I'm so upset that I don't know where to start. I welcome any advice, thoughts, assistance, contact info, etc, that anyone cares to provide....
This morning, two BATF agents knocked on my good friend's door. One was a mid 30's black man and the other a younger white 'greenhorn'. They came wearing jeans and blue polo shirts. My friend answers the door and they start flashing badges and come with a very aggressive, assertive tone (black guy (BG)doing all the talking). When my friend asks what it is all about, BG tells him that a handgun linked to (his wife's name) was used in a crime.
Right from the start, my friend notices BG's 'disdain' for him in his tone of voice. My friend is thinking it is maybe because he has a shaved head (my friend is blond and looks like a skinhead with his head shaved, but he's not....hell, his wife is Asian!) They demand to speak to (his wife), at which point my friend offers to give them any information they need regarding the handgun. The gun in question was a USP9c that his wife formerly carried and didn't care for, so my friend sold it to an acquaintance. Apparently, the guy he sold it to sold it to some unsavory character down the line.
Before my friend (known as "F" from now on) realized which gun they were talking about, he said, "The Beretta?" (He had also sold a Cougar 9mm through the local classifieds) BG said, no, the USP....how many guns do you have anyway? F said that had nothing to do with the investigation, but he'd be more than happy to answer any questions they had about the USPc. They weren't interested in talking to him. They demanded to speak to the wife (W), who is 8 months pregnant. When F went into the bedroom to wake up W and let her know what was going on, the agents let themselves into the house.
When they both came out of the bedroom, BG demands to speak to W alone. F tells him that anything they have to say to W can be said in front of him. BG blurts out that F doesn't want to bring down the wrath of the ATF (uh-oh) and that if he wants to flock with them like that, they can return with a subpoena for a grand jury investigation. BG starts in again asking questions about how many guns they have, where do they go shooting, etc. F says he doesn't see how any of this is pertinent to the investigation at hand. BG threatens with a subpoena again, and at that point stands up, lifts up the side of his shirt, and drapes and tucks it in between his rig and his body, exposing a Sig in a Galco IWB holster.
My friend is thinking, "***?" BG says, "Do you really want your wife to stand in front of a judge and grand jury and go to jail for the murder of someone using her gun?"
F said, "I don't think a judge and 12 people are going to want to put my pregnant wife away for a crime she didn't commit. I already told you that I sold the gun. Don't you want to know more about the gun? I was the one that sold it, not my wife, anyway."
They went back and forth over this for a couple of minutes until W says she'll talk to the man and tells F it will be okay. F relents.
While BG talks to W, the greenhorn engages F in conversation in the other room. He plays good cop while BG plays bad cop...or so it seems. The greenhorn starts asking crazy questions like he is intentionally playing dumb, but with the air that he's an expert. Stuff like, "So does your G26 have the pinky extender? The G26 is a .44, right? Your Beretta Cougar is a .380." When corrected, he says stuff like, "No, the Beretta 96 is the 9mm and the 92 is the .380."
So, after 20 minutes it is over and they leave. F asks W what the hell they asked about. It turns out, W freaked and gave up ALL KINDS OF INFORMATION. She told them everything from how some of F's friends smoke pot (not me) to how her dad had been audited before. She even told them that her dad cheats on his taxes! They started grilling her about how her name and social security number came up as some shady arms dealer/manufacturer in Georgia. BUT NOT ONCE DID THEY ASK HER ABOUT THE USP OR WHO SHE SOLD IT TO.
I hope it isn't too hard to follow my story or the events that happened. You know how something always gets lost in the translation every time it is told. But I did the best I could hearing it straight from my friend's mouth this morning. My baby started crying 4 minutes ago, and I'm trying to type this as fast as I can before I have to go change and feed her. And I assure you it isn't BS.
If anyone has any ideas on what course of action my friend should take in the meanwhile, or what the ATF did wrong, or what my friend did wrong, etc, please share your ideas.
Thanks.
This morning, two BATF agents knocked on my good friend's door. One was a mid 30's black man and the other a younger white 'greenhorn'. They came wearing jeans and blue polo shirts. My friend answers the door and they start flashing badges and come with a very aggressive, assertive tone (black guy (BG)doing all the talking). When my friend asks what it is all about, BG tells him that a handgun linked to (his wife's name) was used in a crime.
Right from the start, my friend notices BG's 'disdain' for him in his tone of voice. My friend is thinking it is maybe because he has a shaved head (my friend is blond and looks like a skinhead with his head shaved, but he's not....hell, his wife is Asian!) They demand to speak to (his wife), at which point my friend offers to give them any information they need regarding the handgun. The gun in question was a USP9c that his wife formerly carried and didn't care for, so my friend sold it to an acquaintance. Apparently, the guy he sold it to sold it to some unsavory character down the line.
Before my friend (known as "F" from now on) realized which gun they were talking about, he said, "The Beretta?" (He had also sold a Cougar 9mm through the local classifieds) BG said, no, the USP....how many guns do you have anyway? F said that had nothing to do with the investigation, but he'd be more than happy to answer any questions they had about the USPc. They weren't interested in talking to him. They demanded to speak to the wife (W), who is 8 months pregnant. When F went into the bedroom to wake up W and let her know what was going on, the agents let themselves into the house.
When they both came out of the bedroom, BG demands to speak to W alone. F tells him that anything they have to say to W can be said in front of him. BG blurts out that F doesn't want to bring down the wrath of the ATF (uh-oh) and that if he wants to flock with them like that, they can return with a subpoena for a grand jury investigation. BG starts in again asking questions about how many guns they have, where do they go shooting, etc. F says he doesn't see how any of this is pertinent to the investigation at hand. BG threatens with a subpoena again, and at that point stands up, lifts up the side of his shirt, and drapes and tucks it in between his rig and his body, exposing a Sig in a Galco IWB holster.
My friend is thinking, "***?" BG says, "Do you really want your wife to stand in front of a judge and grand jury and go to jail for the murder of someone using her gun?"
F said, "I don't think a judge and 12 people are going to want to put my pregnant wife away for a crime she didn't commit. I already told you that I sold the gun. Don't you want to know more about the gun? I was the one that sold it, not my wife, anyway."
They went back and forth over this for a couple of minutes until W says she'll talk to the man and tells F it will be okay. F relents.
While BG talks to W, the greenhorn engages F in conversation in the other room. He plays good cop while BG plays bad cop...or so it seems. The greenhorn starts asking crazy questions like he is intentionally playing dumb, but with the air that he's an expert. Stuff like, "So does your G26 have the pinky extender? The G26 is a .44, right? Your Beretta Cougar is a .380." When corrected, he says stuff like, "No, the Beretta 96 is the 9mm and the 92 is the .380."
So, after 20 minutes it is over and they leave. F asks W what the hell they asked about. It turns out, W freaked and gave up ALL KINDS OF INFORMATION. She told them everything from how some of F's friends smoke pot (not me) to how her dad had been audited before. She even told them that her dad cheats on his taxes! They started grilling her about how her name and social security number came up as some shady arms dealer/manufacturer in Georgia. BUT NOT ONCE DID THEY ASK HER ABOUT THE USP OR WHO SHE SOLD IT TO.
I hope it isn't too hard to follow my story or the events that happened. You know how something always gets lost in the translation every time it is told. But I did the best I could hearing it straight from my friend's mouth this morning. My baby started crying 4 minutes ago, and I'm trying to type this as fast as I can before I have to go change and feed her. And I assure you it isn't BS.
If anyone has any ideas on what course of action my friend should take in the meanwhile, or what the ATF did wrong, or what my friend did wrong, etc, please share your ideas.
Thanks.
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