Okay, this morning, I heard on the radio that the dealer that had that Bushmaster rifle stolen (the one used in the sniper attacks back east), lost their FFL.  Is this true?  And if so, anyone know what's happening to that biz's inventory and such???

Yeap, the license has been revoked.

The current owner of Bullseye was already in the process of selling the business so it's now just a matter of waiting for the new guy to get an FFL in his name.  

Federal regulators revoke license of Tacoma gun dealer

By Steve Miletich
Seattle Times business reporter

Citing willful violations of federal gun laws, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has revoked the license of the Tacoma gun store that once stocked the rifle used in last year’s Beltway sniper shootings.
Brian Borgelt, owner of Bull’s Eye Shooter Supply, has been given until July 25 to close his business for failing to keep sales records needed to trace weapons.

But Borgelt is seeking to transfer the ownership of Bull’s Eye to a longtime friend who has yet to obtain a federal firearms license, said James Frush, Borgelt’s attorney. Borgelt intends to own and operate Bull’s Eye’s upstairs shooting range. Frush said ATF officials have used “incredible gyrations and obstruction” to frustrate the efforts of the prospective buyer, Kris Kindschuh, from acquiring a dealer’s license and tried to convince him to change the name of the store.

If Kindschuh is not granted a license by July 25, Frush said, he will seek to keep Borgelt in business as part of a petition Borgelt plans to file in federal court challenging the revocation.

“We feel pretty confident that Bull’s Eye will stay open,” Frush said.

According to the ATF, Bull’s Eye is among a minuscule group of problem gun dealers that, willingly or not, "supply the suppliers" who funnel guns to the nation’s criminals.

ATF studies show about 1 percent of gun stores sell the weapons traced to 57 percent of gun crimes. As a result, these few gun dealers have a vastly disproportionate impact on public safety.

Martha Tebbenkamp, an ATF spokeswoman, said Borgelt can ask a judge to allow him to continue operating during a court challenge to the revocation. She said she couldn’t speculate on whether ATF would oppose such a request.

Tebbenkamp wouldn’t say whether Kindschuh has applied for a gun dealer’s license. If he does, the ATF would conduct a background check and decide whether to issue the license.

“We have no stake in what the business is called,” she said. “Any new owner would be free to operate under any name he wanted to use.”

The ATF rarely revokes dealer licenses, choosing in most cases to warn dealers, thereby avoiding cumbersome appeals.

 
 
Tebbenkamp would not comment on the reasons Borgelt’s license has been revoked, but Frush said the agency informed Borgelt it found four willful violations of federal recordkeeping regulations.

ATF investigators audited Bull’s Eye records last fall, shortly after the .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle used in the sniper shootings was traced to Bull’s Eye. Borgelt was unable to produce a sales record for the gun.

Neither of the suspects in the shooting, John Muhammad or Lee Boyd Malvo, both former Washington state residents, was legally allowed to purchase a rifle: Muhammad was under a domestic violence protective order; Malvo was a juvenile.

No official explanation has been given for how the carbine got out of Bull’s Eye, but Malvo has told investigators he shoplifted the 35-inch-long rifle from the store last summer, law-enforcement sources have said.

Malvo and Muhammad are awaiting trial in the sniper shootings, which left 10 people dead and several wounded last September and October.

Borgelt was notified earlier this year that the ATF planned to revoke his license and filed an appeal. Yesterday, he received a letter from the ATF notifying him that the action was final, Frush said.

Frush said the ATF’s turndown of Borgelt’s appeal was not a surprise because it was made by the agency’s regional director of industry operations in Seattle, Richard Van Loan, who was “in charge of the audit last fall and was physically present during the audit.”

The audit found Borgelt was unable to account for 78 guns in his inventory and that his sales records were in disarray. It came two years after a 2000 audit showed 160 guns missing from Bull’s Eye’s records.

The latest audit triggered a criminal investigation into Borgelt’s record keeping, as well as allegations he had failed to pay federal taxes.

Bull’s Eye has repeatedly displayed red flags that the ATF views as indicators that a gun dealer might be illegally trafficking in guns. Those included guns stolen from inventory; missing sales records needed by police to solve crimes; having at least 10 weapons a year traced to crimes; frequently selling multiple guns to individual buyers; and short times between gun sales and their involvement in crimes.

Frush said the federal court petition would challenge the revocation because the government cannot prove that Borgelt “willfully” violated federal gun laws, a requirement for losing a dealer’s license.

Frush said ATF audits in 1998 and 2001 either showed no violations or minor infractions, not continuous problems. “We anticipate the AFT will be overruled on this,” he said.

Borgelt has been cited for record-keeping violations by ATF inspectors since 1994 but never has lost his license.

Bull’s Eye and Borgelt, along with the manufacturer of the Bushmaster rifle, are being sued by the families of nine of the sniper victims.

Borgelt has previously blamed paperwork problems on employees who didn’t record sales, fill out required federal forms or stole guns.

As of December, the ATF has recommended eight license revocations in the past three years in a region that includes about 6,800 gun dealers in Washington, Idaho, Alaska, Oregon, Hawaii and Guam. It also issued 31 warning letters, held 17 warning conferences and recommended that 50 license applicants be turned down. Twenty-eight gun dealers voluntarily surrendered their licenses after ATF investigations.

seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/135146759_webgun02.html

Stopped in at Bullseye about 2 weeks ago and they moved the store downstairs. Totally different, all guns are behind the counter now !

I plan on buying something (gun!) the first week that they reopen.

They are open ...They moved all the retail " guns/ammo and assundries " stuff downstairs so you enter the store from the parking lot instead of thru the alley... If the new guy doesn't have his FFL yet , Borgelt probably has the ATF pulling of his FFL on appeal and their still operating on his..

Quoted: I plan on buying something (gun!) the first week that they reopen.

Hey Phil if your lucky they might loose your paperwork too!!! :)