An Oklahoma gun store is in a bit of hot water after ATF agents found hundreds of improperly disposed defective firearms in the store’s dumpster. According to the Oklahoma news broadcaster KOKH Local 12, nearly 250 firearms that were apparently “still functioning” were discovered by a sanitation worker who then called law enforcement. The remainder of the story should serve as a reminder to us all just how particular the ATF can get when it comes to their instructions regarding the destruction of firearms and other firearms equipment.
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One Man’s Garbage, Another Man’s Gats? 250 Guns Found In Dumpster
According to court filings, a sanitation worker near Oklahoma City stumbled upon that dumpster full of guns and called authorities. That was three weeks ago, on Jan. 19.
Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found 236 partially cut but still functioning rifles inside, as well as 12 shotguns.
The gun shop in question was disposing of these firearms that apparently had “manufacturing defects.” The gun store owner contacted the ATF who then gave them the same instructions that they would give anyone else who was needing to properly dispose of a firearm, the rules are fairly simple. However, the firearms found in the dumpster of the gun store featured only a single cut and were apparently still functional according to an affidavit.
The trouble for this gun store didn’t end here, however. According to the same news report, the gun store actually gave two “fully functional” firearms to another man who expressed interest in owning several of the disposed of firearms “to hang on his wall.”
The man said that he approached the employee and began discussing the firearms and expressed interest in owning one of the firearms,” the affidavit said. “The employee told the man the firearms are defective and should not be shot. The man told the employee that he did not intend to shoot the guns but rather wanted to hang the firearms on his wall. The male employee permitted the man to take two uncut firearms and gave him two magazines, one for each firearm.
A “Properly Destroyed” MP5-10 – Photo: Morgan C.
At the time of writing, it is uncertain what kind of (if any) criminal charges the gun store owner or the employees may face for these two separate incidents. It certainly appears that the gun store at least made a tepid effort to destroy the firearms according to the ATF’s guidelines but didn’t follow their instructions closely enough. I’d like to hear your thoughts on this piece of news. Should this gun store face criminal charges for its actions? Let us know what you think in the comments.