This is Later with Lee Matthews, the Lee Matthews Podcast More What You Here
Weekday Afternoon's on the Drive And as a shooting enthusiasts and someone who watches out
for our Second Amendment rights, I'm always intrigued when I find a story like
this that was sent to me by Rudy. It's a story of a man
named Russell Fincher, who is a high school history teacher a part time gun
dealer. He also coaches Little League and is a Baptist minister in his hometown
of Tuskahoma in southeast Oklahoma. As a gun dealer, he's got a Federal
Firearm License and f f L. He doesn't have a brick and mortar store,
but he is what is called a kitchen table fl He buys and sells
guns at gun shows, including the Want a Maker Arm Show in Tulsa,
the Big One. Back in April, he received a call from the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms saying they wanted to do an inspection at his
home. He agreed, saying you can come anytime you want. First Mistake
two atf inspectors arrived a few days later. They spent three hours in his
home. They took pictures of his guns with their cell phones, which he
says he's learned that is an illegal, although common practice. Mistake number two.
The inspectors returned two weeks later, so they had some concerns involving his
penmanship, which they couldn't read in a couple of forms. They also found
he had juxtapositioned two model numbers of firearms with the weapon serial number. He
was attempting to rectify them, he said on the form. Then he and
his son were packing up for a gun show in Tulsa when the phone rang.
It was the ATF. They wanted to talk to him before he left
for the gun show. He agreed. Mistake number three. Come on out
to the house, he said. Seven vehicles roared up to his property and
disgorged a dozen ATF agents wearing tactical gear and armed with a R fifteens.
They cuffed him on the front porch of his house and began to search his
house, asking him questions the entire time. One by one they yelled at
him, asked what he was doing. In his mind, he thought that
they were about to beat him up. As soon as I said, if
you want my fl you can have it. One of the agents pulled out
a piece of paper and said, we'll sign here. He made three copies
in case I screwed one up Mistake number four. It ended up being exactly
what they wanted. As soon as he relinquished his federal firearms license, the
ATF began loading up his guns, including a cultmander, five glocks, and
a mint Ak Polytech preband milled fold under, which was worth thousands of dollars.
He is an essence out of business as an FFL dealer and as a
kitchen table dealer. Now let's go through this again. This is a textbook
example of what you shouldn't do when the ATF comes knocking at your door.
Now, they're not likely to come knocking on your door if you are not
a kitchen table dealer, or if you are just a regular joe like you
and me. But lesson number one. If they want to go through your
home, you say, as soon as you show me a warrant, they
cannot enter your private property without probable cause. He has no brick and mortar
store, so they have nothing to raid. If they come back and say,
yeah, we want to go through your property one more time, say
I want to see another warrant. They cannot go through your property without your
consent, and they cannot take pictures while in your property without your consents.
Finally, no matter what, do not well this isn't Finally, do not
say anything to them without your lawyer presence. And then finally, do not
relinquish your FFL without your lawyer presence. Now, in all fairness to mister
Fincher, I don't know if he if there were some questions about the guns
he had stolen. In other words, did the ATF find a questionable serial
number that may have matched the serial number of a gun used in a crime
that he had acquired, and did that flag him in the eyes of the
ATF. I don't know that, because if that were the case, they
would have probable cause, but probably were too lazy to go and get the
warrant. Did the fact that he juxtaposed some paperwork flag him? Hey wait
a minute, this looks like this paperwork has been altered. Possibly, And
I don't know the content of the license of an fl of federal firearms license.
I don't know what it says. If the license somewhere says you will
be subject to surprise inspections by the ATF. Well, then you've already surrendered
your rights to a warrant, but you haven't surrendered your right to keep that
FL if they find something, so don't say anything to the eight. And
this is the other thing about the ATF. I hate to give them any
credit for anything, because I really believe the ATF's aims. I don't know
if bored because they don't find enough crime here in Oklahoma. I don't know
if they are outraged because they hate to see gun shows and they hate to
see you and me walking around with ares. I don't know the answer to
any of those questions, but I do know they appear. The ATF appears
to have no goal other than to make war on the people of Oklahoma.
Like this gentleman. It sounds to me like they went out of their way
to find violations on this guy and nail them. The question remains, are
they planning to do the same with other holders of an FL? You tell
me what you think? Four or five eight four one four or five eight
four one nine one eight four six thirteen hundred n Tulsa. Thanks for listening
to Later with Lee Matthews. The Lee Matthews podcast, and remember to listen
to The Drive Live weekday afternoons from five to seven and iheart's media presentation. It