Posted on 11/22/2010 3:48:24 AM PST by marktwain
On Thursday, Montana unfinished firearm frame manufacturer Richard Celata of KT Ordance received a hand-delivered cease and desist letter from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (see sidebar slide show).
What for?
The order states:
NOTICE OF UNLICENSED FIREARMS DEALING IN VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW
Theres only one problem: Celatas not doing that. He has manufactured parts for gun owners who wish to build their own firearms, a perfectly legal activity that ATF apparently wishes to squelch through threat of prosecution what Mike Vanderboegh of Sipsey Street Irregulars has termed an economic Waco. Mike shares his thoughts with us on this latest act of intimidation and includes an important update from Celata that raises the possibility this action is retaliatory for his helping craft the Montana Firearms Freedom Actsomething ATF has warned everyone against testing.
Long-time WarOnGuns readers will recall Celestes persecution by the agency has been the subject of numerous posts and updates on that blog, including:
* BATFU Raids KT Ordnance * Help KT Ordnance * Fighting the Swarm
to name a few and give you a feel for what this man has been going throughfor years. Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership summarized Celatas plight and speculated on ATF motivations over four years ago, and it appears nothing has changed.
Heres the thing: IF Celata is doing what the government accuses him of, since when do they give out warnings and advise people to get a license? Can you imagine the DEA finding you formulating and selling Oxycontin and responding by hand-delivering a letter telling you to stop and not resume activities until you become a legally-authorized pharmacist?
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
Now, making and selling gun parts sounds like something I would assume would be illegal. But if its not (and apparently its not, according to the article), then he's safe, legally.
Can the ATF produce, in court for the Judge, a firearm that he is accused of making?
Making and selling gun parts is legal as it should be.
As far as nothing to worry about, you are talking about an agency with the power of the Federal government behind it. They can break his doors down, turn his physically turn the place upside down and then seize his assets, forcing him to prove his innocence to get them back. They can shoot him in the process and probably never face trial.
He may be legally in the clear but very far from being safe.
As long as you do not produce certain specific parts (finished handgun frames, finished rifle and shotgun receivers of the type defined by BATFE as ‘the critical part of the firearm,’ full-auto conversion parts), it is legal and requires no licensure by BATFE.
The closest thing to that that KT makes is what’s called an 80% frame - where 80% of the machining is done, but certain precision machining must be done before the frame can be used as the basis to build a firearm from. This has been ruled as “not a firearm” over and over by not only the courts but BATFE itself.
Think of it this way - if this were a American pushrod car engine, KT would be delivering a block that had the water pump holes, cooling passages and oil galleries machined out, the cylinders would be rough bored, but the block would be lacking the critical crankshaft and camshaft bores and therefore it could not be used to make a functional product until someone spent the time money and effort to machine out those items themselves.
This is BATFE making yet another power grab and an attempt by the administration to ‘backdoor’ gun control by running such makers out of business.
This is a planned assault. How can I help defend the Second Amendment as regards to this situation?
Excellent explanation and analogy - kudos to you for adding clarity.
And to me it seems like he's sticking his tongue out at the BATF and going 'nah-ya-nah-ya-nah-ya'. Mainly because he also gives instructions on how to make his 'non-firearm-firearm' INTO a firearm where one would need a BATF license.
So what I would do is have my LAWYER write a nice letter to the BATF, not admitting any guilt or wrong doing, but say KT will apply for a manufacturers license to avoid any further confusion.
(I don't see any good coming from picking a fight with the BATF)
There can be lots of parts in a gun. Do you think it's reasonable to expect that every company that makes screws, pins, or springs that might be used in a gun should have to be federally licensed gun dealers, How about the people who make aftermarket grips, scopes sights, or stocks? These are all "gun parts".
of course, you’re right. I’m merely suprised that the feds haven’t supressed peoples right to make parts.
That's what they're working on right now.
I have often wondered why a right specifically named in the constitution needs a permit or license to practice. I would call having to obtain a license an “infringement” on a right.
LLS
“Now, making and selling gun parts sounds like something I would assume would be illegal. But if its not (and apparently its not, according to the article), then he’s safe, legally.”
I don’t know why you would assume making gun parts would be illegal. So, long as items such as selector switches to enable full auto, etc., aren’t being manufactured I would the operation to be legal. Personally, I have long believed the ATF to be a rogue organization that badly needs to be reined in, maybe even disbanded.
I concur.
However until something changes, in the real world we have the BATF to deal with.
an side: I've had to have personal (voice) contact with the BATF on a couple occasions. At the field office near me they were nice as pie and helpful as they could be.
But down at the Atlanta Licensing Center office - typical gubmint slugs, aka: (morons). They wanted me to submit a form that didn't exist yet (part of the License renewal process 'back then').
This is a situation where the state needs to step up and protect a citizen from imminent assault by a federal terrorist organization.
Send a heavily armed squad from the state’s national guard to the ATF office with a letter stating that any action by the ATF will have serious consequences.
AFAIK you do not need a BATF license to make a firearm for your own personal use.
80% receivers are a legally gray area as they may not need serial numbers when completed by a personal owner. The BATF does not want legal firearms missing serial numbers that got around the rule by holes in their paper orthodoxy.
You don’t. I even have a letter from the ATF to prove it.
I have made several: AK-47, AR-15, and 1911. I have bought parts from KT Ordinance. All are stamped with my last name and a homemade serial number. I even made one for a gift for my father (and have a signed, notarized statement from him that is was a GIFT; so the ATF can’t accuse me of manufacturing arms for sale)
Personally, I hope KT takes this to the USSC.
I don't know about that. I'd have to check the CD of All Firearm Laws the BATF sends me (thank God they stopped printing that big book, the size 2 font was hard to read)
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