Michael Cargill is an Austin, TX gun store owner. Under the Harris/Biden ATF, he was one of many Federal Firearm License (FFL) holders targeted by the ATF for license revocation. What did Cargill do? Illegally traffic in guns? Give them to Mexican drug cartels? Oh wait. That was the Obama Administration. Oops.

He made a few minor paperwork errors on form 4473s, the form required when anyone purchases a gun through a FFL dealer. In several instances, people mistook the “county:” blank for “country” and wrote “USA.” Cargill didn’t catch that, but ATF inspectors, unable to find any real violations, resorted to line-by-line scrutiny of 4473s, which dealers are required to keep, and tried to revoke his license.  This sort of thing is known in law enforcement as a “chickenshit” charge, a picky, small-minded action that while technically legal destroys public support for law enforcement, a stupid move beneath honest, ethical officers. Cargill noted:

Graphic: X Screenshot

It's impossible for anyone to do what we do and not make any mistakes at all. You get people that walk into the gun store to fill out a 4473, which is the firearms transaction record. There's a hundred ways a person can mess up this form, if not more than that. There are a hundred different inputs that you actually put on the form. Even customers make mistakes when it comes to their name, their middle name, or their first name, they reverse it. On that little box, it says county, they put country. That does not mean that that person is going to get handed a firearms, and they're not supposed to. They're not a prohibited person. And so their license should not get revoked just for that simple little minor mistake.

That’s only common sense. There are more than enough actual crimes out there, particularly thanks to Democrat/socialist/communist (D/s/c) weakness on crime and embrace of criminals. Because D/s/cs are obsessed with guns, one would think the ATF would focus on actual criminals rather than the occasional, utterly harmless paperwork error. But D/s/cs only want to deprive the law-abiding of their liberties, not criminals, and it's much easier and safer to go after FFL dealers than criminals. The tactic was common during the Clinton and Obama Administrations.

Fortunately, Cargill and the Texas Public Policy Foundation—they take the Second Amendment seriously in Texas—filed a lawsuit, and before the case could be decided, knowing they were going to lose, and even if they won, Donald Trump would overturn them, Bidenites gave up:

The new enforcement guidance reinstates the decades-long understanding that an honest mistake – like writing “USA” in the field for “county” on a background check form – is not a willful violation of federal law. “For purposes of the regulatory provisions of the GCA, the terms ‘willful’ and ‘willfulness’ mean a purposeful disregard of, a plain indifference to, or a reckless disregard of a known legal obligation. Willfulness requires fact specific application of law,” says the new guidance.

Crucially, it also adds that “Not every repeat violation is per se willful. A single, or even a few, inadvertent errors in failing to complete forms may not amount to ‘willful’ failures even where the legal requirement to complete the forms was known.

In light of his victory, Cargill has filed an unopposed motion to voluntarily dismiss the case, without prejudice, with the trial court.

In federal circles, the ATF has long been known as a corrupt and incompetent agency. Other federal law enforcement agencies didn’t want ATF agents, thinking them the bottom of the barrel. Now, that distinction might lie with the FBI. Sentiment for abolishing the ATF, long strong, is now stronger:  

Representatives Eric Burlison (R-MO-07) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO-04) introduced the “Abolish the ATF Act,” to safeguard Americans’ Second Amendment rights and protect law-abiding gun owners from the relentless bureaucratic overreach of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF).

“The ATF is emblematic of the deep-state bureaucracy that believes it can infringe on constitutional liberties without consequence,” said Rep. Burlison. “If this agency cannot uphold its duty to serve the people within the framework of the Constitution, it has no place in our government.”

“I cannot imagine under any circumstance or administration where the ATF serves as an ally to the Second Amendment and law-abiding firearm owners across America. As co-chair of the Congressional Second Amendment Caucus, I’m eager to continue this effort with Rep. Burlison to defend our constitutional rights. The ATF should be abolished before they eventually abolish our Second Amendment,” said Congresswoman Boebert.

It will be interesting to see if DOGE agrees with Representatives Burlison and Boebert. It will be more interesting, and very good for individual liberty, should President Trump agree and abolish the ATF. They’ve earned it.

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Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.