As they inspect gun stores, federal investigators regularly find violations ranging from minor record-keeping errors to illegal sales of firearms. In the most serious cases, like a sale of a gun to a prohibited buyer, inspectors can recommend that gun dealers lose their licenses, but that rarely happens. Senior Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives officials regularly overrule their own inspectors, allowing gun dealers who fail inspections to keep their licenses even after they were previously warned to follow the rules, the New York Times reports. One store was cited for failing to conduct background checks before selling a gun. Another store owner told investigators he actively tried to circumvent gun laws. One threatened an ATF officer, and another sold a gun to a customer who identified as a felon. All were previously cited by the ATF. Each time, supervisors downgraded recommendations that the stores’ licenses be revoked and let them stay open.
Of about 11,000 inspections of licensed firearm dealers in the year starting in October 2016, more than half were cited for violations. Less than 1 percent of all inspections resulted in the loss of a license. ATF has what the Times calls a “delicate role” in policing the gun industry, which has resisted regulation and holds powerful political sway over the ATF’s appropriators in Congress. The bureau has sidestepped potential legal appeals and political fallout from revoking licenses by working with dealers rather than close their stores. The approach is seen by the ATF as the best option to regulate the gun industry without fostering an adversarial relationship. Some that approach unsafe. “We’re not selling ice cream here,” said retired ATF inspector Howard Wolfe. “You’re selling something here that if you screw up, somebody can be killed.” ATF refused to comment.