Eric M. Larson
	P.O. Box 5497
	Takoma Park, Maryland 20913
	(301) 270-3450
	larsone@erols.com

	July 4, 1999


John W. Magaw, Director
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
650 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C.  20226

Dear Director Magaw:

On this solemn date commemorating our Nation's freedom, I am writing to 
you in my capacity as a private citizen, as an Associate Member of the 
Collector Arms Dealers Association, and as a scholar and collector of 
historical firearms  Based on conversations with Mr. John Picchietti and 
others, I understand that you are personally aware of my efforts to 
encourage the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) to correct 
errors in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.  

As you know, in late 1998 the Treasury Department Inspector General (IG) 
determined that persons working at or for ATF destroyed NFA documents, 
and was unable to determine the number and type of documents.  The IG 
also found that ATF improperly registered NFA firearms, and that more 
than 100,000 NFA firearms are registered to people who are dead.  The 
IG's determinations mean that some unknown number of ATF's records are 
inaccurate, incomplete and therefore unreliable.  In fact, ATF's letter 
to me dated May 18, 1999 (a copy of which is enclosed), states, the NFRTR 
data base in 1998 "as a whole does not reflect reliable data."  

Yet, ATF has still done nothing to correct the NFRTR, ignoring a 1979 
Department of Justice determination that if even one owner of an NFA 
firearm presented a registration document that is not in the NFRTR, "the 
only solution" is to establish another amnesty.  That standard was met in 
the Napolilli case, as indicated in my 1999 testimony before the House 
Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service and General Government 
Appropriations.  It may well have been met in other cases which ATF has 
declined to publicly identify.

This situation requires youas ATF Directorto exercise leadership and to 
ask the Congress for the authority to extend the current 90-day statutory 
period for an amnesty, to one year.  This will enable ATF to correct the 
NFRTR in a timely and accurate fashion.  It seems prudent to bring some 
of the core values of federal law enforcement to your attention, and I 
quote:

	Rigorous obedience to constitutional principles ensures that 	
individually and institutionally we always remember that 	
constitutional guarantees are more important than the outcome of 	
any single interview, search for evidence, or investigation.  	Respect 
for the dignity of all whom we protect reminds us to 	wield law 
enforcement powers with restraint and to recognize the 	natural human 
tendency to be corrupted by power and to become 	callous in its 
exercise.  

We who enforce the law must no merely obey it.  We have an 	
obligation to set a moral example which those whom we protect can follow.

It is extremely unfortunate that a few individuals within ATF with 
responsibility for correcting errors in the NFRTR have not done so, 
because their inaction can only raise larger questions about ATF's 
fitness as a member of the federal law enforcement community, and 
continue to discredit ATF as an agency.  It is my sad duty to report to 
you that "American Terrorist Force" is what some people at the FBI 
Academy call ATF,  in reference to an agency whose top management does 
not always rigorously follow the law.  Perhaps the most serious violation 
is ATF's ongoing certifications at criminal trials that certain NFA 
firearms are not registered in the NFRTR, without comment upon the 
inaccuracy of the NFRTR data base.  A completely truthful certification 
would state: "ATF, after diligently searching a data base which the 
Treasury Department Inspector General has found to be incomplete and 
inaccurate, hereby certifies that no record of a registration for the 
subject firearm can be found."

Director Magaw, ATF's refusal to correct the errors it willfully created 
in the NFRTR is shameful, I have personally written to you about this a 
number of times.  Yet, you and others at ATF have invariably responded by 
stating that because my allegations are under investigation, it would be 
inappropriate for ATF to comment in any way.

But my allegations have been independently proven by the Government 
itself.  The Treasury Department Inspector General confirmed my 
allegations, and the investigations are over.  No further study is 
necessary.  The NFRTR records are inaccurate, incomplete, and must be 
corrected.  ATF engaged in mismanagement and possibly misconduct in its 
administration of the NFRTR, which continues to unjustly subject 
law-abiding citizens to imprisonment, fines, and confiscation of their 
historic firearms.  The Government can't afford to tolerate this 
situation, despite the institutional embarrassment it unquestionably 
brings to ATF.  Does the buck stop with you?

I would appreciate your personal response to this letter at your earliest 
convenience.

Thank you.

	Sincerely,


	(signed---Eric M. Larson)


Enclosures
cc: The Honorable Jim Kolbe, Chairman
      House Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service 
             and General Government Appropriations