Lovely — Looks Like ATF Violated A Court Order, Broke Into A Business, And Stole Customer Records. All At The Same Time

by Dustin Siggins | March 16, 2014 9:41 am

In the middle of last week, a gun store owner in California was standing up against ATF allegations he said had no basis in reality. He even got a judge to provide an injunction, protecting him and his business from the federal government’s claims.

 

Allegedly, the ATF ignored the injunction, breaking into his business (amateur video was taken below)

Here’s the background[1]:

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.

Here’s the injunction[2], given late last week, against the ATF and in favor of Ares Armor.

Yet, this weekend, the ATF appears to have broke into Ares Armor[3], looking for customer records — in violation of the law, Karras’ rights, and the injunction.

There has yet to be any mainstream media reporting on this. Partly, I suspect that’s because this video was only taken yesterday. However, it’s important we make sure the media and constitution and law-abiding politicians are made aware of this, as soon as possible.

Note: While the video does show “Ares Armor” is the place the ATF agents are searching, since their does not appear to be any reporting on what Karras’ response was, or any other verification of what happened in the video, I put “allegedly” and “appears to” just in case this ends up being a hoax or a fraudulent video.