Story of Gun Shop Records Being Seized by ATF

I’ve seen this rumor going around about ATF seizing the records of a shop that closed in PA. By law ATF is entitled to the records of an FFL that is going out of business. They typically scan the 4473s into a computer system and store them as images. While it’s quite possible ATF did something wrong here, this could very well be a rumor generated by someone who doesn’t get that when a shop closes, ATF is going to demand the records. This could very well be an embellishment on a story of a gun shop that just closed, or a case of someone forgetting to file their FFL renewal and finding out by ATF showing up and demanding he stop selling guns and turn the records over as the law requires.

If ATF did indeed misrepresent the law, and the owner capitulated without a fight without even contacting NRA, or someone else who could help with that kind of thing, there’s not much that can really be done after the fact, after the license has already been forfeited.