The ATF is at it again and this time, people
in power are noticing. Secret cease and desist letters, Congressional
letters of concern, high profile law office letters and more. Shenanigans abound. We're going to break it all down, after this. Welcome back to the gun collective. My name is Jon Patton. It seems as though the ATF has continued their
nonsensical tactics to suppress the gun industry. Let me explain. There is a lot to unpack here so stick with
me. On September 30th, Representative Matt Gaetz
out of Florida released a letter, addressed to the US Attorney General William Barr and
the Acting Director of the ATF, Regina Lombardo. While the letter, signed by 4 different members
of congress, does give some positivity to the Department of Justice, the branch that
oversees ATF, by noting their efforts to ensure that Americans have fair notice of their obligations,
it does get pretty spicy. I'll read an excerpt. It has come to our attention that ATF has
decided to pursue, in secret, a "workaround" to the DOJ's countermeasures that is hostile
to citizens' Second Amendment rights and to due process. Blocked from pursuing its rogue agenda through
civil enforcement letters, it appears that ATF is now exploiting its criminal enforcement
powers to threaten small business owners around the country into complying with made-up and
shifting criteria for determining the difference between a pistol and a short barreled rifle. Furthermore, despite claiming that the classification
process is voluntary, ATF has begun strong arming companies into submitting brace affixed
firearms for classification. Basically, what this says to me is that some
folks at ATF are trying to sneak around and based on whims constructed of thin air, attack
gun companies through their criminal side as opposed to the civil side of things. This is extremely worrying. They are so far out of line with tactics like
this and it seems the letter agrees. These in terrorem aka terroristic tactics
cannot be allowed to proceed. As we have previously stressed, the use of
unpublished or non-existent criteria in ATF enforcement efforts is repugnant to the rule
of law. HALLELUJAH. These are members of congress saying this
guys. The ATF is WAY out of line. It continues. Atf's decision to shift from civil to criminal
enforcement only exacerbates this problem as it threatens law abiding citizens with
criminal penalties despite the absence of any advanced warning. This is particularly troubling where, as here,
enforcement trenches on these citizens fundamental second amendment rights. Let's bask for a moment in getting acknowledgement
from congress that gun parts issues fall under the second amendment. Let's also understand that this is a big freaking
deal. The letter continues telling ATF to cease
abusing its enforcement authority by threatening law abiding small business owners and the
now estimated 3-4 million Americans who own firearms equipped with arm braces. It goes on to say these are widely used and
big among veterans and that this action by ATF is shameful. This letter is massive. Its basically several members of congress
going what the frack is happening over at ATF. This is the kind of stuff gun owners NEED
from our elected officials. Proper representation. Okay, so ATF is way out of line and doing
shady stuff. But this isn't the entire story. One of the companies that got one of the unfounded
cease and desist letters was Q, makers of the Honey Badger. Essentially, they have published the letter
from ATF that says in longer terms that the arm-braced guns they are selling are actually
NFA items, specifically SBR's, and are intended to be fired from the shoulder. So now the ATF is determining intent based
on thin air. They are pointing to the marketing used to
sell these guns as a basis for this nonsense they are pushing. They also threatened Q with legal action if
they don't do as they're told. What Q has said in their response is for customers
to remove the upper of these guns and separate them from their possession and register the
gun under a form 1 under NFA laws. At the same time Q has hired a high profile
law firm to send a letter on their behalf and it's a scorcher. Of course it starts out by saying that Q disagrees
with the conclusion that these pistols are actually SBR's and notes that this is based
on the prior classifications and law in the public domain. The letter goes deeper and there are 3 main
sections in that letter that I'll try to simplify for you guys. Section one, The letter (the cease and desist)
is procedurally deficient and is not based on publicly available standards. Basically this section indicates that the
FATD, the firearm and ammunition technology division of ATF has previously said braced
guns are definitely NOT SBR's and that they are basing this cease and desist on nothing. It also states that the fact that they can't
cite a legal standard brings serious concerns about its lawfulness. It also brings into question the letter's
threats about criminal prosecution without adequate notice. Again questioning the lawfulness of this stuff. They cite that the Supreme Court has held
that due process bars enforcement of criminal statutes where an agency improperly changes
course and that an abrupt regulatory change makes it impossible for a person of ordinary
intelligence to know what is prohibited. They also noted that ATF has refused to provide
any indication of how the honey badger can be reconfigured so that ATF would no longer
consider it an SBR and has instead tasked Q with the correction of this issue. The next section of this spicy letter says
that Q has in fact ceased manufacture of the honey badger pistol and proposes that ATF
declare its determination non-retroactive so that an appropriate replacement brace can
be sent out. In this section they state that Q doesn't
have the financial means to send out 16 inch replacement barrels to everyone with an affected
gun and that such a thing would push the company into bankruptcy. Which is likely what the ATF wanted in the
first place. Not only that but the request for a non-retroactive
application of this change is based on the fact that neither Q or the customers believed
the pistols to be NFA items, likely because they aren't, and that the Honey Badger pistol
is not and has never been designed to fire from the shoulder. The final section basically just covers the
fact that Q submitted its other guns, the sugar weasel and mini fix to FATD for official
classification. WHEW! Okay, so that was a giant middle finger to
ATF and basically calls them out on being unlawful and if you ask me, flat out criminal
in their actions. SB Tactical, the company that started the
whole brace craze, also made a statement. SB Tactical, in conjunction with the Firearms
Regulatory Accountability Coalition, Inc., (FRAC), and the National Rifle Association,
stands in solidarity with Q, LLC. and is disappointed by the recent ATF actions in classifying their
Honey Badger pistol as a short-barreled rifle. This classification is based on a seemingly
arbitrary set of criteria and promises to create unnecessary confusion and anxiety amongst
millions of legal gun owners and the industry as a whole. The ATF is saying, in part, that they will
not evaluate an accessory as a stand-alone product, but that the characteristics of the
entire firearm influence their decision. Characteristics such as optics chosen, magazine
capacity, how the gun is marketed, or length of pull will "holistically" determine a firearm’s
NFA classification. Moreover, the ATF has, to date, refused to
clarify or state what characteristics define a Pistol Stabilizing Brace. They have stated that "they will know it when
they see it". This arbitrary approach is creating confusion
and uncertainty for millions of law-abiding citizens, manufacturers, retailers, and wholesalers. SB Tactical is the inventor of the Pistol
Stabilizing Brace and is deeply committed to our customers, the Second Amendment, and
the rule of law. The ATF’s approach is unfair and unlawful. Okay so lets recap. ATF is acting outside of the law and trying
to threaten the gun industry with criminal action and because of this nonsense, both
the gun industry and members of congress have put the DOJ, ATF and US attorney general on
notice. This stuff will not stand. Now, it's also important to note that these
letters have a lot more teeth if there is MASSIVE public pressure behind them. That's where you guys come in. There is a link in the description to send
a letter of your own to Bill Barr and others. Show the powers that be that we will not stand
for this. Now I know that there was A LOT to digest
in this video. I know. It took me some time to wrap my brain around
it too. I assure you that the sky is not falling and
that we can take an active role in stopping this nonsense. We will be keeping a very close eye on this
story as it develops so please if you would, hit the like button so more folks can see
this and if you want to stay up to date with more gun news, get subscribed and hit the
notification button as well. And as always, thank you all for watching,
we'll see you soon.
Huh, I didn't know they were in PA
SS: This channel discusses gun industry news
Thanks for sharing the video!
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