When I was still with ATF, there was one kitchen table dealer that hadn’t been inspected in over 28 years, since his license was issued. They finally did an inspection and almost every handgun transfer he did was wrong. They were concerned that he might have been intentionally trying to break the law and asked me to look into the circumstances. I took one look and it was clear that this guy had no intent to break any rules, he was just an old guy making a few extra bucks to support his hobby. I worked with the IOI’s often and they were great and we were pretty much on the same page but due to the number of guns not properly accounted for they had to submit everything up to their supervision. I talked with the area supervisor after he found out that I was not recommending any criminal investigation and told them flat out that part of a regulator’s job was to help those that they regulate succeed at her regulated activity. If they couldn’t see fit to inspect this guy at all in 28 years then clearly they dropped the ball as well as the FFL. There was no intent to violate the law and there would be no referral for criminal prosecution.

There are absolutely dirty FFLs out there, and they deserve whatever actions befall them. However the vast majority mean well' don’t intend to harm anyone and should be helped to succeed not crucified for making unintentional mistakes. I’m very glad that ATF is back on a better track with relationship to the industry and hope that things continue to improve.

I think the issue is combining regulation and enforcement.

I work in a heavily regulated industry. Regulators are pretty good about trying to keep people updated on current best practices, etc.

They, definitely, are not looking to shut anyone down, without cause, and seem to be aware that the plant is a “customer” of sorts.

OSHA can be different - but again, haven’t ran into anyone looking to cause problems.

(Sometimes the regs are written by idiots/are wildly out of date/reek of cronyism, but the people themselves are not antagonistic.)

ATF does not “need” FFLs to survive. And, there may not be a feeling that what they are doing is vital to the civic interest.

In reality, insurance based inspectors would probably be more efficient/cheaper for food and plant safety - but they also might block out small producers even more than the FMSA 2015 tried to - and that’s on Congress, and both parties.)

Widow of Bryan Malinowski sues ATF over husband’s fatal shooting in a pre-dawn raid

by Austin Gelder
May 15, 2025 5:51 pm

The widow of a Little Rock man who was shot after he opened fire on federal agents during a pre-dawn raid last March is suing the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Maer Malinowski, the widow of Little Rock airport executive and hobbyist gun salesman Bryan Malinowski, is bringing a wrongful death suit in which she contends federal agents serving a search warrant at her West Little Rock home on the morning of March 19, 2024, were reckless and needlessly aggressive. Along with the ATF itself and the U.S. government, the lawsuit names 10 federal agents and task force officers as individual defendants.

In a complaint filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas in Little Rock, plaintiff Maer Malinowski takes issue with agents’ failure to knock, announce their presence and then wait before entering. Breaking the door down before daylight resulted in “an entirely predictable, needless and tragic outcome,” the complaint states.

Bryan Malinowski, who was 53 at the time of his death, was not aware he was the subject of a federal investigation into illegal firearms sales, the complaint says, and thought the people breaking into his home shortly after 6 a.m. that day were intruders...

Complete article:

https://arktimes.com/arkansas-...g-in-a-pre-dawn-raid

The best part is that she is going after the murders, individually.

Really, what are the odds of a former FBI director randomly walking by a group of seashells arranged like that? That excuse is so lame, it’s pathetic.

Well, it'd be some poetic justice for Comey to have to tell the truth to the Secret Service agents who ask him if he arranged those shells or just stumbled upon them. He may have painted himself into a corner with that Twitter post and then having to walk it back when questioned, where lying could be a criminal charge.

Comey is highly unlikely to face a criminal charge for this. More like zero.
Best speculation out there is he's about to publish a book and this gives him a lot of free publicity that he needs to help cash in.
The folks that will buy his book and support him will like the sentiments shown and most of the public had no clue what those numbers meant before this story.

He won't be charged for anything like a threat against the POTUS. But it'd be a rich irony to see him jammed up on a process crime for lying about having stumbled upon those shells or having arranged them himself. And there's probably no way out of that. Tell the truth to the SS and then have to explain it publicly. Or lie to them and risk a serious charge. I don't think he has a book coming out. But if he does, it'd just be one of those ghost-written ones that no one buys, but sells huge due to bulk orders on pallets that never even get unpacked. That's how the Deep State rewards its own.