Another gun shop closes due to minor clerical errors

Longtime owner, a former law enforcement officer, says his livelihood is gone

The federal government is closing Roy Stone's gun store in downtown Merced because of clerical errors in the business' records.

By Leslie Albrecht
Last Updated: August 12, 2006, 12:36:55 AM PDT

The federal government is closing Roy Stone's gun store because he broke the law. His crime: sloppy bookkeeping. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is revoking Stone's license to sell guns after an audit revealed clerical errors on paperwork that customers fill out when they buy a gun.

"(Revoking the license) was due to repeated violations of the Gun Control Act that were found during the inspection process," said ATF spokeswoman Nina Delgadillo. "The violations relate to record-keeping obligations."

But Stone said the mistakes were a handful of minor errors like writing the wrong date next to a customer's signature, or forgetting to check off one of the 36 boxes on the three-page form that all gun buyers complete.

What other business can be shut down permanently because of minor clerical errors? Taking Mr. Stone at his word (and there is no reason not to, no charges were filed), we see that there is an agenda by a government entity to close gun dealers and limit the accessibility of firearms to law abiding citizens. The article continues:

Stone isn't the only local gun dealer in trouble for paperwork mistakes. He said seven gun dealers in Fresno have been shut down recently.

Gary Mitchell, owner of Gunrunner Gun Shop on Yosemite Park Way, said the ATF has threatened to revoke his license too because of faulty records.

"We're just businessmen," said Mitchell. "We don't want bad guys to get guns. We're trying to work with law enforcement -- both state and federal -- and they're fighting
against us."

Seven other dealers have been shut down, businesses and livelihoods taken away by the stroke of a pen. This is happening all over the country, and this is happening without any kind of oversight. The BATF pretty much does what it wants. From entrapment at gun shows to closing down businesses, these relics of Prohibition continue to stomp on the Second Amendment and our freedoms as American Citizens.

California does not allow a private individual to purchase or sell a firearm without going through an FFL licensed dealer. Eight less licensed dealers means eight fewer places for law abiding citizens to buy and sell firearms.

There is a bit of irony in this particular story though:

The ATF crackdown carries extra sting for Stone, because he spent his career working in law enforcement, retiring as a California Highway Patrol officer in 1993.

When he was a police detective in Modesto, he worked side by side with ATF agents, sometimes drinking coffee with them in his office.

Now that same agency is shutting his business down, and while he didn't expect any special treatment because of his background in law enforcement, he said it doesn't feel good to have the "good guys" against him.

I have to wonder about the "cases" he worked with these "good guys". I wonder just how many lives he may have ruined for the lack of a $5.00 tax stamp on a short barrel rifle or shotgun?

This story was listed on Gun Owners of America