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Gun-shop owner loses suit to keep sales private
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Gun-shop owner loses suit to keep sales private
By TIM MCGLONE, The Virginian-Pilot
c September 20, 2002
NORFOLK -- The owner of Bob's Gun & Tackle Shop, who claims the government is trying to compile an illegal database of gun owners, has lost a lawsuit to keep his sales records out of federal hands.
The federal ruling means Robert Marcus must turn over to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms the make, model, caliber and serial number of each used firearm bought and sold at the store in 1999.
Federal Judge Henry C. Morgan Jr. said in Tuesday's decision that the amount of information sought by the ATF was so minuscule that it would not create a federal registry, which Congress has strictly forbidden.
Marcus, who filed suit against the ATF in November, said Wednesday that he will continue his fight by appealing Morgan's ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal will put the ruling on hold.
``I certainly appreciate the judge's written opinion. While I don't agree with it, this is the system and we'll go to the next step,'' Marcus said from the Granby Street store where he has worked for 32 years. The shop is located a block from the federal courthouse.
``If they tell me I have to give serial numbers, then I'll give serial numbers,'' he said. ``We have to just be patient.''
The case is being watched closely across the nation by advocates in the fight against gun violence, as well as gun owners and dealers who see it as an infringement on their rights.
At issue is a February 2000 letter Marcus received from the ATF demanding that the shop turn over the make, model, caliber and serial number of each used firearm bought and sold at the store in 1999. The store sold nearly 2,000 new and used weapons that year. Marcus thought that the request violated federal gun laws that prohibit the creation of a gun registry.
This was the first time the federal government was collecting data on gun sales and Marcus' store was at the top of the ATF's list.
According to the ATF, Marcus' shop and 430 other dealers throughout the country were singled out because they had sold 10 or more guns used in a crime within three years of purchase. Marcus disputed that figure in the lawsuit.
The ATF easily can trace a gun from the manufacturer to the first retail seller to the first buyer. Second-hand sales are much more difficult to trace unless the agency knows where to look among the nation's 100,000 gun dealers.
The ATF said it is seeking to close this missing link. The agency contends it would have a better chance of tracing guns found at crime scenes with the list of second-hand sales.
Marcus said he has no problem with sharing his sales data whenever an ATF agent requests the information during a criminal investigation. But now the agency wants information on guns not involved in crimes. That, he said, violates the law.
Morgan disagreed, citing a previous 4th Circuit decision in a Maryland case that said the information the ATF requested was ``a very far cry from the creation of a national firearms directory.''
Marcus' attorney has already filed an appeal to Morgan, but both sides say they expect the judge to uphold his decision.
Marcus said he will appeal to the 4th Circuit because the facts in his case are different from the Maryland case. In that case, the gun dealer had refused to comply with any ATF trace requests.
A dealer like himself, Marcus said, who assists the ATF in criminal cases, should not be held to the same standard.
Justice Department lawyers declined to comment Wednesday.
Reach Tim McGlone at tmcglone@pilotonline.com or 446-2343.
http://www.pilotonline.com/news/nw0920atf.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
By TIM MCGLONE, The Virginian-Pilot
c September 20, 2002
NORFOLK -- The owner of Bob's Gun & Tackle Shop, who claims the government is trying to compile an illegal database of gun owners, has lost a lawsuit to keep his sales records out of federal hands.
The federal ruling means Robert Marcus must turn over to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms the make, model, caliber and serial number of each used firearm bought and sold at the store in 1999.
Federal Judge Henry C. Morgan Jr. said in Tuesday's decision that the amount of information sought by the ATF was so minuscule that it would not create a federal registry, which Congress has strictly forbidden.
Marcus, who filed suit against the ATF in November, said Wednesday that he will continue his fight by appealing Morgan's ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal will put the ruling on hold.
``I certainly appreciate the judge's written opinion. While I don't agree with it, this is the system and we'll go to the next step,'' Marcus said from the Granby Street store where he has worked for 32 years. The shop is located a block from the federal courthouse.
``If they tell me I have to give serial numbers, then I'll give serial numbers,'' he said. ``We have to just be patient.''
The case is being watched closely across the nation by advocates in the fight against gun violence, as well as gun owners and dealers who see it as an infringement on their rights.
At issue is a February 2000 letter Marcus received from the ATF demanding that the shop turn over the make, model, caliber and serial number of each used firearm bought and sold at the store in 1999. The store sold nearly 2,000 new and used weapons that year. Marcus thought that the request violated federal gun laws that prohibit the creation of a gun registry.
This was the first time the federal government was collecting data on gun sales and Marcus' store was at the top of the ATF's list.
According to the ATF, Marcus' shop and 430 other dealers throughout the country were singled out because they had sold 10 or more guns used in a crime within three years of purchase. Marcus disputed that figure in the lawsuit.
The ATF easily can trace a gun from the manufacturer to the first retail seller to the first buyer. Second-hand sales are much more difficult to trace unless the agency knows where to look among the nation's 100,000 gun dealers.
The ATF said it is seeking to close this missing link. The agency contends it would have a better chance of tracing guns found at crime scenes with the list of second-hand sales.
Marcus said he has no problem with sharing his sales data whenever an ATF agent requests the information during a criminal investigation. But now the agency wants information on guns not involved in crimes. That, he said, violates the law.
Morgan disagreed, citing a previous 4th Circuit decision in a Maryland case that said the information the ATF requested was ``a very far cry from the creation of a national firearms directory.''
Marcus' attorney has already filed an appeal to Morgan, but both sides say they expect the judge to uphold his decision.
Marcus said he will appeal to the 4th Circuit because the facts in his case are different from the Maryland case. In that case, the gun dealer had refused to comply with any ATF trace requests.
A dealer like himself, Marcus said, who assists the ATF in criminal cases, should not be held to the same standard.
Justice Department lawyers declined to comment Wednesday.
Reach Tim McGlone at tmcglone@pilotonline.com or 446-2343.
http://www.pilotonline.com/news/nw0920atf.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878