ATF showed up at my door this morning for a compliance check. The agent was nice. I had my ducks in a row thank god. Everything thing in my inventory was disassembled so it was a little strange. Glad that's over.
ATF Audit Today
- Thread starter Beathard
- Start date
Was it a surprise visit or did they give you a heads-up that they were coming?
Sam,The ATF must give you a heads up before they come to check your records,and have every thing up to date and you'll have no problems. J.J.
rmgreen
Elite Cafe Member
JJ and others The BATF&E does not HAVE to inform you of an inspection. All who have a FFL have a copy of Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide 2005 and all it's additions, deletions and amendments your are responsible for these as well. These parts can be found on the BATF&E web site. Please review paragraph 479.131 "Records" in this manual. Normally JJ you are correct for a normal compliance check of records. Most do give a courtesy call before showing up. They can legally show up without any previous warning as can any law enforcement agency without a search warrant with a need to know. You give up this "right" when you get a FFL.
Roger
Roger
They can definitely surprise you. This one gave me a two day heads up. I have my open hours a Friday 9am to noon. They can surprise you during your open hours. He called to see if he could come on Thursday. I said sure, come on... He thanked me several times for allowing him to come. He also said if I had said no he would have been a lot harder on me. It actually turned into a very interesting and informational visit. He found 3 things I was doing wrong but allowed me to correct them on the spot.
Mike Fennell
Elite Cafe Member
Before I fully retired from practicing law, an ATF agent showed up unannounced one morning. I was consulting with a client at the time and told the agent he was welcome to wait until we finished, and I had no estimate for how long that would be, or to come back the next day. He opted for 9 am the following morning. Needless to say, I went over my records with a fine-tooth comb that evening, and the next day he found no discrepancies and was pleasantly in and out within an hour.
I have heard from others that if ATF has difficulty in reaching you on the first try, they can get a bad attitude and make trouble for you even if your records are better than theirs. You never know what personality you will be required to deal with. Hopefully all will be lucky and draw a nice agent. Think happy thoughts.
I have heard from others that if ATF has difficulty in reaching you on the first try, they can get a bad attitude and make trouble for you even if your records are better than theirs. You never know what personality you will be required to deal with. Hopefully all will be lucky and draw a nice agent. Think happy thoughts.
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