A judge on Tuesday shut down a Fallston store’s gun-dealing business after its owner was accused of violating federal law more than 800 times.
The Baltimore office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was correct to revoke the firearms license of Charles Scheuerman?s Bel Air Gun & Pawn store, U.S. District Court Judge William D. Quarles Jr. ruled.
In May 2005, an inspection by the Baltimore ATF resulted in Scheuerman being cited for 817 violations of federal law, the judge wrote.
Scheuerman received notice that the ATF had revoked his license and appealed the decision.
A gun dealer since 1992, Scheuerman?s “willfulness of those violations is demonstrated by his admitted knowledge” of the federal Gun Control Act and his “continued failures to follow the law despite warnings,” Quarles wrote.
The judge cited previous examples in which authorities informed the gun dealer of the law and his violations.
» Scheuerman admitted that in 1992 a Baltimore ATF compliance inspection of his business found violations of federal record-keeping requirements.
» In 1999, the Baltimore ATF again inspected Scheuerman?s business and discovered 120 violations, including 86 firearms missing from his inventory without any record; eight more firearms were in his inventory without any record of their acquisition, and there were 26 other violations.
Scheuerman raised challenges to hundreds of the ATF?s alleged 817 violations, but had no defense for nearly 500, Quarles wrote.
“There are 492 violations for which Scheuerman admits the factual basis and is unable to raise an adequate legal defense,” the judge wrote.
Scheuerman was not immediately available for comment.
“If gun dealers do not keep accurate records as required by law, ATF cannot determine whether a gun was purchased by a criminal,” Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein said.
