I also noticed the blog has been taken down...but Ryan hadn't really posted anything for the last couple months, since the trial ended, and while his case was in the judge's hands.
Here's the latest news: possible settlement...
http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/...regional/05b713b3075090d78725745100759106.txt
Feds, gun shop reach deal
By REBECCA BOONE
Associated Press writer
BOISE, Idaho -- An Idaho gun shop that went to federal court to keep the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from stripping it of its gun license has reached a tentative settlement with the government.
Attorneys on both sides told U.S. District Court Judge Mikel H. Williams on Wednesday that they had likely agreed on how to end the case.
Mark Geston, an attorney representing Terry and Ryan Horsley of Red's Trading Post, said he could not yet release details, but said
the proposal would allow the Twin Falls gun shop to continue operating.
"I think everybody's reached a cooperative and constructive agreement," Geston said Thursday. "The judge said to have it finalized in 10 days and we'll just do our best to do that. The agreement allows Red's Trading Post to continue as a gun shop in Twin Falls."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah Ferguson, who represented the ATF in the case, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Terry Horsley and her son Ryan asked the federal court last year to review their case after the ATF revoked their license. The ATF contended the shop had repeatedly violated gun sales rules.
The Horsleys said they had been targeted by the agency and that most of the errors were clerical in nature, such as abbreviating the words "yes" and "no" with their first letters, "y" and "n," on gun sale documentation.
The case caught the attention of Idaho U.S. Sens. Mike Crapo and Larry Craig, who placed separate holds on President Bush's 2007 nomination of federal prosecutor Michael Sullivan to lead the ATF. Both senators said they believed the ATF was being too aggressive with gun dealers.
At a March hearing, ATF inspector John Hansen testified that the bureau decided to inspect the gun shop in 2001 after at least 10 guns used during crimes were traced to it. Such tracing does not indicate any wrongdoing, he said, but the policy is used by the ATF to check for possible firearms trafficking.
Inspectors found no evidence of trafficking. What they did find was paperwork violations, Hansen said. The ATF had a "warning conference" with the gun shop operators and told them they needed to fix the problems or risk losing their license.
The Horsleys said that simple human imperfection virtually guarantees a minor error in paperwork now and then, and that the repeated ATF inspections wreaked havoc on their business, prompting them to reduce inventory and lay off some employees.
Ryan Horsley told The Associated Press on Thursday that all questions should be directed to his attorneys while the settlement was pending.
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Best wishes for Ryan, hope the settlement is equitable.
