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

	April 24, 1998
The Honorable Michael R. Bromwich
Inspector General
Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Room 4706
Washington, D.C.  20530

RE:	March 1998 complaint of David N. Montague, Esq.
	March 1998 complaint of John D. LeaSure

Dear General Bromwich:

I am writing to you regarding evidence pertinent to the above complaints, 
and about my concerns that the Department of Justice may be an 
unwittingly party to the withholding of exculpatory evidence in some 
criminal prosecutions of apparent violations of the National Firearms Act 
(NFA) of 1934, involving data maintained in the National Firearms 
Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR).

In May 1997, shortly after testifying before the House Subcommittee on 
Treasury, Postal Service and General Government Appropriations about 
errors in the NFRTR, I filed a complaint with the Treasury Department 
Office of Inspector General involving, in part, the willful destruction 
of NFRTR records by employees of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and 
Firearms (BATF).  I learned about this destruction of records from 
reading the transcript of Mr. LeaSure's trial.  Mr. LeaSure and Mr. 
Montague based their complaint to you, in part, on an internal 1997 BATF 
report in which the BATF told a different story than at trial, but I am 
not writing to revisit that situation.

I am writing to you because I have been, for several years, researching 
errors in the NFRTR, and found valid and reliable evidence that its 
accuracy and integrity has been compromised for a long time.  By "long 
time," I mean at least each of the years from 1992 to 1996, the last year 
that BATF has released data, and I have no reason to think that 1997 or 
1998 data are any better.  By "valid" I mean "accurate"; and by 
"reliable" I mean "consistent."

As my testimony indicates, in each of these years, the NFRTR data report 
registrations of firearms in years that they cannot legally, or in some 
cases logically, exist; and that BATF has added firearms to the NFRTR 
after being confronted with a valid registration document.  Because the 
BATF has consistently given outright false, or misleading, answers to 
questions about the validity and reliability of the NFRTR data.  Perhaps 
the most damning evidence of knowledge of errors in the NFRTR is 
contained in a videotaped "Roll Call" training session conducted on 
October 18, 1995, by then-NFA Branch Chief Thomas Busey.  What is 
particularly damning about the Busey Videotape, in addition

page 2

to the comments themselves, is the fact that Mr. Busey's remarks were not 
"off the cuff" or spontaneous, for the most part.  In fact, Mr. Busey can 
be seen on the videotape reading from a prepared set of remarks, 
indicating previous knowledge and intent to say what he said.

After giving this matter a great deal of thought, I have decided to write 
to you to because I think it is possible that some BATF employees or 
agents may not have been honest with the Department of Justice in 
disclosing exculpatory evidence in prosecutions involving NFRTR records. 
 Through no fault of their own, I think it is possible that some United 
States Attorneys have been unwitting accomplices to the withholding of 
exculpatory evidence, because the BATF has not been honest about how 
messed up their records are.  As you may be aware, the House Committee on 
Government Reform and Oversight directed the Treasury Department 
Inspector General to independently audit the BATF's firearm registration 
practices.  The reason that I am writing to you, is that such an audit by 
definition will not cover the possible withholding of exculpatory 
evidence by United States Attorneys in the Department of Justicethat is, 
the prosecutors.

My perspective on this issue did not result from criminal problems on my 
part.  Instead, it resulted from my research on a small group of rare 
collector's-item firearms, and complaints by people who inherited these 
guns that the BATF was claiming the guns were not registered and 
confiscating them, as my enclosed 1998 testimony further documents.  I 
have no wish to disrupt the grave duties confronting law enforcement 
officers, or to compromise the very real issue that there definitely are 
dangerous criminals in the United States who violate gun laws, who must 
be dealt with harshly.  I recognize that my research seems to invariably 
affect these areas, and I honestly regret that.

But I can't sit back and not tell you about valid and reliable evidence 
of errors in the NFRTR, that BATF officials who deal with these data are 
aware of their flaws, and that BATF employees and/or special agents may 
be withholding exculpatory evidence from prosecutors in the Department of 
Justice.  The continued recalcitrance of the BATF in this regard leads me 
to this conclusion.  I believe that, given the evidence presented in my 
1998 testimony, it is a real possibility that at least some prosecutions 
of violations of the NFA by United States Attorneys have been compromised 
due to the Government deliberately withholding exculpatory evidence.

If you or your staff would like additional information, and you think 
that I could help, please don't hesitate to contact me.

		Very truly yours,

		(signed---Eric M. Larson)