New Britain automatic-weapons maker Stag Arms LLC will lose its license and its CEO has accepted a permanent industry ban under both’s convictions Tuesday for firearms violations, federal prosecutors say.
Stag already has been notified by federal weapons regulators that its license to make and sell firearms has been revoked, the Connecticut U.S. Attorney’s Office said Tuesday. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had previously postponed its Nov. 16 revocation for 60 days.
Stag’s president, Mark Malkowski, also pleaded guilty in Hartford federal court to felony possession of a machine gun and will accept a lifetime ban on any executive leadership of a gunmaker, authorities said.
According to investigators and court testimony, Stag showed up on ATF’s radar on 2007, four years after it opened, for a number of regulatory violations, including sloppy record keeping as to when and where weapons were sold and to whom.
Then, in July 2014, another ATF compliance inspection uncovered that Stag had 62 machine guns and machine-gun receivers that were registered with another entity, or not registered at all. Receivers are vital, regulated gun parts that are considered a machine gun. Other parts needed to make a functioning semi-automatic or automatic machine gun are available via the Internet, authorities said.
Two months later, ATF agents armed with search warrants, investigators said, entered Stag’s production plant on John Downey Drive in New Britain and seized dozens of unmarked and/or unregistered machine guns with serial numbers intentionally obliterated or scratched out.
On top of his ban on serving as gunmaker executive, Malkowski will pay a $100,000 fine. Stag was fined $500,000.
“Stag’s misconduct has resulted in hundreds of these weapons being lost or untraceable,’’ Connecticut U.S. Attorney Deirdre S. Daly said. “In addition, Stag’s possession of dozens of unregistered machine guns is particularly egregious.’’
Stag said in a statement it believes the public safety was never compromised through its actions. The company said entering guilty pleas and paying what it called “significant fines,” was in the best interest of its employees. Malkowski is in advanced talks with a potential buyer, according to the company.
The company also clarified the ATFÂ will extend revocation of its license in increments of 60 days for purpose of facilitating sale of the company to an independent third party buyer provided that Stag Arms LLC requests an extension and submits a detailed status report on the efforts to sell the business that ATF finds satisfactory
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