Video of an ATF inspector snapping pictures of sales records at an Arizona gun shop went viral recently.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to follow and signup for notifications!
The footage, which was recorded by Dave Nagel, the owner of Black Metal Firearms in Mesa, back in December/January of 2022, depicts ATF Industry Operations Inspector (IOI) Pamela Scott taking photos of the store’s Acquisitions and Dispensations (A&D) books on her personal cellular device, allegedly.
“No registry? Here’s our ATF auditor copying every single page of our A&D books with her cell phone camera using an app that reads text,” said Black Metal Firearms on Instagram.
“This data includes make, model, serial number, buyer’s name and address, and even the seller. We have well over 20 minutes of footage of this happening in our shop in public view. Yes, this is illegal,” the store continued.
View this post on Instagram
While ATF agents are allowed to take pictures of specific errors on relevant forms during an audit for documentation purposes, they are not allowed to take whole-hog copies of an FLL’s A&D books.
“Previously speaking, when they find errors, they will take a picture of the error for evidence purposes or whatnot,” Nagel told The Reload in an interview. “But we realized that her and, at another point in time, her assistant, they actually were going page by page by page through all of our A&D books, copying all of the whole pages.”
Nagel added that the inspector gathered over 4,000 records — containing names, addresses, payment info, type of firearm, etc., — that were not related to any clerical mistakes or infractions.
Derek Debus, the attorney representing Black Metal Firearms, is calling for an investigation.
“We would like to see an investigation into not only why she was taking these photographs on her personal phone in my client’s case, but how many other times she has done this before,” Debus told The Reload.
“Why is she doing this? What end is she trying to fulfill? And is it something that she was directed to do from higher up in ATF or something she’s doing on her own?” he continued.
The ATF punted on inquiries concerning this inspection, telling The Reload it doesn’t “comment on any specific investigation or inspection” but noted that all claims by FFLs are “investigated.”
This story is still developing. Stay tuned for updates.
