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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.guns13jul13,0,3317083.story?coll=bal-home-headlines
Gun shop lost license, but can sell inventory
Store was cited for 900 violations of record-keeping rules
By Matthew Dolan and Gwyneth K. Shaw
Sun reporters
Originally published July 13, 2006
When federal officials revoked the dealer license of Valley Gun Shop in Parkville this year, owner Sanford Abrams looked to Washington.
Abrams, a board member of the National Rifle Association, won a concession from federal prosecutors that allows the sale of more than 700 guns from his store's inventory - a move that outraged critics who thought his days of selling firearms were over. The buyer is likely to be the gun shop opening next door on Harford Road, in a building owned by Abrams' 80-year-old mother.
The owner of Just Guns confirmed yesterday that he intends to buy all of Abrams' firearms and sell them on consignment after his store opens next month.
Congress is taking up the issue as well. Weeks after Valley Gun lost a bid in federal court in Baltimore to restore its license, a lawmaker introduced a bill on gun dealer regulation that supporters say would create a better system to punish minor infractions.
But opponents say the legislation could gut the power of federal law enforcement officials to revoke the licenses of gun dealers.
Gun control advocates say the fallout from the Abrams case is a stark and troubling illustration of how hard it is for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to wrest a firearms license from a large-scale gun dealer.
The license revocation in the Abrams case was based on more than 900 violations of record-keeping regulations designed to help police track guns used in crimes, according to the ATF.
The Americans for Gun Safety foundation ranked Abrams 37th out of 80,000 dealers for the sale of firearms between 1996 and 2000 that were later used in crimes. An analysis of ATF data by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence found that Valley Gun sold 14 firearms from 1993 to 1997 that were later used in homicides.
"Clearly, the NRA is trying to protect him," said Daniel R. Vice, a staff attorney for the Brady Center and the author of a new investigative report about Abrams. "And by protecting him, they are protecting the worst of the worst of rogue gun dealers."
Abrams, an outspoken advocate of gun rights, dismissed those concerns yesterday, saying that he has never committed a crime and has been unfairly targeted by overzealous federal agents. He said his days as a gun dealer are over.
"They said I broke the regulations," Abrams said. "But it's a dead issue. They took the license. Nothing has happened since."
Abrams said that as a private citizen, he will sell his firearms to Just Guns owner James D. Morganthall Jr., who also owns OC Outdoors in Dundalk.
"What does she want me to do?" Abrams asked of Sarah Brady, wife of Reagan press secretary James Brady, who was wounded in 1981 during an assassination attempt and for whom the Brady Center is named. "Bury them with me in my coffin?"
Abrams said that as an agent for his mother, he signed a lease with Morganthall. Abrams included a no-compete clause, agreeing not to sell firearms from Valley Gun. ATF officials said Morganthall has no record-keeping violations.
Any suspicions that Just Guns would be a front for him are ridiculous, Abrams said. "I have nothing to do with [Morganthall's] business," Abrams said.
In 2000, Abrams' store was one of 41 licensed firearm dealers - out of 80,000 nationwide - ordered by the ATF to provide detailed reports on all gun purchases and sales for the previous three years, and to continue providing such reports monthly. The idea, bureau officials said, was to prod "uncooperative" gun shops into compliance.
Abrams saw it as an improper power play and sued the federal bureau.
"You think they love me for that?" Abrams said yesterday.
The investigation that led to the license revocation started shortly afterward when, the ATF said, it found problems in Abrams' bookkeeping. In July 1997, agents compared the number of firearms listed in the store's books with the number on the premises. The store came up 45 guns short, according to agents.
After more missing guns were identified after a 1999 inspection, the bureau held a "warning conference" with Abrams, who promised to improve record-keeping. Agents returned in 2001 and noted that there were 133 fewer firearms than were listed in the store's inventory. They held another warning conference. Abrams again pledged to make progress. Finally, in May 2003, an audit of Abrams' books found 472 guns unaccounted for.
The ATF issued a notice of license revocation in May 2004. In October, an administrative hearing officer ruled that Abrams' violations were "willful."
A final notice to take the license was issued in February 2005 but was stayed pending the court case.
Abrams acknowledges that his 2,000-square-foot shop on Harford Road might have had problems in the past. His six employees have had to fill out up to nine forms for a single customer who wanted to buy more than one gun at a time, Abrams said.
His store once sold about 3,000 firearms a year. "Human error" was the way Abrams described most of his store's mistakes. "I'm not doing something illegal," he said.
But in February, U.S. District Judge William M. Nickerson in Baltimore ruled that while Abrams "may challenge the numerousness or seriousness of its violations of federal firearms law, [he] makes no credible argument that there were no violations."
"The undisputed fact is that because of [Valley Gun's] lapses, scores of firearms are unaccounted for, and therefore, untraceable," the judge ruled.
Nickerson rejected Abrams' plea to be able to buy and sell guns while his appeal is pending. So Abrams' lawyer filed a new lawsuit in Washington, asking another judge for relief.
Abrams complained that the ATF in Maryland made threats of what would happen if he tried to sell guns.
"If Mr. Abrams were to engage in dealing firearms without a license, the inventory involved in these violations would be subject to seizure and forfeiture and Mr. Abrams could be subject to criminal prosecution," ATF lawyer Jeffrey A. Cohen wrote to Abrams' attorney, according to court papers.
But the office of the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia said that Abrams could sell off his existing stock legally if he didn't buy new weapons.
"It has been ATF's long-standing position that (in cases such as plaintiff's) when a dealer loses his license he can dispose of his inventory by selling those firearms without" breaking the law, wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Burch.
The news that Abrams, whom federal prosecutors in Maryland labeled a "serial violator" of gun regulations, can still sell hundreds of guns alarmed critics such as Vice of the Brady Center.
"This isn't a personal inventory," Vice said. "This is an inventory of a gun shop."
Abrams, who has served as vice president of the Maryland Licensed Firearms Dealers Association, remains a board member of the National Rifle Association, a leading gun rights lobbying group. He was elected last year to another three-year term.
Among the NRA's legislative priorities is H.R. 5092 - the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Modernization and Reform Act of 2006.
Its sponsor is Rep. Howard Coble, a North Carolina Republican. The bill would revamp enforcement rules for gun dealers, establishing fines and suspensions based on the severity of the violation, and still would allow a license to be revoked under the most serious circumstances. But the bill also allows for an extensive appeals process and, if a shop owner requested it, would prevent the ATF from revoking a license while a case is being reviewed.
Coble's bill, introduced in early April, cleared a subcommittee that he chairs a month later. Coble, now in his 11th term, has received $12,950 from the National Rifle Association's political action committee since 1999, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Given the crowded legislative schedule and the rapidly shrinking number of days before lawmakers head home to campaign for re-election, the bill might have languished. But Coble got a boost late last month from House Republican leaders, who added his bill to their American Values Agenda, a list of high-priority legislation aimed at courting conservative voters in the months leading up to the fall elections.
Coble said in an interview that he was unfamiliar with Abrams or his case. But records show that days before Coble introduced his bill, Abrams' attorney, Richard E. Gardiner, testified on the gun licensing issue before Coble's subcommittee. Yesterday, Coble insisted that his legislation grew out of complaints of overzealous ATF patrols at gun shows in Richmond, Va. The agency's efforts upset potential customers and show organizers, who complained of harassment.
"I'm not anti-ATF, but I am anti-heavy-handed law enforcement," Coble said.
He said he was troubled by the all-or-nothing setup of the current law, which he said has no middle ground between doing nothing and moving to revoke a shop's license.
If the offense is minor, "rather than yanking a guy's license, maybe a slap on the hand might be better," Coble said.
Rep. Robert C. Scott, a Virginia Democrat who worked with Coble to craft the bill, said the legislation would enhance enforcement for minor infractions while still allowing the ATF to close down a dealer who has flouted the law.
"If you have a serious violation, you should have your license revoked," Scott said.
Coble said the bill is not retroactive, so even if it does win approval from Congress and President Bush, it would not affect current cases.
"It's not for me," Abrams said yesterday. "I'm toast. It's for the next dealer down the road. Whatever happens to this bill will not affect me."
But Vice remains skeptical that Abrams is gone for good. The bill, he said, could be used to reinstate Abrams' license - at least temporarily - during his legal appeal.
"And he could reapply for a license tomorrow," Vice said.
[email protected]
Gun shop lost license, but can sell inventory
Store was cited for 900 violations of record-keeping rules
By Matthew Dolan and Gwyneth K. Shaw
Sun reporters
Originally published July 13, 2006
When federal officials revoked the dealer license of Valley Gun Shop in Parkville this year, owner Sanford Abrams looked to Washington.
Abrams, a board member of the National Rifle Association, won a concession from federal prosecutors that allows the sale of more than 700 guns from his store's inventory - a move that outraged critics who thought his days of selling firearms were over. The buyer is likely to be the gun shop opening next door on Harford Road, in a building owned by Abrams' 80-year-old mother.
The owner of Just Guns confirmed yesterday that he intends to buy all of Abrams' firearms and sell them on consignment after his store opens next month.
Congress is taking up the issue as well. Weeks after Valley Gun lost a bid in federal court in Baltimore to restore its license, a lawmaker introduced a bill on gun dealer regulation that supporters say would create a better system to punish minor infractions.
But opponents say the legislation could gut the power of federal law enforcement officials to revoke the licenses of gun dealers.
Gun control advocates say the fallout from the Abrams case is a stark and troubling illustration of how hard it is for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to wrest a firearms license from a large-scale gun dealer.
The license revocation in the Abrams case was based on more than 900 violations of record-keeping regulations designed to help police track guns used in crimes, according to the ATF.
The Americans for Gun Safety foundation ranked Abrams 37th out of 80,000 dealers for the sale of firearms between 1996 and 2000 that were later used in crimes. An analysis of ATF data by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence found that Valley Gun sold 14 firearms from 1993 to 1997 that were later used in homicides.
"Clearly, the NRA is trying to protect him," said Daniel R. Vice, a staff attorney for the Brady Center and the author of a new investigative report about Abrams. "And by protecting him, they are protecting the worst of the worst of rogue gun dealers."
Abrams, an outspoken advocate of gun rights, dismissed those concerns yesterday, saying that he has never committed a crime and has been unfairly targeted by overzealous federal agents. He said his days as a gun dealer are over.
"They said I broke the regulations," Abrams said. "But it's a dead issue. They took the license. Nothing has happened since."
Abrams said that as a private citizen, he will sell his firearms to Just Guns owner James D. Morganthall Jr., who also owns OC Outdoors in Dundalk.
"What does she want me to do?" Abrams asked of Sarah Brady, wife of Reagan press secretary James Brady, who was wounded in 1981 during an assassination attempt and for whom the Brady Center is named. "Bury them with me in my coffin?"
Abrams said that as an agent for his mother, he signed a lease with Morganthall. Abrams included a no-compete clause, agreeing not to sell firearms from Valley Gun. ATF officials said Morganthall has no record-keeping violations.
Any suspicions that Just Guns would be a front for him are ridiculous, Abrams said. "I have nothing to do with [Morganthall's] business," Abrams said.
In 2000, Abrams' store was one of 41 licensed firearm dealers - out of 80,000 nationwide - ordered by the ATF to provide detailed reports on all gun purchases and sales for the previous three years, and to continue providing such reports monthly. The idea, bureau officials said, was to prod "uncooperative" gun shops into compliance.
Abrams saw it as an improper power play and sued the federal bureau.
"You think they love me for that?" Abrams said yesterday.
The investigation that led to the license revocation started shortly afterward when, the ATF said, it found problems in Abrams' bookkeeping. In July 1997, agents compared the number of firearms listed in the store's books with the number on the premises. The store came up 45 guns short, according to agents.
After more missing guns were identified after a 1999 inspection, the bureau held a "warning conference" with Abrams, who promised to improve record-keeping. Agents returned in 2001 and noted that there were 133 fewer firearms than were listed in the store's inventory. They held another warning conference. Abrams again pledged to make progress. Finally, in May 2003, an audit of Abrams' books found 472 guns unaccounted for.
The ATF issued a notice of license revocation in May 2004. In October, an administrative hearing officer ruled that Abrams' violations were "willful."
A final notice to take the license was issued in February 2005 but was stayed pending the court case.
Abrams acknowledges that his 2,000-square-foot shop on Harford Road might have had problems in the past. His six employees have had to fill out up to nine forms for a single customer who wanted to buy more than one gun at a time, Abrams said.
His store once sold about 3,000 firearms a year. "Human error" was the way Abrams described most of his store's mistakes. "I'm not doing something illegal," he said.
But in February, U.S. District Judge William M. Nickerson in Baltimore ruled that while Abrams "may challenge the numerousness or seriousness of its violations of federal firearms law, [he] makes no credible argument that there were no violations."
"The undisputed fact is that because of [Valley Gun's] lapses, scores of firearms are unaccounted for, and therefore, untraceable," the judge ruled.
Nickerson rejected Abrams' plea to be able to buy and sell guns while his appeal is pending. So Abrams' lawyer filed a new lawsuit in Washington, asking another judge for relief.
Abrams complained that the ATF in Maryland made threats of what would happen if he tried to sell guns.
"If Mr. Abrams were to engage in dealing firearms without a license, the inventory involved in these violations would be subject to seizure and forfeiture and Mr. Abrams could be subject to criminal prosecution," ATF lawyer Jeffrey A. Cohen wrote to Abrams' attorney, according to court papers.
But the office of the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia said that Abrams could sell off his existing stock legally if he didn't buy new weapons.
"It has been ATF's long-standing position that (in cases such as plaintiff's) when a dealer loses his license he can dispose of his inventory by selling those firearms without" breaking the law, wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Burch.
The news that Abrams, whom federal prosecutors in Maryland labeled a "serial violator" of gun regulations, can still sell hundreds of guns alarmed critics such as Vice of the Brady Center.
"This isn't a personal inventory," Vice said. "This is an inventory of a gun shop."
Abrams, who has served as vice president of the Maryland Licensed Firearms Dealers Association, remains a board member of the National Rifle Association, a leading gun rights lobbying group. He was elected last year to another three-year term.
Among the NRA's legislative priorities is H.R. 5092 - the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Modernization and Reform Act of 2006.
Its sponsor is Rep. Howard Coble, a North Carolina Republican. The bill would revamp enforcement rules for gun dealers, establishing fines and suspensions based on the severity of the violation, and still would allow a license to be revoked under the most serious circumstances. But the bill also allows for an extensive appeals process and, if a shop owner requested it, would prevent the ATF from revoking a license while a case is being reviewed.
Coble's bill, introduced in early April, cleared a subcommittee that he chairs a month later. Coble, now in his 11th term, has received $12,950 from the National Rifle Association's political action committee since 1999, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Given the crowded legislative schedule and the rapidly shrinking number of days before lawmakers head home to campaign for re-election, the bill might have languished. But Coble got a boost late last month from House Republican leaders, who added his bill to their American Values Agenda, a list of high-priority legislation aimed at courting conservative voters in the months leading up to the fall elections.
Coble said in an interview that he was unfamiliar with Abrams or his case. But records show that days before Coble introduced his bill, Abrams' attorney, Richard E. Gardiner, testified on the gun licensing issue before Coble's subcommittee. Yesterday, Coble insisted that his legislation grew out of complaints of overzealous ATF patrols at gun shows in Richmond, Va. The agency's efforts upset potential customers and show organizers, who complained of harassment.
"I'm not anti-ATF, but I am anti-heavy-handed law enforcement," Coble said.
He said he was troubled by the all-or-nothing setup of the current law, which he said has no middle ground between doing nothing and moving to revoke a shop's license.
If the offense is minor, "rather than yanking a guy's license, maybe a slap on the hand might be better," Coble said.
Rep. Robert C. Scott, a Virginia Democrat who worked with Coble to craft the bill, said the legislation would enhance enforcement for minor infractions while still allowing the ATF to close down a dealer who has flouted the law.
"If you have a serious violation, you should have your license revoked," Scott said.
Coble said the bill is not retroactive, so even if it does win approval from Congress and President Bush, it would not affect current cases.
"It's not for me," Abrams said yesterday. "I'm toast. It's for the next dealer down the road. Whatever happens to this bill will not affect me."
But Vice remains skeptical that Abrams is gone for good. The bill, he said, could be used to reinstate Abrams' license - at least temporarily - during his legal appeal.
"And he could reapply for a license tomorrow," Vice said.
[email protected]
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