Posted on 03/19/2014 8:36:36 AM PDT by andyk
SAN DIEGO – With a search warrant in hand, federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confiscated computers, customer lists and the questionable polymer 80 percent lower receivers from four Ares Armor store locations throughout San Diego County over the weekend.
“There were women and children inside our retail establishment when the (ATF) agents came in with guns drawn,” said Ares Armor Executive Officer Dimitrios Karras. “They came into our firearms manufacturing facility saying, ‘Arms up!’ like they were invading Iraq.”
The raid happened three days after Ares owner was granted a temporary restraining by a judge to stop ATF agents from searching their stores.
The ATF confirmed they were investigating the stores for federal firearm violations stemming from the sale of a new plastic version of the 80 percent lowers, which gun enthusiast use to build their own AR-15 rifles.
Building a rifle with specific versions of the 80 percent receivers is legal. The polymer lower receiver appears to be manufactured differently with two parts, making them a firearm and illegal sell, according to the ATF.
“We did ask the court to clarify if these things were firearms or not,” said Karras. “We did ask for protection as this gets resolved within the court system.”
Karras said they had their polymer lower receivers locked in a closet ready to turn over to the ATF since Wednesday. He was more concerned about the federal agents taking lists of his customers’ information.
“If anybody is a criminal organization that should be investigated, I think they should look in the mirror. We gave them a black eye publicly,” Karras said. “They tried to do an underhanded deal with us. They said, ‘Hey hush, hush. Keep it secret and nobody’s going to know that we took the customer list from you. Nobody’s going to know we took this from you.’”
The investigation has some customers nervous about their right to bear arms.
“I’m on that list, and I’m waiting for the knock on the door to tell me they are
You misspelled, Whoreruchi.
Damned Murdering SOB burn in H&ll!!!
forum shopping is forbidden. How did judge b not know of the order from judge a without the fed gov lying?
Assuming that the ATF did get a second judge to weigh in, the answer to your question is very straightforward. The ATF lied to Judge B. Maybe Eric Holder will investigate and prosecute.
actually if the atf did do forum shopping when another court had jurisdiction, the information collected would be fruit of the poisonous tree.
remember there are 15 plus years of prosecutorial misconduct being withheld from the public.
Misconduct is SOP.
FOX News Channel featuring this story with the owner appearing this afternoon at around 2:45 PM.
Gun dealers should hide the lists and only release them by court order on particular individuals. Civil disobedience is going to have to ramp up.
Also, isn’t it time we had more personal information on members of the ATF? That might come in handy.
The injunction stipulated that he not destroy or hide the list of customers.
I believe it was the same judge that granted the injunction made it clear that it did not stop a criminal investigation.
The whole question of whether it was a criminal investigation was sidestepped by the BATFE when they made the blatant claim that the unfinished blocks of plastic were illegal guns. That is the main point in contention, and they ignored it.
you are required to keep a list of transactions by law on the premises as an FFL dealer. There is even a software that forces the correct record keeping and makes it easy for the Nazis .. I mean ATF to review it.
Thanks for the info. Just surprised the store owner was supposed to retain that info as it wasn’t “considered” a gun.
(BUT, we know who considers it a gun.)
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