Americans now have evidence of what the tyrannical regime of Democrat Joe Biden has planned for American gun owners, as news goes viral about an attack on a gun shop owner who is the victim of a heavily armed and weaponized government agency.
Heavily armed agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) raided a gun store in Great Falls, Montana, last year that had been under surveillance by the FBI for years.
A state lawmaker reacted and described what happened to the gun shop owner as a “Soviet-style intimidation raid.”
“I met with Tom Vanhoose this morning after 20 armed IRS agents raided his store in Great Falls earlier this week.
Tom informed me that these agents confiscated all the 4473 forms, none of which contain any financial information; instead, the IRS now has access to these forms with sensitive personal details of every customer who purchased a firearm from Highwood Creek Outfitters,” Rosendale reported, also writing:
“The weaponization of our government must be STOPPED, which is why I sent a letter to ATF Director Dettelbach and IRS Commissioner Werfel demanding answers about this outrageous attack and have used every tool available to me to remove funding for the 87,000 additional IRS agents!”
The weaponization of our government must be STOPPED, which is why I sent a letter to ATF Director Dettelbach and IRS Commissioner Werfel demanding answers about this outrageous attack and have used every tool available to me to remove funding for the 87,000 additional IRS agents! pic.twitter.com/IGyoWLrRu0
— Matt Rosendale (@RepRosendale) June 16, 2023
Media reports show that Tom Van Hoose, the owner of Highwood Creek Outfitters said that he didn’t understand the purpose of the raid and that he believed it was all part of an agenda of the Biden regime to assert control and dominance over gun owners.
Van Hoose says for two years his Highwood Creek Outfitters gun shop has been the subject of surveillance by state and federal agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, the State of Montana, and now the Internal Revenue Service.
“The fact that they think we make so much money as a gun business that they had to come investigate all the thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars whatever it is we supposedly absconded with, anybody that knows the margins in the gun business knows they’re not that high,” said Van Hoose.
Van Hoose says all he was told is that his business had been reported. He doesn’t know by whom, or the reason. He thinks it’s part of a nationwide pattern and feels it’s political.
According to Van Hoose, 20 heavily armed ATF agents swarmed his gun shop on Wednesday morning, confiscated 13 years of 4473 forms, and copied the firearm acquisition and disposition book.
“The fact that they think we make so much money as a gun business that they had to come investigate all the thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars whatever it is we supposedly absconded with, anybody that knows the margins in the gun business knows they’re not that high,” Van Hoose told reporters, adding:
“I can only assume that it’s because of the style of weapons that we have and the press that’s so against them. The current administration seems to be hell-bent on getting those guns out of the hands of average Americans.”
Van Hoose was interviewed by media outlet, The Truth About Guns, and told them that the IRS claimed he had underreported and failed to report millions of dollars of income, which he denied.
On Friday, Congressman Matt Rosendale sent a letter to ATF Director Steven Dettelbach and IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, asking for answers and calling the raid “outrageous.”
“Under Director Dettelbach’s leadership of the ATF, a pattern of intimidation and harassment against hardworking Americans has emerged – Montanans will not tolerate these political witch hunts. I remind both Director Dettelbach and Commissioner Werfel that Congress has the power of the purse, and I will ensure that funding for these agencies is not weaponized against the American people,” Rosendale said in his letter, adding: “I request that the ATF and IRS cease conducting these Soviet-style intimidation raids.”
A retired Army Veteran reported on more details of what happened with a clip of an interview of Rosendale, along with Rosendale’s press statement:
“At 0730hrs on June 14, 2023, Twenty (20) Heavy Armed Agents From the IRS Criminal Investigation and Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms Raided Highwood Creek Outfitters, a Gun Shop and Indoor Firing Range in Great Falls, MT.
The Search Lasted More than Six (6) Hours. Ultimately, the IRS Agents Seized ALL the Store’s ATF Form 4473s, Which Everyone Fills-Out When They Purchase a Firearm. Form 4473 Contains No Financial Data in Them.
Over a Year Ago, VanHoose Called Local Deputies to Report a Man with a Telephoto Lens Taking Pictures of the Store. Deputies Identified the Man as an FBI Agent.
The ATF Deferred All Questions to the IRS.”
— Tony Kambeitz (@Kambeitz9) June 17, 2023
Reaction on social media was intense, with people making comparisons to a police state.
KRTV reported the store has re-opened:
FBI, DHS, OSHA & IRS agents were all there. It was coordinated to rack up more charges.
WHY? Because ATF wants to revoke as many FFLs as possible, even for the smallest technicality.— Μολὼν Λαβέ (@M0L0NL4BE) June 17, 2023
The news of the Biden regime’s attack on a gun shop owner comes at the same time Americans are getting ironclad proof that Joe Biden and his family have greatly reduced national security by taking bribes and destroying our military and also have increased crime rates by allowing illegal aliens into the country, placing the American people in more danger at every turn.
The description from law enforcement who deal directly with the national border describes what is happening as an ‘invasion of military aged men’. Now we have proof that the Biden regime is determined to force Americans into a world where we are not allowed to defend ourselves or our country.
The stakes for the election have never been higher.
