I wanted to share a letter to Judge Lodge I was sent a copy of, because the writer has some first-hand knowledge of the forms and the audits.
June 11, 2007-06-11
Hon. Edward J. Lodge
Federal Building &U.S. Courthouse, MSC 039
550 W. Fort St., Room 400
Boise, ID 83724-0039
In re: RED'S TRADING POST, INC. v. RICHARD VAN LOAN
Dear Judge Lodge,
I am a FFL dealer in West Texas and I have been trying to follow this mess with Red's Trading Post. I have felt free to contact the local BATF office for questions and felt that I could trust their word. If there was something the BATF inspector wasn't sure about he would contact the BATF legal council in Dallas.
About a year ago I became uneasy because of BATF behavior in other parts of the country and started asking the inspectors to send me written verification. The inspectors have never been wishy washy and promptly complied with my requests with their name on the document.
Today I called the BATF office to make sure & clarify that the way I was keeping firearm transaction records was legal & approved. The BATF inspector directed me to the white 2005 FEDERAL FIREARMS REGULATIONS REFERENCE GUIDE,PAGE 64,"CODE 478.124 Firearms transaction record. ", paragraph (b) A licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, or licensed dealer shall retain in alphabetical (by name of purchaser), chronological (by date of disposition), OR numerical (by transaction serial number) order, and as a part of the required records, each Form 4473 obtained in the transferring custody of the firearms.
I use the numerical system of keeping records and the inspector said that was perfectly legal according to the regulation.
Judge Lodge, notice the key word "or"in the method of keeping records. The word "or" is an exclusive term and means that anyone of the methods named in the regulation can be implemented and that the use of more than one of the named methods is not required.
Judge Lodge, notice that no where in that paragraph does it say that there must be a "front to back"or a "back to front" method of arrangement.
Sir, I cannot say for sure if BATF DIO Richard Van Loan and the Government's attorney do not understand the English language or they are abusing their authority under color of law. There is no greater offense to our fragile Democracy than a sworn officer that commits perjury or abuses their authority. If DIO Richard Van Loan, agent Caleb Rushing, and the Government's attorney get by with what they are trying to do,then they will become a law all in their own and can make up the laws as they go. AND that, Judge Lodge, is a tyrannical dictatorship.
Judge Lodge, I pray that you will do the right thing and relieve Red's Trading Post of this travesty, hold the authorities accountable, and grant Red's Trading Post compensation for the way they have been wronged.