Regular visitors know this has been going on for some time, both here and at Red's Blog. I literally had a dozen visits yesterday from various federal agencies, so I decided to see what would happen when I pinged back--this goes to BATFU's Freedom of Information Act edress:
And I wrote the following to Ryan:
I wonder, Ryan--should we be saving these and giving them to your attorney--having him ask BATFU about what they're doing, under oath and in front of the judge...? Because really, this is irrelevant to any alleged infractions they find in your shop--totally outside the scope of what they have even the pretence of a rationale to be investigating. This definitely shows a motive to go after you by investigating your First Amendment activities...and the fact that they don't mask it, while they will say shows they're not hiding anything--has the second edge of being chilling, with citizens knowing people who bust down doors and haul people off (the ones they don't shoot) are scrutinizing them.*-Sanitized for your protection
A lesser man would have clammed up the first time this happened.
I mean seriously--what does this have to do with any "violation" they could possibly find at Red's Trading Post, with either your paperwork or your inventory? If there is no direct correlation, why the hell are they expending government time and resources looking at websites? Who authorized what is now demonstrably an ongoing investigation, and why? If it's not a form of harassment, what is it?
I'd like to see those *s have to answer those questions in front of a judge.