It's been forever since I've posted but figured u all might appreciate the intel.

A pretty heavy set guy (350-375 lbs) was going around saying he was ATF and asking to see peoples guns and what not.  
He confronted me and asked if I had a suppressor license.  I didn't recognize him so I asked if he was a cop. He said yes.
I asked to see his badge.
He said well actually I'm ATF out of the Clinton office.
I said GREAT!   Cause my ATF rep has to come from Des Moines so maybe you can be my new rep.  Where's your Badge?  Lol

He said he forgot it.
I let myself  out of his questioning after that.

There is no Clinton office so I called my guy in Des Moines and he said dude was most definitely not an agent.

I'm not quite sure what his end goal was but I found it weird enough to at least make a post here.

Have fun fellas and be a little cautious I guess.

"suppressor license" haha. You would think that someone who is obsessive (deluded? deranged?) enough to impersonate an ATF F officer would at least use the right terminology. Guess he outed himself pretty easily.

Any cell phone pictures? It would make for a nice federal charge for impersonating an officer.

I grew up shooting on that range back in the 70's.  Even then it attracted an interesting crowd.  Last time I was there was probably ten years ago.  Haven't felt the need to return.

I wish I had a suppressor license.

This is one of the reasons I never go to Princeton range. To many dipshits and can't fix all the stupid.

that's an actual 'citizen arrest' situation...  detain that moop and call the law to come pick him up.  impersonating and officer is no small thing.

Would be rather hilarious if he started harassing someone who happened to be a real off duty LEO and used that line...

It would be interesting to see and would definitely ruin his fun.

Don't take this the wrong way, but you were shooting with a suppressor correct? I'm definitely not saying the dude should have been going around claiming to be BATFE, but if I were there and someone had a can out I'd be genuinely curious (being that they're still illegal for all non SOT civilians, non LEO civilians, and  non municipal and state government civilians who happen to be allowed to use suppressors and other stuff in IC724.1 so long as possession does not change).

Not pointing fingers or anything, just pointing out that using a suppressor in Iowa means you'll likely draw some attention to yourself, and one should probably expect a few questions every now and then.

With that said, the "ATF agent" in question certainly fits the stereotype of a lot of Princeton's range users...




edited for the more pedantic readers of this thread.

That's not correct, in multiple ways. Remember, WORDS have MEANINGS, just like elections have consequences.
- SOTs are civilians
- LEOs are civilians
- municipal and state governments, and their various branches, are staffed with civilians
All of the above may allow additional, unrelated, civilians to use suppressors and other stuff in IC724.1, as long as possession does not change.

Consider me pedantic, but if you start letting the opposition define your terms, you will never win.

What's the fun if you can't snuggle with it at night though?

There was a gent at the carbine class with a can. I was genuinely curious as to the circumstances, but decided to MYOB and just be grateful there was that much less concussion/noise that day.

You and everyone else knew exactly what he meant.

Everyone? No one exists that might be unfamiliar with the finer points of the interplay of state and federal firearm laws in Iowa? No one might be confused? I disagree.
As I said, words have meaning. Use the right ones, if you actually want to impart accurate information instead of potentially confusing some people.

Someone asking "what do you have there?" is curious.

Someone telling you they are a federal agent and demanding to see your gear/credentials is a criminal.

Record them and call the police.

and address everyone as "citizen" while you are at it.