“ I urge you to launch a full-scale investigation of the activities of the BATF, to publicize the results, and to call to the attention of your colleagues the sections of law which have allowed this agency to misuse the funds which the Congress has authorized.
With our limited access to the internal files of BATF, we have uncovered an institutionalized pattern of abusive behavior by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; we have discovered a woeful lack of proper supervision, a lack of proper law enforcement, and a resultant awesome waste of the taxpayers' dollars. ”

“ A few of the victims of BATF abuses are here today. They will tell the basic story of their particular problems, but they are merely the tip of the iceberg.
They will indict this agency for entrapment of law-abiding citizens and the ruining of their lives through unwarranted publicity generated by the BATF generally-but not always-accompanied by felony prosecutions. They will indict it for devoting its energies to the persecution of law-abiding citizens, while almost completely neglecting genuine criminals. ”

“ Thus, we really have a law with very little potential for Federal enforcement.
Yet, it is my understanding that the BATF now has approximately 1,500 agents devoted to criminal firearms enforcement which leads me to wonder if the BATF, rather than rid the Nation of dangerous criminals, has a pressing need to fabricate cases in order to expand its own size. I might add that the BATF, like so many other governmental agencies, seems like a living organism-it will likely never consciously permit itself to be reduced or killed off, but will seek to grow and expand its jurisdiction. ”

“ As our population has grown and our society in general changed over the past 191 years since ratification of the Constitution, it has become easy to forget such basic civil liberties. Yet, as representatives of the people, it seems to me to be one of the basic duties of government to continually remind the citizenry that these liberties do exist and should in fact be exercised. ”

“ Acree, a very familiar problem in law enforcement is getting evidence on what law enforcement officers come to believe to be criminals or people involved in criminal activity. You know it is happening, but you don't have proof or you don't have proof that is good enough to take to court. In the search for good evidence, oftentimes you try to construct something that you can track through so that you then have evidence that you can present in court that will stand up. ”

“ We have discovered outrageous destructions of the lives, livelihoods, and well-being of countless respected, law-abiding citizens. Only a fraction of our evidence can be presented during these hearings, but I urge you to fully explore the activities of this agency, and offer the help and assistance of the NRA and its membership, who have most frequently been the victims of this rogue agency, and the travesty of law under which they function. ”

“ The collector regards himself as a collector, not as a dealer. He has no business premises. He does not advertise his firearms for sale. He has no franchises and no arrangements with wholesalers. Although he may sell an individual firearm for a higher price than he gave in acquiring it, rarely will his total "profits" equal his costs of travel to gun shows, display tables, and related paraphernalia necessary to the conduct of his hobby. ”

“ I should stress that this form of behavior is not common to all agents. Both BATF agents and former agents have described to me what they call BATF "Gestapo tactics." Such responsible BATF agents, who at one time seemed to have been predominant in the Agency, and still predominate in some areas, often either transfer out of the Agency, or are pushed out by a new breed of "swashbucklers" who have either never read the "Findings and Declaration" at the beginning of the Gun Control Act, or else they simply ignore both the intent of Congress and the Constitutional safeguards against police abuses. ”

“ The problem is that some people collect guns in the same way other people collect Ming vases, but Ming vases don't come under Federal law. When the guy who is a collector goes out he may be collecting a real fine, particular type of firearm, or he may be collecting a hodgepodge of guns, because his goal is outwitting his fellow collectors. He will try to go in like a guy swapping a pocket knife and winding up with a race horse. ”

“ Such a collector isn't likely to care what he has acquired, just so that which he has acquired is more valuable -- at least in his eyes -than what he brought to the gun show. Such a collector is extremely vulnerable to BATF persecution, for he may sell firearms to two or three agents, even at different gun shows, without realizing that he is being set up for a well-publicized raid, with all of his collection seized -- although BATF press releases will call it a "cache of weapons" or "arsenal," and often imply that he is running guns to the underworld. ”

“ In doing so, this agency, created and funded by the American people, callously chose to advance its own bureaucratic prestige at the price of ruining the lives of hundreds or thousands of law-abiding American citizens. ”

“ It should be noted that at the time the Gun Control Act was under discussion, there were approximately 100,000 firearms licensees, and the principal promoters of that bill -- including the Treasury Department -- argued that a properly drafted new law would reduce the number of licensees to those who were "bona fide"- dealers. But when the Gun Control Act was passed, it contained a section which required a dealer license from all persons who distribute ammunition -a new requirement, meaningless from the law enforcement standpoint, but which greatly increased the numbers of licensees. ”

“ Trapped between the obsolescence-of its traditional enforcement function, and the desire to expand manpower, budget, and powers, the Bureau chose the role of creating artificial criminals within the scope of its firearms enforcement function. Since undercover penetration of genuine firearm criminals – organized crime, radical groups, black market operations, and so forth -takes much time, expertise and training generally lacking within the Bureau, and a considerable amount of agent risk, the Bureau chose to ignore such an effort. Instead, it focused upon the harassment of law-abiding citizens. ”

“ If any other law enforcement agency were to behave as the BATF has behaved, American civil libertarians would be vociferously demanding changes in both the agency and in the law which makes its abuses possible. But because this agency is responsible for enforcement of federal gun control laws, and because most of the BATF's abuses are against gun owners, many civil libertarians are willing to adopt an attitude of selective civil rights. I submit, Mr. Chairman, that firearms owners did not give up their civil liberties as of the moment they purchased a firearm. ”

“ We continuously discover discrepancies and inaccuracies in the registration file which, if discovered during a trial, would destroy the future credibility of such evidence.
One resultant possibility is that a defendant who maintains he had properly registered his firearm but had lost his approved form could, subsequent to his arrest based on non- registration, locate his lost document. If the court should discover that our negligence caused an unwarranted arrest and trial, the resultant loss of public trust would be irreparable. ”

“ In keeping with the fine tradition of the Bureau, we believe our system of firearms registration should be of such caliber that it can serve as a model for states and cities which now have gun registration laws or may enact them in the future. ”

“ EARL. You bet. I will be glad to. I may have to refer to my attorney. During my raid I stated that a Mr. Long was flown in from Washington, D.C, with all of my master records to check compliance with my records and inventory that I had. Apparently, they have some kind of an idea I had a bad inventory, that I had illegal guns, or I had sold guns that I had not transferred out, et cetera. This I don't do. Every gun has a pedigree, and it is just as easy to keep that pedigree if you pay attention to it. There is no way to transfer a legal gun without your neck in a noose. It isn't worth it. ”

“ We believe that when the full picture is seen by the Congress, it will become apparent that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has become a "rogue' agency, one which has gone completely outside the limitations of statute, regulations, or lawful authority. ”

“ Mr. ACREE. Senator, I don't have my statistical data immediately available. I didn't anticipate providing with the level of specificity I would like. However, based on my recollection of the hundreds of cases that we reviewed in the jurisdictions and points I mentioned, I would say that, conservatively, 75 to 80 percent of those cases were individuals that, in my judgment, would not have fallen into the hands of the law, so to speak, had they not been enticed, inveigled, encouraged to violate some provision of law with which I am personally satisfied they were totally unfamiliar with. ”

“ All such efforts were blocked by Treasury, on the grounds that they needed vague wording in order to give them the ability to enforce the law with maximum discretion; Congress complied. As so often occurs when an agency has too much discretion, it uses too little discretion.
There is no way, and there never has been any way, by which a firearms collector may know when that which he considers his hobby will be termed "dealing without a license" by BATF, or when he may have his guns seized and face those felony charges. ”

“ This form of entrapment is specifically designed to drive a law-abiding licensed dealer out of business. It is extraordinary in that its sole utility is against a dealer who has refused to make what he believes to be an illegal transaction. In this form of entrapment, a licensed dealer refuses to sell a firearm to a BATF agent or paid operative who cannot legally make a purchase -- usually a resident of another state. Then a second agent, with proper credentials -- the "straw man" -- makes the purchase "for" the non-resident. Agents then bring charges against the dealer. ”

“ ACREE. Let me preface my answer, Senator, to clarify further my role in the hearing and certainly your area of interest. I am currently vice chairman of one of the Nation's largest security service companies. We are a nationwide operation. I use as the kinds of individuals that support my activities in the company primarily Federal investigative retirees from the Federal law enforcement community-FBI, Treasury agents. ”

“ I have a very, very tiny bit of information that I brought here out of probably 40 or 50 pounds of FOIA records from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. You see it is pretty well blocked Out. But one notation in here says, and I quote, "As much as Mr. Earl is a legitimate dealer in weapons with a license from the U.S. Treasury Department to buy and sell automatic weapons, and especially in view of the fact that he is an informant for the FBI and ATF, the Phoenix Division will make no further investigation concerning the matter." ”

“ The first type involves the "dealing without a license" entrapment. This manner of entrapment is primarily aimed at firearm collectors who are not licensed as dealers in firearms. The problem is that Section 923 (a) of the Gun Control Act states that no Person shall "engage in business" as a firearms dealer without a license to do so. But there is no definition of what constitutes engaging in business. ”

“ Senator DECONCINI. I have contradictory evidence that the Attorney General's organized crime unit in Arizona, a prosecuting attorney in Phoenix, where they had dealings with ATF, they indicate in the area of smuggling guns, particularly into Mexico in trade for drugs, they have had good relations and good effective law enforcement with ATF.
Mr. EARL. Two things in closing I would like to say. No. 1, I do feel I stand a great risk of retaliation in what I am telling you people regardless of what you say and regardless of what they say. These people do not play fair. ”

“ Another difficulty arose because of the large volume of forms received for the making, exportation, or transfer of firearms by and between special taxpayers. There was simply insufficient time for such information to be microfilmed on a daily basis. Since special taxpayers frequently transfer quickly, a daily microfilming would be required in order to have an accurate record of the firearms. Although, in transfers between individuals, efforts have been made to keep the microfilm information fairly current, this is updated on a six-months basis only. ”

“ The procedure for researching NFA records is completely manual except for the mechanical function of the Diebold machines.
Record searches or "look ups" are made as a result of all types of requests to transfer firearms, inquiries originating from Criminal Enforcement and requests for certifications to be used as evidence. The refiling of index cards and/or registration forms is also performed manually. Flow charts now being prepared In the NFA Branch reflect a record search and refile time to be from five to ten minutes. ”