Remembering THIS ATF Outrage

Bob Stewart’s experiences with the ATF bear an eerie resemblance to another outrageous case of gun owner abuse.

Al Woodbridge, of Sumner Washington, was a gun dealer, a licensed firearms manufacturer and, unfortunately for him, a very successful pro-gun lobbyist in Olympia.

Woodbridge, known to most as "Big Al," counted among his friends and customers countless members of law enforcement and state legislators. He’d never been convicted of a crime, but none of this would help when the ATF set their sights on him.

In September of 1989, a shipment of gun parts was sent to Al’s shop. The parts were not ordered by Al, but they had been opened in route by Customs agents and later inspected by ATF agents who claimed they thought they were "machine gun parts."

Now it’s interesting to note that agents whose specialty is supposed to be firearms would not know that they were not "machine gun" parts but perfectly legal and unrestricted FN parts. Still, anyone who’s dealt with most ATF agents knows they rarely know what they’re doing.

When Big Al’s wife signed for the package, ATF agents and Pierce County Sheriffs Deputies swooped in and handcuffed her. (Al was not at the shop at the time.)

After cuffing Al’s wife, the agents searched his home and shop all but ignoring the package they would claim was the reason for their search warrant.

The warrant was dated the 21st of September, it alleged an offense that occurred on the 22nd and was not served until the 25th. After entering Al’s home, the agents seized numerous guns claiming they were fully automatic.

Al was charged with violating state machine gun laws, and his property was confiscated .

When Al went to court in July of 1991, the judge concluded that the state’s case was so flimsy that he directed a verdict of not guilty before even hearing Al’s defense. Jurors in the case later told Al they would have acquitted him anyway. It looked like everything was going to be ok, except Al wanted his guns back.

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