Jefferson County compliance inspection focusing on awareness of possible straw purchases and trafficking of firearms.

On 1/12/2017, Senior Industry Operations Investigator redacted commenced a compliance inspection at the business premises. Responsible person and LLC member William Neafus was present and provided assistance during the inspection. Employee also provided assistance during the inspection. See narrative report for full details. Recommend revocation of the Federal firearms license. Licensee was cited with 14 violations of the Gun Control Act . Though this was the licensee’s first inspection, the transfer of a firearm to a known prohibited person and the transfer of firearms prior to receiving a final NICS response (and 3 days had not elapsed since the initial call) constitute a threat to public safety. redacted ATF Forms 4473 were missing from the licensee’s records and redacted multiple handgun sales were not reported. This directly impacts the ability of ATF to trace firearms, conduct criminal investigations of purchasers or potential purchasers associated with those forms or firearms or identify potential firearms traffickers and trafficking patterns. In addition, the dispositions of redacted firearms could not be determined and were reported missing. The state of the licensee’s records constituted a plain indifference and reckless disregard of the firearms recordkeeping requirements. The fact that violations were discovered in records completed not even one month after licensee was provided instruction on proper preparation of the required records demonstrates that licensee is not likely to maintain compliance with the Gun Control Act in the future. Show more

The licensee received its license in2014, after a qualification inspection. The current inspection yielded 14 violations. 27 CFR 478.99(c); in redacted instance the FFL transferred a firearm to an individual after receiving a denied response from NICS . The NICS check was initiated on 12/6/14 and received an immediate “Delayed” response. NICS provided the FFL with a final response of “Denied” on 12/08/14. The licensee reported the firearm was transferred on 12/11/2014. Additionally, there were three instances where the initial NICS response was "Delayed", there was no indication the licensee had received a “Proceed” response and the dates of transfer were prior to the 3 day waiting period. In these instances the buyers were not prohibited. However, the FFL did not have any information to indicate the buyers were not proh bited. In redacted instances of A&D recordkeeping errors including, redacted firearms that could not be accounted for and were reported as a theft/loss; redacted instances of firearms being bought and sold and never being logged in or out of the A&D book as either an acquisition or disposition . The licensee also failed to retain redacted ATF Forms 4473s . The licensee also failed to report redacted instances of unreported multiple sales . The licensee is absentee and willfully chooses to be non-compliant. The licensee did not take responsibility for his violations. After detailed instructions and 14 days, the licensee refused to correct his A&D violations. The licensee stated that he “spent a little time” making corrections and “it is what it is.” He also failed to timely report a theft/loss of redacted missing firearms. On redacted occasions, the licensee provided false statements. First, the licensee said he had a city issued pawnbroker’s license, but it was misplaced. Second, the licensee stated he was unaware that the LLC had been dissolved. The licensee later told the lead IOI he knew he didn’t hold an active local pawnbrokers license and also that he knew the LLC was dissolved due to tax issues. When the lead IOI inquired, the licensee admitted to lying. Revocation is recommended by the lead IOI and Area Supervisor. DIO Concurs. Show more