I’m sure you’ve seen news reports over the last few days saying the license of the gun shop were Sandy Hook gunman Adam Lanza’s mother Nancy bought two of the guns found at Sandy Hook Elementary School after the massacre.
While it’s true that store’s Federal Firearms License (FFL) has been revoked most of the reports I’ve seen, like this one from Reuters, or this one from UPI omit certain important details. Even prominent blogs like Hot Air are missing important parts of the story.
So what is the full story? According to The Journal News the formal process to revoke Riverview Guns Sales owner David LaGuercia’s Federal Firearms License began 18 months before the Sandy Hook shooting, the full administrative hearing was held last August… Long before Adam Lanza’s violent rampage claimed 26 innocent lives:
LaGuercia’s lawyer, Robert Altchiler, said Saturday the ATF began proceedings to revoke the dealer’s federal firearms license, or FFL, 18 months before the massacre on Dec. 14. He did not reveal why the license was revoked.
“The formal basis of the revocation had nothing to do with Sandy Hook, what Nancy and Adam Lanza did, or Newtown,” he said in a statement. “Nothing. Period.”
ATF spokeswoman Deb Seifert declined to say why LaGuercia’s license was revoked and referred questions about any possible criminal investigation to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Altchiler said two guns found at the massacre scene were sold at Riverview Gun Sales, one in March 2010 and the other in March 2011, but didn’t say which ones. A full administrative hearing was held in August regarding the revocation and “obviously nothing that occurred in that hearing had anything to do with Nancy and Adam Lanza or the purchases made by Nancy Lanza at Riverview Sales,” he said.
The Journal News also reports that Riverview Gun Sales has made news in the past after gun thefts went undetected:
Three days prior to the massacre, 26-year-old Jordan Marsh, of South Windsor, is accused of walking into the store and stealing an AR-15-style rifle from the counter, federal court records say.
Store employees didn’t realize it until Hartford police recovered the gun in a hotel room six days later, records say. Marsh is facing a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and is being held without bond. He had a prior conviction after stealing guns from Riverview, court records show.
Also, in 2007, The Hartford Courant reported that LaGuercia contacted the ATF after determining his store could not account for 33 firearms. A man who occasionally worked there was charged with stealing the guns.
Anyway, Mr. LaGuercia is reportedly appealing the decision.
Conspiracy theories aside there doesn’t appear to be any sinister government conspiracy here — just the ATF doing it’s job. Mr. LaGuercia own lawyer admits the ATF began the process of revoking his FFL long before the Sandy Hook school shootings.
This is just one of those rare cases where the ATF revokes a gun dealers license.
Edit: WFSB TV has background on Jordan Marsh, the 26-year-old man, charged with stealing that AR15 rifle from Riverview Gun Sales last December.
Related
- Connecticut gun law: Breakdown of when new rules go into effect – New Haven Register
- Democratic front group hyped as hunters by media in gun control fight – Emily Miller, The Washington Times
- ACLU says Reid’s gun legislation could threaten privacy rights, civil liberties – Vince Coglianese, The Daily Caller
- Gun Deaths in the USA – David Robertson, Wizbang
- States look to tax guns, ammo – USA Today
- ATF Seeks ‘Massive’ Database of Personal Info: ‘Assets, Relatives, Associates and More’ – CNSNews.com
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