ATF agents raided a gun store yesterday, Ares Armor, in Oceanside, CA, and demanded that they need to turn over a list of 5000 clients or have everything in the store confiscated.
Ares Armor sells parts which allows customers to build firearms from scratch.
These 5000 clients bought partially built lower receivers for AR-15′s – more commonly known as “80% lowers” in the gun world and are perfectly legal by ATF standards. However, recently the store sold a plastic version the ATF finds particularly offensive because it shows the customer how to build with greater ease.
These ‘lower receivers’ are legally sold without registration or serial numbers, which is the problem for the ATF and the feds: how do you confiscate that which is not registered?
The gun store has filed a restraining order against the ATF after the raid – so they are held off, for now.
OCEANSIDE, Calif. – The owner of an Oceanside store that sells various gun parts to build a rifle from scratch refused to turn over his customer list when he was raided by federal agents Wednesday.Dimitrios Karras, owner of Ares Armor, said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents were investigating their business, not for what they sell, but for the people who purchase their products.
Karras said the ATF threatened to shutter their business if they didn’t hand over the names of 5,000 customers who have purchased an 80 percent lower receiver (the base) for building an AR-15.
It is legal to build a rifle from scratch without serial numbers only if the base is manufactured to ATF specifications. The base is not considered a firearm if it’s sold separately.
A manufacturer made an 80 percent receiver in plastic with a different material and colors which show exactly where the customer can drill making it easier and cheaper to build. The ATF said it is illegal.
The ATF sent stores, including Ares Armor, letters demanding they turn over the products and names of customers who purchased them.
“They said either give us these 5000 names or we are coming in and taking pretty much anything – which is a huge privacy concern and something we are not willing to do,” said Karras.
Karras’s attorney informed the ATF to pick up the receivers Wednesday morning at their Oceanside location, but the inventory was not the issue. The store owner said he will not comply with turning over their private client list.
“They were going to search all of our facilities and confiscate our computer and pretty much shut our business down,” said Karras. “The government invades our privacy on a daily basis and everyone thinks its ok. This is one of those situations where hopefully the governmental institutions will come in say this is protected and no you’re not taking it from them.”
In anticipation of a raid, they filed a temporary restraining order against the ATF, stopping them from confiscating their property, Karras said. The ATF has a certain amount of time to respond. If the two parties do not reach a compromise, they will be in court for a preliminary hearing March 20.
Defund the ATF. Shut them down along with DHS, EPA, as well as the Department of Education, NSA and the IRS. De-militarize all police departments. This will be a good start in reclaiming America.
Did they have a bonafide warrant, signed by a judge, naming that list??
Request denied. Something else I can help you with, you nazi bastard?
The only one we have to worry about is our own government !
This is exactly the reason not to give over your guns to the ATF… They are the ones to fight and we can’t if we don’t have our weapons for protection.
And this use to be a real nice country till Obama’s Nazi took over .
Here it comes, state by state !
Their main goal is to intimidate people, the ATF has never been a trustworthy law enforcement organization. To be honest, most federal agencies are not for the people but against the people. They are truly puppets of the federal government and remember they represent Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. They should actually stick with taking cigarettes away from minors. We do have to worry about these federalists.
How about that guy that killed a dude for texting in a theatre .pulled out his gun and shot him for texting . Interesting thing is the guy with the gun was texting too before he shot the guy . Good thing he had his gun .
Maybe we should all carry guns and just shoot each other when ever someone disagrees . Old west style yaaaaahooooo