The administration has launched a war of attrition against the vendors who make Americans’ Second Amendment rights effective.
The administration has launched a war of attrition against the vendors who make Americans’ Second Amendment rights effective.
Clarksville, Tenn. — Under a recently introduced zero tolerance policy, the Biden-Harris Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is revoking the federal firearms licenses of small gun shops at an alarming pace.
“We’re just normal guys trying to put food on the table for our families, and they act like we’re slinging guns to the cartels,” said small-business owner William (Will) Boswell. Will and Bobby Snyder are proud veterans of the U.S. Army National Guard and co-owners of The Tactical Edge, a gun dealership and manufacturer in Clarksville. Unfortunately, because of the Biden-Harris ATF, Will and Bobby might soon be shutting down their business. “Every day is stress of how I’m going to pay my employees, get more money in, and keep the lights on,” Will explained.
It all started in summer 2021, when the Biden-Harris administration announced “zero tolerance” for rogue gun dealers who willfully violate the law” (emphasis added). Under its new criteria, however, the administration considers any gun shop owner who, say, makes a paperwork error to be a “rogue gun dealer” who has “willfully violated” the law.
Tactical Edge Arms is a victim of this policy. Its federal firearms license was revoked for minor infractions. Among around 2,500 forms filed by the business, the ATF found about ten minor clerical errors. During the hearing for the revocation stay, when asked, the ATF director of operations for Nashville admitted on the stand that before the Biden administration’s zero tolerance policy, Tactical Edge’s infractions would have warranted a warning letter at most — not a hearing, much less a revocation of its license.
Tactical Edge was forced to shut down its manufacturing facility, costing the business millions in lost revenue and tens of thousands in attorneys’ fees, and forcing Will and Bobby to lay off most of their employees — many of whom are also veterans.
Their case isn’t an exception. Allen’s Gun Shop, also in Clarksville, suffered the same fate. According to owner James Allen, a disabled Vietnam veteran, after almost 20 years of operating without an issue, the shop was cited by the ATF for minor clerical errors in 2021. The agency gave Allen 15 days to cease all firearm sales with no option for an appeal.
In conjunction with this new policy, the ATF ramped up enforcement. According to a 2022 letter sent by Congressmen Andy Biggs (R., Ariz.) and Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), two sources close to the ATF stated that field agents are being pressured by the Biden-Harris Department of Justice to increase license revocations, instituting an unofficial quota system. In total, the ATF has revoked 331 licenses since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office. That is, 331 business owners and even more employees are in the process of losing their livelihoods. In contrast, before this administration, the ATF tended to revoke about 40 licenses per year.
Under previous administrations, the ATF saved federal firearms license revocations for grievous and willful decisions by gun shops, such as the failure to run background checks. Today, small errors such as writing a date in the wrong format or missing a digit in a serial number can get a business of 20 years shut down. Just ask the Allens.
As a law enforcement agency, the ATF isn’t doing its job. The agency used to partner with firearm dealers as the first line of defense against bad actors trying to purchase firearms, but under the Biden-Harris administration, the ATF treats dealers with a presumption of guilt. Will Boswell and James Allen tell similar stories. They knew as soon as the ATF auditors arrived at their shops in 2021 that something was off. “I knew when they walked in it was a different inspection than we’ve had in the past. . . . It seemed like they were purposely looking for something to shut us down,” said James. Finding small clerical errors during audits is normal, but in the past the ATF allowed dealers to fix them on the spot — that changed in 2021. “An audit should be a joint effort, . . . not a gotcha moment,” Will said.
What is happening to Will, Bobby, and the Allens is taking place all over the country. Clearly the Biden-Harris ATF isn’t driven by the agency’s mission but by the extreme political agenda of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Rather than help firearm retailers operate lawfully and in full compliance with current regulations, the ATF would rather shutter these businesses altogether.
And that is exactly what the ATF has done to Tactical Edge. After more than a year of audits and legal expenses, Tactical Edge will likely never recover from its license revocation. Instead of spending their life savings fighting the Washington bureaucracy, James and his wife Elke have decided to sell the business. “We feel very strongly that a government entity has way overstepped its bounds,” Elke told my office. This story is becoming all too common.
The ATF knows it cannot strip Americans of their Second Amendment rights. So, instead, it has launched a war of attrition against the vendors who make those rights effective. Will confirmed this when he told my office, “If you can’t ban guns, you can ban the places that you buy guns at.” It’s as simple as that — and it’s unacceptable. Clearly, small businesses like these need immediate help. The next administration needs to clean house at the ATF.