LGS said that the ATF called them, inquiring about two Barrett rifles. They wanted to know if they still had them both, or if one or both had been sold. LGS told them one was sold, and the other was still in inventory. ATF asked them how the sold rifle was paid for (cash or card). LGS said they don't keep any sort of digital records that would make that information easy to find. ATF didn't push it any further. Any ideas on the purpose of the inquiry? The ATF did not ask who bought it; it was not a trace.

Does a trace in a criminal investigation (of buyer) require a higher level of court involvement than the "friendly inquiry" about sales?

Probably straw purchases in the area, maybe they have info that the cartel is looking for 50’s for their cartel war in Mexico.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
Does a trace in a criminal investigation (of buyer) require a higher level of court involvement than the "friendly inquiry" about sales?

The trace is a formal process, the FFL has to provide the 4473 for sold firearms on a trade. Usually the only time non sold inventory is questioned is during routine audits by the IOI’s.

I forgot to include that it was Barrett rifles specifically. The same shop has had multiple Armalite .50 caliber rifles come-and-go in the past couple years.

The inquiry was only about Barrett rifles.

All rifles in question are single-shot guns.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
Does a trace in a criminal investigation (of buyer) require a higher level of court involvement than the "friendly inquiry" about sales?

A trace is a law enforcement inquiry to the origin of the firearm. All seized firearms in Kentucky are traced automatically by our report writing system. Many agencies had been doing it through manual data entry for years. What we learned when we started tracing was that a little over half (2018-2023 data) found that recovered/seized guns were stolen but not reported. This resulted in additional charges in most cases and the ability to return the firearms to the innocent victims at the end of the court process.

Most agencies are also entering seized guns into NIBIN. It’s a great tool to match guns seized to casings recovered in shootings. We seized a gun in early 2018 that was found to be used in a murder in Nashville two years prior. Murder was a drug dealer, and the gun was recovered from a couple of Cartel enforcers.

.50s are a rare item, and even more rare to pop up in an investigation. Not uncommon for people to get caught by trying to buy ammo for rare stuff. I caught a guy once after he stole a collection of guns and then tried to buy .44 Automag ammo for the Automag that was in the collection.

So they were fishing

Why would they have to talk to the "ATF" over the phone at all? Hell, I could call a gun store and claim to be ATF.

It seems like such a thing would need to be conducted in-person with a badge.

Perhaps the LGS person was familiar with the ATF person making the inquiry. After all, the ATF does issue the license.

When I worked I frequently received inquiries from FBI and DEA folks I knew seeking info. I never asked them to come over and show me their badges.

jjones has it right. Lots of traces have found guns that were stolen but never entered due to no serial number being reported to the police.

It is one thing to tell the idiot who just got caught with a gun that it is stolen.....it is another to tell them that there is a murder (or two or three) on that gun. They cannot snitch the real suspect out fast enough. I should add that we knew the guy we had in custody wasn't the murderer as he wasn't even close to looking like the suspect in a surveillance video. Ahh, good times!

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
Not uncommon for people to get caught by trying to buy ammo for rare stuff. I caught a guy once after he stole a collection of guns and then tried to buy .44 Automag ammo for the Automag that was in the collection.

So, if I start buying some rare ammo, The Man will automatically flag me as suspect and start following me? Just trying to understand here.

quote:

Originally posted by KSGM:


The inquiry was only about Barrett rifles.

All rifles in question are single-shot guns.

So only a model 99? I don’t think Barrett made another single shot. Maybe my memory is bad. Not my choice if I was buying a Barrett.