Has anyone actually got a call/visit from the ATF?

I’m pretty sure a former member did a number of years ago. I forget their username. Ntomsw or something like that.
I don’t have all of the details but I think it was after doing a group buy for AR lowers?

@drgrant would know
 
A couple people on here received visits.

One member is female.

Most of the time it relates to multiple handgun purchases.

The ATF come to the door and wants to have a chat.

It's easy to resolve if you just show them the guns instead of dying on that hill.

When the ATF gets the multiple handgun form they check up with the dealer first.

If the dealer tells the ATF you are cool, they likely wont go further.

If the dealer thinks you're a sketchball he'll say so and the ATF will check you out.

When guns end up in crimes and come from Mass, they can see who bought them just by looking at the EOPSS database.
 
As a "private citizen", no. But I had an FFL from 90 to 99 and never even got a call from them never mind a visit. I got a C&R license a couple years later and within 2 years got a call requesting a visit to "check my paperwork".

Being an honest law abiding citizen, I made an appointment and a nice young lady from the Boston office showed up took less than a minute to verify everything was in order and left. I eventually gave that up as well, but never was contacted again after the first visit.
 
The Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968 requires federal firearms licensees (FFLs) to send a report to ATF when there is a sale of multiple firearms to the same purchaser within a certain time period.

ATF uses the information gathered from multiple sales transactions to investigate possible firearms trafficking cases. If one or more firearms recovered from a crime are part of a multiple purchase, this could be an indicator of potential firearms trafficking. Crime guns recovered shortly after a multiple sale is known as a short time-to-crime ratio.


Licensees must report the sale of two or more handguns if they occur at the same time or within five consecutive business days of each other.

In 2011, ATF was authorized to enforce multiple firearms sales for certain types of rifles from FFLs in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. An extension was granted for the collection of this information in 2018, and the expected end date is Jan. 31, 2021.

FFLs in these states must report the following types of rifles:

  • Semiautomatic rifles
  • Rifles with a caliber greater than .22 (including .223 or 5.56 mm)
  • Rifles with the ability to accept detachable magazines
 
What about multiple handgun purchases? Is there some restriction I'm not aware of? Pretty sure I can go buy ten guns all at once.

There isn't one, but if you buy like 10 shithouse guns like Hi Points or other garbage like that at a time, people tell me the odds of getting a visit go up
exponentially..
 
What about multiple handgun purchases? Is there some restriction I'm not aware of? Pretty sure I can go buy ten guns all at once.
You can buy them, but the FFL must file a separate form if you buy multiple pistols within five days of each other. Nominally it's intended to help track black market/straw purchases/gunrunning, etc.
 
I’m pretty sure a former member did a number of years ago. I forget their username. Ntomsw or something like that.
I don’t have all of the details but I think it was after doing a group buy for AR lowers?

@drgrant would know

Yeah he got them up his ass sideways for administering group buys without an FFL. As far as the feds are concerned you cannot collect money even if you're not touching the guns. Dealers need to do this. He didn't get charged or anything but they more or less scared him out of doing it. May not be based in law but who is going to hire a lawyer to protect a skinflint GB?

This is why you never see gun GBs anymore unless the guy that set it up has a dealer administering the back end of the whole thing (taking the money, receiving the guns).
 
I see the atf at least a couple times a year. It usually goes like this

“hey jim, how are you doing?”
“Great how’s business?”
“Busy. Who are you interviewing today?”
“John Smith across the hall”
“ great guy, that makes 63?”
“60, but I have more interviews scheduled next week”
“Sounds good, we will make sure they all know how stuff works. See you soon”
...

or some variation on that.
 
Yeah he got them up his ass sideways for administering group buys without an FFL. As far as the feds are concerned you cannot collect money even if you're not touching the guns. Dealers need to do this. He didn't get charged or anything but they more or less scared him out of doing it. May not be based in law but who is going to hire a lawyer to protect a skinflint GB?

This is why you never see gun GBs anymore unless the guy that set it up has a dealer administering the back end of the whole thing (taking the money, receiving the guns).
I am not sure the regulations support the ATF coming down on Not Tom but as you said, who will fight it? The solution is to have an ffl run the buy or have the non ffl become an employee of a ffl. I have two employees that front end sales all the time.
 
There isn't one, but if you buy like 10 shithouse guns like Hi Points or other garbage like that at a time, people tell me the odds of getting a visit go up
exponentially..
You can buy them, but the FFL must file a separate form if you buy multiple pistols within five days of each other. Nominally it's intended to help track black market/straw purchases/gunrunning, etc.
If you buy a handgun every 6 days, I wonder if they can get you for "structuring".
 
If you buy a handgun every 6 days, I wonder if they can get you for "structuring".
Good point. I had a friend that worked at a bank and she told me if anyone even hinted they were trying to subvert the $10k cash rule (Patriot Act? I don't recall), they had to do the paperwork (i.e., asking what the max was, depositing $9,999.99, etc.). Nevertheless, lots of people apparently did deposits of like $6k regularly, which was likely trying to get around the reporting requirements.
 
I bought like a dozen guns on one form once right after I got my LTC, mostly handguns and one or two AR's and a shotgun, got a phone call from an agent at the ATF office in Springfield, I was in college and an intern at SPD at the time, told him I just turned 21 and was just splurging with my tax return, told him if he needed to see any of the firearms or paperwork I'd be happy to meet him with it at my desk in the SPD detective bureau, he said were all set and hung up. lol

Edit: I will add a phone call is probably not normal but the owner at the time of the gun shop I bought the guns from went to high school with my dad and knew me so I believe he laughed it off and gave them my phone #, never really bothered to ask.
 
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Many years ago when i went on a glock buying spree.... like 4 17s, god knows how many 19s, a few 26s, a few 21s, a few 30s, and a 42..

I got a nice visit from the ATF and a townie cop..

They asked for my records. I handed them a jumbled stack of papers.

They looked through it while we were outside my front door. I never let them in. Then he wanted to see them. I said sure let me bring them outside for you..

He then said oh nevermind. And goes on to tell me usually if people agree with that they are ok or some bullshit.

They were carrying sigs, and i was like oh that's too bad those look heavy to carry, you should get a glock or something to that affect.

At the time being a new gun owner, yes i will be the first to admit it, i was scared.

Little did they know when they first came to my door at like 7am i had a loaded glock 17 behind my back when i answered in a tank top and short shorts.
 
I see the atf at least a couple times a year. It usually goes like this

“hey jim, how are you doing?”
“Great how’s business?”
“Busy. Who are you interviewing today?”
“John Smith across the hall”
“ great guy, that makes 63?”
“60, but I have more interviews scheduled next week”
“Sounds good, we will make sure they all know how stuff works. See you soon”
...

or some variation on that.

Not unlike cops: I wonder how many ATF agents are actually really good people that like their job and are just wanting to be good and fair at it, and how many others are power-tripping douche bags?
 
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