ATF special agent gets it right

We all jump on the ATF etc. when they screw up and use the Brady Bunch talking points. But here is one case where it appears one of the agents got things right:

According to Peter Forcelli, a supervisory special agent with ATF, most of the arms were assault weapons such as AK-47s and AR-15s.

Whether Bentley will face charges for the weapons will be based on such factors as whether the guns were bought before or after Bentley’s conviction or if they were stolen, Forcelli said.

“You can own automatic weapons. There are certain things you can do to legally own them,” Forcelli said. “We have yet to determine if he’s done any of that or not.”

ATF laboratory personnel will conduct firing tests on the seized weapons to determine if any are fully automatic.

It is still unclear what Bentley was planning to do with weapons, whether he was a collector or had something else in mind because of his “propensity for violence,” Forcelli said.

“There are people who have large collections of weapons that are 100 hundred percent legit,” Forcelli said. “We’re still determining if these were.”

The person in question was serving two years probation for a December 2006 felony endangerment conviction and had 75 guns in a storage locker. Given that it seems to me Special Agent Forcelli was giving the guy every benefit of the doubt. He also correctly reports the guns could be legal under U.S. law.

Thank you agent Forcelli.

I’m still of the opinion that the ATF should not exist but given that it does exist I’m a lot more tolerant of the individuals that work there when they have a clue as to what they are doing. My personal experience with ATF personnel has been good and I’m inclined to believe the bad cases are relatively rare. Should we ever get to the time and place in gun rights activism where we are prosecuting law enforcement personnel for crimes under 18 USC 242 prior behavior should play a significant part in their sentence.

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One thought on “ATF special agent gets it right

  1. They have to do firing tests to determine whether an AK or an AR is automatic? Does one need to do a driving test to determine whether a car has an automatic transmission?

    Do I need to blow on an oboe to determine whether it has an automatic octave mechanism? Not if I know anything about oboes.

    But if you want to go shooting (or driving, or play a tune) for fun, go for it.

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