ATF raids gun store despite restraining order protecting customer list

The Feds don’t care about anything as trivial as a restraining order. Laws are for the little people…

When Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents expressed interest in a Southern California gun part and accessory store, it sought the protection of a federal district court. But on Saturday, agents raided the store anyway.

Ares Armor sells what are called “80% lower receivers” to allow a buyer to make his own AR-15 rifle. According to federal law,”The term ‘firearm’” includes “the frame or receiver of” a weapon, but one that is only 80 percent complete does not fall under that category.

When ATF agents began nosing around Ares Armor and started asking questions, the store obtained a temporary restraining order prohibiting the agency from seizing its product line and customer list. A hearing was scheduled for March 20 to litigate the issue.

However, on Saturday, ATF agents raided Ares pursuant to an ex parte order — an order obtained without notice to the other party, in this case Ares — and did just what Ares feared, according to the amateur video below.

In ATF’s ex parte application dated Friday, the agency alleged that it “is conducting a lawful criminal investigation of the illegal manufacture, distribution, sale, and possession of AR-15 variant lower receivers, which are considered firearms under the Firearms Control Act.”

What the agency’s application failed to mention, however, was that none of the items were a complete product — they were “80% lower receivers,” which remove them from the “firearm” definition to be classified as “parts.”

Watch the video of the raid:

CLICK HERE to see more video and pictures from the ATF raid on Ares Armor

What do you think of this?

Recently Posted