WASHINGTON, DC –-(Ammoland.com)-The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has always claimed that it works on a first in/first out model for evaluating industry products for determination letters.
In multiple letters to Congress, the agency also claimed to have a 90-day turnaround time in issuing determination letters. Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by Len Savage of Historic Arms LLC, we know that is not true.
Mr. Savage, through his attorney Stephen Stamboulieh, has uncovered evidence that the ATF not only does not meet the 90-day turnaround time for issuing determination letters, but that isn’t even its internal goal. The FOIA request uncovered multiple letters to members of Congress such as former Rep. Mia Love (R-UT), former Rep. Raul R. Labrador (R-ID), former Rep. Bill Dold (R-IL), Former Rep. Devin Nunns (R-CA), and Congressman Bill Posey (R-FL) claiming the 90-day turnaround time for the issuance of determination letters. But in an uncovered PowerPoint presentation by the Firearms & Ammunition Technology Division (FATD) from 2021, the times are listed as six to nine months for industry evaluations.
The time frame given in the PowerPoint is a lot longer than what the Bureau has always told members of Congress. Looking at other FOIA requests for production releases, it seems that the six-to-nine-month time frame might even be an overly optimistic time frame for a lot of submitted industry samples. Also, there is a clear pattern that specific categories of items are intentionally processed slower by FATD.
The ATF claims that it works on a first in/first out model, but AmmoLand News has also obtained evidence from Mr. Stamboulieh that the first-in/first-out method isn’t the method that the Bureau uses when evaluating industry products. A definite pattern is formed by reviewing the FOIA requesting all submissions to FATD older than 15 months. Almost all outstanding determination letters are either for pistol stabilizing devices or unfinished pistol frames and receivers.
Since these items are a small minority of what FATD evaluates, one would expect to see relatively few of these products being held for more than 15 months for evaluation if the ATF genuinely evaluates items in a first-in/first-out system. It is more likely that the federal government is intentionally holding these items while evaluating other less controversial products first.
Jordan Vinroe, JSD Supply President, does not think the ATF uses a first-in/first-out method. JSD Supply is one of the largest sellers of unfinished frames and receivers in the country. The company has submitted multiple items simultaneously to FATD for evaluation to get a determination letter. The products that are more difficult to finish seem to get approved, while the things intended for the entry-level builder are stalled in the process. JSD Supply is just one of the companies in the home builder space that has items that have been with FATD for over 15 months
“It is a ban without making it a ban,” Vinroe told AmmoLand News, “Bureaucrats are injecting their personal opinions and views into the evaluation process. This is causing a strain on commerce. It is more proof that there is secret rule making.”
AmmoLand News reached out to the ATF for comment but has not received a response at the time of publishing.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
The ATF needs to be shut down. It should not exist in the first place it does not align itself with our constitutional rights. This is a separate component of the department of justice .It now is the arm of the socialist democratic party.
I have said repeatedly on this site and others. The Most dangerous part of the government in regards to the destruction of Our Freedoms and Liberties. Comes from the Nameless, faceless Federal Bureaucracy. That isn’t required. to answer for the actions the the voters. 90% of all the regulations that effect our lives come directly from IT. Both Republican and Democrat politicians are responsible for it’s creation and was done so they could get regulations passed in the Darkness of the Bureaucracy. That would Never pass the Muster of a vote in the Light of Day and full view of… Read more »
We know they lie to us. They know they lie to us. They know that we know they lie to us.
Using a corrupt entity to investigate itself serves we the people in exactly what way ?
Allowing any corrupt tyrant or form of tyranny to continue the long train of abuses under the color & authority of law serves society at large & it’s people to what end ?
Get the refrigerated trucks ready to role and follow these clowns around the country . Bloodshed is on the horizon . More people will die defending freedom than from covid . If they show up on your doorstep do your part to fill the trucks . Civil war is on the horizon in America . We the people need to do away with all the alphabet soup agencies and take our government back by force if necessary from these lying deceptive clowns . They are not going to surrender thier corrupt hold on power and deception without a fight !
ATF = another Democrat government organized crime ring and gun rights are a big thorn in their plan they know that they can’t force their bullshit laws that only apply to us and not them down our throats as long as we are armed but yet they have armed guards with them everywhere they go paid for by us these clowns are a joke and getting more ridiculous by the day
LYING to Congress? Say it ain’t so!!!!! The BATF?
We keep complaining about government, as we complain about “the corporations”; but what we fail to appreciate is that they are not autonomous entities; but rather run by people who make up the policies by which they operate. Both corporate America and the Government have been subject to a concerted effort, an infiltration by people who are of the mindset that they alone should be in control, and any opposing opinion or thought is to be suppressed. Where do these people get their ideas, and are they colluding to accomplish their goals. I assume they are not colluding, but they… Read more »
Time for Americans to act, act as though the BATF doesn’t even exist. No compliance, no consultation, just do what you will. No thing that is unconstitutional is legitimate and their enforcement activity is felonious. If they bring deadly force to an encounter, Americans should plant them like potatoes.
The federal government can lie to us with impunity but, it’s a federal crime for us to lie to them. What’s wrong with this picture? This is why I’ll never speak to one of them. I don’t care if they ask me what time it is, I will refuse to answer. The same goes for Congress. If it’s is a crime for me to lie to them, it should be a crime for them to lie to me. Until we’re on an even playing field, that’s the way it’ll be.
So what does the treasury department do since the formation of the ATF?
I don’t mean to bad mouth the members of the “alphabet bureaus” who actually go out and do their job fighting crime and not sitting in an office creating criminals out of honest citizens. The “Alphabet bureaus” need to be cleaned out of the paper pushing politicians.