CNS News is reporting that the owner of the gun show that was the target of illegal residency checks may file a civil suit:

The owner of a gun show targeted by federal law enforcement for a half dozen undercover enforcement operations may join with some of his customers in filing a federal class action civil rights lawsuit against the agencies that participated in the operations.

Virginia State Police (VSP) records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by Cybercast News Service confirm that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted “Task Force” undercover surveillance and enforcement operations in connection with six gun shows in Richmond, Va., between July of 2004 and June of 2005. Richmond City and Henrico County, Va., police also assisted in at least some of the events. Steven Elliot, owner of C&E Gun Shows, noted that all of the shows listed on the VSP records were hosted by his company.

“More people have had their rights violated at my shows than at Annette’s show,” Elliot said, referring to colleague Annette Gelles, who owns the Showmasters Gun Show, which was the target of another ATF Task Force operation last month.

“They’ve been pulled over when they left the building and had their guns taken away from them,” Elliot continued. “In one case, we had a guy with a valid concealed-carry permit who had his gun confiscated. He had to go to ATF headquarters the next day to pick that gun back up.”

They’ve also established a means for victims to report incidents:

The email address, gunshowsfightback@yahoo.com, has been activated to receive messages from those who believe ATF or other law enforcement officials improperly violated their privacy or tried to discourage them from making lawful firearms purchases at the C&E shows.

If anyone has any information regarding how to donate to the legal fight, leave it in comments.

Posted in uncategorized on September 12th, 2005 by SayUncle | RSS 2.0 |