Gun dealers have been losing their licenses at an unprecedented rate this year, with critics accusing the Biden administration of covertly undermining the Second Amendment.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) revoked the licenses of 122 gun dealers in the fiscal year that began in October.
Last financial year there were 90 and in 2021 there were only 27.
Since registration of revocations began in 2013, the ATF has never revoked more than 81 dealer licenses, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
Critics of the ATF’s new-found muscle argue that it attacks largely legal gun dealers, who often provide valuable assistance to law enforcement in tracking down firearms used in crimes.
Joe Biden is seen holding up a ghost gun to discuss gun violence at a White House event on April 11
Arms dealers have said the ATF is now too heavy-handed in enforcing violations
Some law enforcement veterans told the newspaper that the previous system of issuing warnings rather than revoking permits was preferable.
“The arms dealers were our first line of defense against the arms trade,” said Peter Forcelli, a retired deputy assistant director.
“Why are we beating an ally into submission now?”
But Steve Dettelbach, named director of the ATF in July 2022, defended his agency’s policy.
“We have taken steps to hold accountable those few dealers who are guilty of these deliberate violations,” he said.
“They will no longer have the privilege of being arms dealers.”
Dettelbach, who was the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio before taking on the ATF role, said dealers should be held to strict standards because guns could end up being sold to criminals.
Rick Vasquez, a retired ATF official, told the paper he approved of Dettelbach’s approach.
“The ATF had a ‘let’s see if we can help you’ attitude prior to this administration and some arms dealers took advantage of that,” he said.
But those who lost their licenses told the newspaper they were unfairly targeted.
Anthony Navarro lost his driver’s license last year after three previous warnings since 2009.
He still sells gun accessories at his store in Greeley, Colorado.
“We were making $1 million a year, now it’s less than $100,000,” he said.
“This policy is intended to be a backdoor violation of the Second Amendment.”
Anthony Navarro, owner of a gun dealership in Greely, Colorado, lost his license last year
Navarro said some of the paperwork violations were minor and some were caused by a former employee — and he reported the problem to the ATF as soon as it was discovered
Bridge City Ordnance in Valley City, North Dakota, lost its license last year.
An ATF inspector had recommended revoking Navarro’s license to his Colorado store in 2015 after sending him warning letters in 2009 and 2011.
The 2015 inspection revealed 10 violations, including selling guns to people who said they were prohibited from owning guns on background check forms.
An ATF regulator overturned the recommendation, saying he should just get a warning.
Navarro said some clients made mistakes when filling out background check forms.
In 2020, inspectors found more violations, including failure to report multiple handgun sales and failure to record some transactions.
Navarro said he discovered these problems after one of his employees quit and then reported the problem to the ATF.
“It was a terrible mess,” he said. “This man hid forms under the printer.”
In North Dakota, a gun store in Valley City — Bridge City Ordnance — lost its license last year.
It is not clear what rules they violated.
The store’s owners have filed a lawsuit against the ATF, arguing that the store’s inspections are “used as a political weapon.”