ATF Coverup In North Carolina?

The Confederate Yankee, Bob Owens, has a story today about how the BATFE Charlotte Field Division and its offices in Greensboro and Fayetteville are stonewalling an investigation into how a convicted felon came to control three firearms companies as well as be in possession of firearms and parts.

According to Bob, Lee Booth of Greensboro was the owner of Detonics USA and has a controlling interest in Victory Arms and Templar Consulting. Mr. Booth was convicted of 2nd Degree Kidnapping in 1981 and served a four year term. Bob wrote an article for Pajamas Media on this back in October 2010 detailing Booth's involvement with these companies. He also issued a correction and clarification on the story in early November.

Today's story states:

As part of a current BATF investigation being run out of the Charlotte office, the investigating ATF agent instructed other employees to pick up Form 4473s linked to Booth to be picked up from numerous gun stores in North Carolina.

One of the more crucial sets of documentation comes from Ed's Guns in Vass, North Carolina.

Records show that Booth has run literally hundreds of weapons through this particular store, including hundreds of Detonics pistols and an alleged "straw sale" of a .50 BMG sniper rifle from Booth's personal collection. According to sources, Booth is also alleged to have purchased gun parts from other stores, and is alleged to have been a frequent Saturday visitor to Caliber's Indoor Gun Range in Greensboro. All of these allegations are potential felonies, and most are easily proven by simply obtaining records from the locations in question.

But the agent in charge of the investigation has run into a stonewalling effort being orchestrated by local agents and auditors that failed to act upon numerous felony violations in the past due to their own incompetence and breaking of procedure. Sources indicate that BATF employees in Fayetteville that obtained the 4473s from Ed's Guns in Vass are refusing to provide those documents to the Charlotte-based agent in hopes of protecting the BATF agents and auditors in Greensboro.

You'd think that the ATF would welcome the chance to nail the owner or former owner of a firearms company as being a felon in possession. They certainly jumped on Shawn Nealon, former head of Cavalry Arms, with their full force when they found Nealon had dealt weapons illegally to an out-of-state resident. They seized all the assets of the company and essentially forced it out of the firearms business. Getting a conviction on a felon in possession would seem like a no-brainer compared to that. However, if you need to cover up the incompetence of your employees, then I guess not.