The State Journal has quite the story this morning about a federal investigation into allegations that an investigator working for the state Department of Justice was manufacturing and selling firearms without a license. The whistle-blower in the case is another investigator who worked under the accused, special agent Jay Smith, at the former Division of Criminal Investigations field office in Superior, Wis. This guy, Dan Bethards, claims the DOJ has retaliated against him and even told local police that he was dangerous and suicidal, which he claims not to be.
The allegations describe Smith as making custom handguns and AR-15 assault rifles for fellow police and criminal justice officials without holding a federal firearm manufacturer’s license. This would be a no-no, assuming a court concludes that Smith meets the definition for a “firearm manufacturer.” Under federal law, someone “engaged in the business … devotes time, attention and labor to manufacturing firearms as a regular course of trade or business with the principal objective of livelihood and profit through the sale or distribution of the firearms manufactured.”
For gunsmiths, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives requires a manufacturer’s license when they routinely assemble or modify firearms for sale in a significant way. According to this guide from the agency, even altering a pistol to accept a different type of sight counts as manufacturing. Smith stands accused of assembling and customizing guns for a number of DOJ officials, including Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen and Ed Wall, a veteran of the agency now serving as secretary of the Department of Corrections.
According to a phone recording Bethards supplied to the State Journal, Wall ordered an engraved, gold-plated handgun with an ivory handle, a design Smith joked was the “Mexican pimp model.” Bethards was on the conference call with a number of other officers when the man referred to as “Ed” described the gun.
What really caught the attention of federal investigators, however, was a report that Smith had acquired a fully automatic M-16 assault rifle stamped “U.S. Government Property.” Bethards claims he told Smith to check if the gun was stolen, and Smith reportedly said he already knew that it was.
The ATF, last in the news in these parts over a bungled sting in the Riverwest neighborhood, is conducting an investigation that includes interviewing Van Hollen, a Republican elected in 2006. Bethards showed the State Journal a text message from an investigator stating, “We are still waiting to hear from Wisconsin AG J.B. Van Hollen.” The whistle-blower also gave the newspaper the impression that the DOJ had not yet launched an internal investigation into Smith’s gun activities (at least not one in which he was interviewed).
(photo via Shutterstock)
