The quintessence of hypocrisy?

I thought the BATFE didn't let you have an FFL unless you were actually selling guns... I wonder why he got the FFL license... to do gun buybacks? does VPC even do those?

So where is the VPC place of business? Can I go into their office and purchase a firearm? When was the last BATFE inspection of their records?

Is it possible that they have this because they need to store firearms on site for whatever reason (testing, defect finding, compromising photo taking, who knows).



Maybe they are using it solely to be exempt from the DC Gun Ban, and since firearms enter their scholastic arena, they need a mechanism to store and keep them there for their research.

I'm not shocked. Sugarmann is evil, not stupid. He knows people will show up in his offices with guns-- I'd be surprised if a month goes by without some little old lady plonking her purse on Sugarmann's front counter to hoist out the 6" .357 Magnum that her late husband used to keep down the squirrels that would raid their backyard bird feeder-- so she can ask Josh to accept it as a donation, or just pose with it for a photo. Sugarmann doesn't want to get caught up in some sting where he or staff get charged with unlawful possession or even misprision for failing to report a visitor with a piece. As a licensed dealer Sugarmann and his staff can receive gun-toting visitors with aplomb. They can touch their guns, accept them as donations or for storage or disposal, accept guns that arrive in the mail, et-cetera, et-cetera, without breaking Federal law and probably within DC law as well.

You know, I've wondered how the VPC has been maintaining their activities since that Joyce Foundation funding seems to be decreasing...

Now it all makes perfect sense!

Does this mean that a DC resident could have a gun ordered and delivered to VPC to be picked up laterby the legal buyer.

What a hoot, I'd pay some bones to watch that transpire.

Maybe Josh is actually a mole for JPFO.

His FFL expires in a few weeks. I wonder if he'll renew it.

I'd like to hear in Josh's own words why he NEEDS an FFL.

Good position to be in if Heller wins. How many FFLs are there in DC?

LOL, Vinnie wins - Sugarmann is positioning himself to be the first FFL to sell pistols in DC after Heller wins!

Well, the easiest explanation is that he went and got one to show how "anyone" can get one.

As an FFL, he can get lots of info that folks try to restrict to FFLs. For example, many manufacturers won't talk to non-dealers.

Plus, folks spam FFLs with "clever" ideas.

I'd be surprised if anyone using an FFL list notices who they're dealing with.

Hmmm. The questions about inspections and legitimate businesses are interesting. Do you (Mr. Hardy) think a FOIA request to the BATFE could elicit this?

An FFL pays a SOT. They can claim the info is tax info and clam up at any time.

I thought that to obtain an FFL the business had to be legal in the location? Don't DC's gun laws make his business Illegal in DC? Is his location zoned for retail sales? Doesn't he have to show "regular business hours" and be "in the business of buying selling guns"?

"Don't DC's gun laws make his business Illegal in DC?"

No, just very very (jack-booted thug territory) heavily regulated. Please note that he needs a DC dealer license as well. And if he doesn't have one, presumably, his federal license should be revoked as he is in violation of local regs.

Relevant section of the DC Code is §7-2504.01 to §7-2504.09

Interested parties can read the regs by going to the dc web site "www.dc.gov" then searching for "DC Code". You'll get re-directed to westlaw.com

If you lie on your application when you certify that you are "in the business of buying selling guns" is that perjury?

Disgusting and NOT to be tolerated !
The war of immorality and unethical conduct is in full swing. It is so painfully obvious who the good guys are and who the evil bad guys are.

Sugarmann is one EVIL badguy. He proves it over and over again and now THIS!.
He makes me sick to my stomache.

This is very old news… Mr. Sugarmann has maintained an FFL for at least the past dozen years, and has used it to gain entrance credentials to various firearms industry trade shows. I spotted him at the 1997 Firearms Trade Expo in Atlantic City, and pointed him out to an incensed Andy Molchan.

And while he didn't need an FFL to do so, Alan Gottleib and I "busted" him at the 1991 Gun Rights Policy Conference in Philadelphia… got photos of him in the audience at that morning's seminar, and actually ate lunch with him that noon.

"Mine enemy come closer that I may know you better."

Sugarmann is a very smart guy… never under-estimate him. Just remember that he's playing for the Dark Side.

Someone needs to point out to BATF that you are supposed to be in the gun business if you have an FFL. And I would be surprised if VPC's offices are zoned for retail sales. That's part of why I couldn't renew my FFL in the 1990s after the Clinton Administration decided to crack down on what groups like VPC characterized as "kitchen table dealers."

Has everyone written about this in a letter to the editor of their local paper? A few should get published at least, which might cause a reporter to latch on to them.

> Has everyone written about this in a letter to the editor of their local paper? A few should get published at least, which might cause a reporter to latch on to them.

Which papers that matter will care?

Newspapers are not in the biz of finding news - they have far more news than they can print. They're in the biz of choosing which news to cover.

Yes, having an FFL and not being a stocking gun dealer--or complying with zoning and local laws--should qualify you for not having your license renewed by ATF.

I have a feeling VPC doesn't meet D.C.'s zoning laws.

This probably is a gimmick to showcase how "easy" it is to get an FFL. To say. "Hey, we got an FFL and everybody knows how we feel about guns."

Perhaps a complaint could be filed with ATF?

To Hell with "Rogue" Gun Dealers.

After all, aren't gun shops targets for criminals looking for guns?

Just love it. He might be Senator Feinstein's dealer.

As a Jewess in the US, I am ASHAMED by the actions of fellow Jew, Josh Sugarmann! (Not that he is practicing....) May I remind him that America wasn't won twith a registered gun, and that criminals are stopped by FIREARMS, not by talk? That is why all REAL Americans put our 2nd Amendment FIRST!!

It doesn't matter if this is old news, or not. Nor does it matter if the VPC has an FFL for legitimate reasons.

The perception of impropriety and hypocrisy is enough to make this worth spreading around and sharing at every possible opportunity.

Just like the fact that Tom Diaz is a gun owner.

Wendy:

Gawd...Jewish women who own guns and talk like you are SO DAMN HOT! ;)

it sound to that this MR SUGERMEN shuold be busted
for lieing to the feds.his only reason for having an ffl. can only be to try give himself some crediblity with pro-gun groups. but he thinks were stuped his very wrong! i for will send a letter to the justice dept. calling an investgtion of this man.

Hmmm...I wonder if it would be worth it to transfer some RGs and Ravens to Mr. Sugarmann - maybe make sure that they are delivered right before the FEDEX cut-off time so he has to log them into his Bound Book....

I'd be willing to waste $100 to inconvenience him.

Of course, he might decline to document their receipt....but that'd be an entirely different news story, wouldn't it?

Comments about Josh needing to sell guns to hold a class -01 FFL are erroneous.
A gunsmith is required to hold a type/class -01 FFL, but is excused from having a place of business/public access, etc.
He also does not have to sell guns. Only work on them.

All these Fed rules are overruled by local ordinances, but my bet is he has a legal way around it.

Also, I notice that they have redacted the type/class of license digits from the FFL number they gave.

In the exapmpe they showed, they had the last9 digits obsured.
For instance, they printed it as:

xx-xx-00725.
The first 'xx' should be 01 if he's a dealer, 03 if he's collector, etc. No way to tell HOW he claimed his intent, in order to get a license issued.
Might even be valid!

keith whaley
Former -01 FFL, currently an -03 FFL.

This has to be illegal for Joshy of VPC. I would bet Washington DC laws retrict any gun dealer from having an establishment in the business zone of the VPC Center bldg address.
And the ATF requires a minimum number of firearms sales annually to justify that license being retained.
What the heck is going on here? Is the ATF going to become the toliet paper for the VPC now? Come on, a major Government Agency with clout has to bend over for Josh Sugermann of VPC because he wants to flagrantly wave his license in everyones face while he attacks the very purpose of what having that license privelage means?
Lets get real, and hopefully the ATF will support the law abiding gun owners while also fully investigating this apparent big goofy and "slap in your face" breach by Josh of VPC.
A good friend of mine who was a full fledged sportsman and enjoyed shooting sports and gun dealer privelages had it taken away by the Clinton administration games; they sent the names and addresses to the local Towns through out the Country and inquired if the Town knew whether the gun dealer business was in conformance to the Towns Zoning regulations. Well, my good friend had to hand in his License, being considered a kitchen table type dealer, where he had no zone conformity to the local Town regs. This was real stupid, as this guy knew guns, the outdoor sports, and was one hell of a great citizen to boot. Now, local sporting good stores are the prime gun sales centers, and these behind the desk persons rarely know what they are selling and don't enjoy the sport anyhow. Thanks to Bill Clinton and gang, for the stupidity they brought to solve their supposed agenda problem.
ATF- get going and do the right thing, pulling Joshys license IMMEDIATELY !

The hypocrisy of Josh Sugarmann, director of the VPC is no surprise. Mr. Sugarmann is also a director of the Brady Campaign. This is the organization that sponsored the so called Million Mom March. So when it comes to outrageous hypocrisy, here’s a little historical foot note that was buried on the back page of the liberal Washington Post. Marjorie Graham, was officer of the Brady Campaign and a keynote speaker at the Million Mom March, where she called for abolishing all hand guns. Several months after the March she was arrested for shooting a man she believed responsible for killing her son in a drunk driving accident. Now I don’t blame her for shooting the guy. But Ms. Graham purchased her handgun ILLEGALLY in DC where she lived; where the shooting took place, and where it is ILLEGAL to possess a handgun. Ms. Grahams currently resides in a federal prison. So when it comes to OUTRAGEOUS HYPOCRISY, it doesn’t get any better than people like Josh Sugarmann, the VPC and the Brady Campaign.

Suggestion: email, phone or write Mr. Sugarmann asking to buy a gun.
Josh Sugarmann
Violence Policy Center
1730 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
Suite 1014
Washington, DC 20036

Phone: 202 822 8200
email: www.vpc.org

Sugarmann's complete FFL number is Number 1-54-000-01-8C-00725

Some of the other DC FFL's include, besides the BATFE itself:

Crackerjack, Inc. is a tax exempt/non-profit social club. See http://www.taxexemptworld.com/organization.asp?tn=302522.

Performance Hobbies is a model rocketry hobby store. See http://www.performancehobbies.com/.

Capitol Works is a fireworks company. See http://www.capitolworksinc.com/thecompany.htm.

Ronco Consulting is a mine clearnce comapny. See http://www.roncoconsulting.com/.

AKE, LLC is a security consulting company. See http://www.akegroup.com/ and http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2003/safety/contacts.html

You can get a Type 1 FFL for other than being a dealer, you can be a gunsmith, or you can be a firearms researcher, or a firearms examiner ( as in testifying in court as to the tool marks made by a firearm on bullets ). Whatever purpose you get the FFL for your business has to be zoned for that purpose.

Too much rhetoric.
Someone step up and take care of this.

I just checked the zoning for the office address. It came back as Medium Density Residential/Limited Office. I would image that in order to be an FFL, you would have to be in some sort of commercial or business zoning. Sound like a violation to me. I plan to make an inquiry with both the zoning office and the BATF.

I bet if the gun ban is overturned Sugarmann will push for laws that require dealers to be more than 10 miles apart. This would keep all other dealers out of D.C. Then, maybe, a law against interstate gun trafficking? He won't stop, he doesn't take other peoples' rights seriously.

More and more hypocrisy is revealed as the struggle goes on! But why are we so surprised, when, not only are these liberals hypocritical, but also arrogant elitists with their own bodyguards and 'knowledge and understanding' of how I should live-trusting in a government for protection when the only time I hear from them is in the form of a demand for more taxes. I am not old enough to have lived during Hitler's reign in Germany with a dream (nightmare) of world dominance and a superior race but the arrogance displayed by the Sugarman's and Kennedy's of the world sounds terribly 'reminiscent' of Hitler's 'dream'.

Re; Post by ANDERSON.......

Yes, youre correct that the issuance and use of an FFL license for the location of the VPC office IS in violation of DC zoning laws. Ive verified this with a DC real estate attorney. So how was Josh Sugarmann able to get this license? Its easy when you can BUY friends in high places. And Mr. Sugarmann has used VPC funds to buy powerful friends like Senator Ted Kennedy and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. Mr. Sugarmann of the VPC and Paul Helmke, Pres. of the Brady Campaign have made large, Illegal contributions to the election campaigns of these and other anti gun politicians. With this kind of money and influence, you can buy any type of license you want in DC. There is a rumor that both Helmke and Sugarmann have special CCW permits allowing them to carry handguns in DC. But this should come as no surprise to anyone when its a verifiable fact that anti gun politicians like Diane Feinstein and Don Perata have also been issued Special CCW permits FOR POLITICIANS ONLY.
Dont like such hypocrisy? THEN STOP VOTING FOR DEMOCRATS.

Why do you'all forget so easily what antigun people get away with? Do you recall these incidents? Someone should check the facts on these:
1. Is it true Mrs. Brady earns about $200,000 per year to work to take away our 2nd. Amendment rights, while at the same time she is licensed to carry a snubby S&W .38 Special. She has earned more than a million being a hypocrit.
2. Is it accurate that Diana Feinstein is also licensed to carry the same weapon in California.
(I would like to suggest they put Crimson Laser grips on their guns. They are wonderful.)
3. Senator or Congressman John Biaggi of NY was a famous gun hater,who when convicted of corruption had to surrender his own handguns.
4. Jane Fonda and her first husband Tom, were questioned on why they each got out of bed to conterattack a person breaking into their house, armed with a flashlight and a handgun. Reporter: "We thought you were against individudals owning handguns?" She replied, "That applies to others, not to us." Later in life, she and her husband Ted were reported as attending an advanced pistol-training course in the Southwest at a famous academy. Bravo ! Improved taste!
5. Ted Kennedy and his bodyguard were arrested on the steps of the Capitol. The BG was armed with excellent weapons. On his belt he had two H&K P7 pistols, and in shoulder holsters he had two fully automatic submachine pistols. If I remember correctly they were MP5's.
Any other citizen would go to jail for a lengthy stay for this umbrage. The charges against them were dismissed. Since Kennedy paid the BG to do this action I fully believe he should have been imprisoned. As to doing what's legal, in my state I believe there's a law that if you don't jump in and aid somebody who's is in need of saving, that you have committed a crime when you could have dived to save her, or at least called for EMTs to save her. Shame!
6...... I need to sleep now,due to fatigue from surgury results, but my ire is up and this will be continued.

Well - what is so suprising about this revelation? ALL Anti-gunners are hypocrits! Sugarman has a FFL - Diane Feinstein has a CCW - Ted Kennedy has armed body guards with MACHINE GUNS - it is just the typical Hypocritical, Liberal, Communistic, Elitist attitude that "WE are better than you, more important and you are just peons!

BATFE is an Executive Branch agency, ostensibly (certainly legally, under the not-particularly Constitutional law of administrative agencies) under the control of the President.

Hmm. Given Mr. Bush's pro-gun character and yet failure to reign in BATFE, what do we have to hope for from a BATFE managed by a President Hillary, Obama, or McCain?

If there's to be any hope, we need to find a way to press the Ron Paul candidacy despite it all.

Well, I can dream.

ndhn je suis pas malde