{This documents Congressional correspondence with ATF regarding the audit of the NFRTR by the Treasury Department Inspector General, including LeaSure case matters, and so forth] ------------------------------------- page 1 Department of the Treasury Washington, D.C. 20220 Office of Inspector General OCT 21 1999 Eric M. Larson P.O. Box 5497 Takoma Park, MD 20913 Re: Freedom of Information Act Reference No. 97-10-36 Dear Mr. Larson: This letter responds to your October 9, 1997 letter addressed to the Department of the Treasury's Office of Disclosure Services. You requested correspondence dated on or about October 1, 1997 from the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight (Committee) to the Inspectcor General regarding a Committee request for an audit of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms' firearm registration practices. In addition, you requested a copy of correspondence from the Inspector General to the Committee that responds to theinitial request as well as any official letters, memoranda or similar documents that relate to the audit. We have located eight pages that are responsive to your request. We are releasing to you all eight pages, with two redactions that fall within the ambit of Freedom of Information Act Exemption 6. This provision exempts personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. You have the right to appeal for full disclosure of the responsive records under 5 U.S.C. section 552(a)(6)(A)(i). The procedures for submitting an appeal are set forth below and are in accordance with federal regulations at C.F.R. section 1.5(h). Any appeal must be received within 35 days of the date of this response, signed by you and addressed to: page 2 Chief, Disclosure Services Department of the Treasury Departmental Offices Freedom of Information Act Appeal 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Room 1054 Washington, D.C. 20220 This appeal should reasonably describe the records requested that have been denied, and should specify the date of the initial request and the date of this initial determination. Please enclose a copy of your initial request and this letter. The appeal should also include arguments in support of releasing the denies information. Sincerely, (signed---Dennis S. Schindel) Dennis S. Schindel Assistant Inspector General for Audit Enclosures --------------------- page 1 One Hundred Fifth Congress CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform and Oversight 2157 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-8143 June 25, 1997 The Honorable Valerie Lau Inspector General Department of the Treasury 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Main Treasury Building, Room 2412 Washington, D.C. 20220 Dear Ms. Lau: I would like to request your assistance in reviewing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobaccoa and Firearms' (ATF) registration and record-keeping of our nation's firearms, as required by the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934, as amended. Recently, it was brought to my attention by Mr. Eric Larson, a researcher and expert on firearms and gun laws, that there may be instances of mismanagement, misconduct, and improper record-keeping and registration of the Federal gun control laws by ATF employees. According to Mr. Eric Larson, there have been, and continue to be, a number of violations of law by ATF employees that include: (1) the destruction of firearm registration documents; (2) the unlawful registration of firearms; (3) perjury in making legal determinations of firearms classifications; (4) registration of firearms known by ATF to be registered to persons who have been deceased for many years; and (5) the possible coverup of violations of law by making false entries in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR). For your perusal, I have enclosed Mr. Larson's testimony before the Treasury, Postal Service and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee, and copy of a letter previously sent to the OIG. >From the correspondence and testimony I received from Mr. Larson, it appears that the concerns raised by Mr. Larson may be valid and legitimate. Consequently, I believe an investigation by the OIG into the above allegations would be appropriate to reveal any possible improprieties or mismanagement at the ATF, and to recommend solutions that would improve and strengthen ATF's registration and record-keeping of firearms. Dut to the obvious conflict of interest, I believe it would be inappropriate for this matter to be referred to the ATF. page 2 I appreciate your prompt attention to this matter. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or Carolyn Hicks of my staff at (202) 225-4068. Sincerely, (signed---Dan Burton) Dan Burton Chairman Enclosure ------------------------------ Department of the Treasury Washington September 22, 1997 Inspector General The Honorable Dan Burton Chairman Committee on Government Reform and Oversight House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Chairman Burton: Thank you for your letter of June 15, 1997, which expressed your concern that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) may have had instances where firearms registration and recordkeeping practices were mismanaged. As stated in the enclosed correspondence from Mr. Eric Larson, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) referred these issues to ATF on June 5, 1997. The Office of Inspection, which is an independent investigative organization within ATF, was assigned to review the allegations, and will provide us with their report. In response to your request, the OIG plans to begin an audit of ATF's firearm registration and recordkeeping practices. Our audit will include the OIG's assessment of ATF's response to Mr. Larson's allegations. Upon completion of our work, we will provide you with a copy of our final audit report. If you would like to discuss this issue further or need any other information, you may contact me at (202) 622-1090 or a member of your staff may contact Ken Clarke, Director of Audit Planning and Analysis, at (202) 927-6512. Sincerely, (signed---Valerie Lau) Valerie Lau Inspector General Enclosure ------------------------------------------ One Hundred Fifth Congress CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform and Oversight 2157 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-8143 October 24, 1997 Ms. Carol Burgan; Auditor Office of the Inspector General Department of the Treasury 55 West Monroe Street, Suite 510 Chicago, IL 60603 Dear Ms. Burgan: Please find enclosed the Treasury, Postal Service and General Government Appropriations FY 1997 and 1998 testimony of Mr. Eric Larson. I hope this information will be of assistance to you. In addition, I recently spoke with two individuals who may provide you with additional information and material on the ATF's alleged mismanagement and improper actions. The first individual, Mr. John LeaSure, can be reached at [redacted]. His lawyer, Mr. David Montague, can be reached at [redacted]. It is my understanding that they have documents and written testimonies by ATF employees that cite numerous examples of mismanagement, poor record-keeping, and unlawful activities. Thank you for your assistance on this issue. If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, (signed---Carolyn Hicks) Carolyn Hicks Professional Staff Government Reform and Oversight Committee ------------------- page 1 October 27, 1997 Ms. Carol Bergen Office of Inspector General Department of the Treasury 55 W. Monroe Street Chicago, Illinois 50503 Dear Ms. Bergen: This letter is to thank you and your colleagues for taking the time to meet and talk with me on Wednesday, regarding my complaint to the Treasury Department Inspector General (IG) dated May 10, 1997, and my subsequent letter to the Chairman, House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight dated June 15, 1997. I hope that your subsequent meeting with the Committee was useful, and that you and your colleagues will be able to establish an appropriate investigative agenda in the coming days. I am also writing to send additional information we discussed which I did not have with me at our meeting. This deals with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) claiming that (1) in 27 C.F.R., section 179.142, that issuing a duplicate National Firearms Act (NFA) registration or transfer document to a lawful owner is a matter of the agency's discretion, and (2) that it cannot issue a certificate of nonregistration to a person who inquires about the registration status of a firearm he or she may have innocently inherited from a relative. This issue seemed so simple that I thought I'd tackle it on my own, but I have met unusual resistance. The materials I have enclosed tell a simple story. In the first instance, ATF contends that it "may" issue a duplicate document, but also states that such a document is a "tax return" and that the Secretary of the Treasury has "no discretion" in whether to issue a duplicate if the lawful owner of the firearm requests it. Yet, ATF continues to claim that it "may" issue rather than "shall" issue such a document on demand, which conflicts with the right of a taxpayer to a copy of his or her own tax return. In the second instance, noting that ATF routinely certifies to federal courts that firearms are not registered, I proposed that ATF issue a similar certificate of nonregistration under penalty of perjury in the case where a person inquires about the registration status of a firearm he or she may have innocently inherited. My reason for this proposal is that some ATF personnel may be falsely claiming that firearms are not registered as a pretext to confiscate them. ATF is cannot do this for tax law and other privacy reasons; however, it is also a fact that any NFA firearm that is not registered is contraband, and if that is the case there should be no reason not to release information about it. ATF may be hiding misdeeds behind what essentially is a secret registration procedure. The lawful owner of an NFA firearm ought to feel secure in the right of ownership, and not endure an unlawful, arbitrary confiscation such as has apparently occurred and is well documented in the _Napolilli_ case which I provided to you and your colleagues. As the page 2 situation stands right now, persons can't know if ATF cannot find the registration, or if the gun was ever registered, or if ATF is flat out lying to them as a pretext to confiscate the firearm. This is quite a sore point with a number of gun owners and collectors. My suggestion that you consider including a forensic auditor on your team is based on the fact that ATF has an extensive forensic document laboratory, and is better equipped than most organizations to create, alter or falsify evidence; there are already indications some people at ATF would do that. As noted in several letters that top ATF executives have written to me, there are clearly instances where these officials have made statements that are either false or have no factual basis. Letter Rulings about NFA issues are, I believe, clearly within the ambit of Title 26, U.S.C., section 5861(l) and section 5871 and apply to any person who knowingly makes or causes the making of a false entry on any document required to be prepared as a result of administeringn the NFA. I believe this implicates some top ATF officials, and that their actions represent examples of poor and, indeed, unacceptable leadership. These actions may have encouraged some ATF employees to engage in an unspoken or informal policy of discouraging lawful firearm transfers, falsely claiming that firearms are not registered as a pretext to confiscate them, and to refuse to cooperate with a lawful investigation. I believe that anyone who takes the time to read all of my 1996 and 1997 testimonies, and each of their respective supporting appendices, will realize that the evidence I have presented raises serious questions about the custom and culture of ATF. To the extent that you and your colleagues independently confirm my allegations, I believe that it will require leadership and action outside of ATF to correct the problem(s). Finally, if I can provide additional information or clarification of any points raised in my 1996 and 1997 tesitmonies, please do not hesitate to contact me. I will take whatever time is necessary to explain any of these materials to the best of my ability. Very truly yours, (signed---Eric M. Larson) Eric M. Larson P.O. Box 5497 Takoma Park, Maryland 20913 (301) 270-3450 cc: The Honorable Dan Burton ------------------------------------------ DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of Inspector General Regional Inspector General for Audit Central Region 55 West Monroe Street, Suite 510 Chicago, IL 60603 October 30, 1997 Arenda Allen, Assistant U.S. Attorney U.S. Attorney's Office World Trade Center 101 W. Main St. Suite 8000 Norfolk, Virginia 23510 Dear Ms. Allen: As a result of a Congressional request, our office is conducting an audit of ATF's National Firearm's [sic] Act (NFA) database. The documentation we received with the request included a reference to a case: _United States vs. John Daniel LeaSure_, Criminal No. 4:95CR54, Newport News, Virginia, May 21, 1996, transcript of Proceedings before the Honorable John A. Mackenzie, United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, Newport News Division. We request a copy of this transcript be provided to us so that we can conduct a complete review of the complaint. Please send a copy of the transcript to our office at the above address. If you have any questions, please call me at (312) 886-6300 or Carol Burgan at extension 120. Sincerely, (signed---Robert K. Bromstrup for) Roberta N. Rickey Regional Inspector General for Audit Enclosure ------------------------ Department of the Treasury Washington Inspector General November 19, 1997 MEMORANDUM FOR JOHN W. MAGAW, DIRECTOR BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO AND FIREARMS FROM: Valerie Lau (signed---Valerie Lau) Inspector General SUBJECT: Audit of Firearms Registration Procedures The Office of Inspector General plans to initiate an audit of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms on the registration and record keeping practices of firearms [sic]. This audit is the result of a Congressional request from the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, House of Representatives. The overall objective of this audit is to determine if firearms registration and record keeping practices are managed appropriately. Staff from our office will be contacting you soon to arrange an entrance conference. If you have any questions concerning this audit, you may contact me at (202) 622-1090 or a member of your staff may contact Roberta N. Rickey at (312) 886-2800 ext. 118. --------------9C6CF6F2D15F5D3E964C2C8C--