Federal investigators have seized documents and assault rifle parts from Stag Arms as part of an ongoing investigation into possible illegal activity at the New Britain gunmaker, federal court records show.
During a routine inspection of Stag Arm’s facilities in August, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives found 3,000 receivers — the part of the gun that houses the trigger and firing mechanism — without serial numbers, which is a violation of the National Firearms Act.
The ATF returned to Stag in October to seize the gun parts, as well as documents, photos, and personnel records that could relate to any illegal activity at the New Britain company including unauthorized trafficking of guns, according to a search warrant filing made by ATF Special Agent Joanna Lambert.
The search warrant allowed the ATF to seize all 3,000 gun receivers in question. Stag Arms said the agency only ended up taking 103 of the gun parts. ATF officials would not confirm the total number of guns seized, citing it as part of the ongoing investigation.
On May 6, the U.S. Attorney asked the U.S. District Court for Connecticut to allow the federal government to permanently keep the seized guns. As of May 14, Stag did not reply to that civil filing.
In August, Stag Arms claimed two separate reasons for the missing serial numbers: the employee who normally engraves the numbers was on vacation, and the unserialized gun parts were sometimes used as replacements for ones that came off the line broken, according to documents filed by the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut. Either way, both reasons given by Stag Arms would violate federal law, the U.S. Attorney wrote, because all gun parts must be stamped with serial numbers within seven days of their manufacture.
“Stag Arms, LLC is working closely with the government regarding this issue,” the company said in a released statement. “Although the allegations relate primarily to timing and recordkeeping, and Stag believes public safety was never compromised, the company takes its obligation to comply with all laws very seriously.”
The ATF investigation into Stag Arms is ongoing and the bureau declined to comment beyond the court filings, said ATF spokesman Chris Arone. More court filings are expected from the investigation.
After the August inspection and October seizure, Stag Arms hadn’t heard from ATF on the investigation until the civil filing was made in May, asking for the permanent forfeiture of the guns. The company’s primary product is the AR-15 rifle.
“Stag has made comprehensive changes to ensure that similar problems cannot happen again and that best compliance practices are maintained in all of its operation,” the company said in its statement.
Stag Arms is owned by Mark Malkowski, who was a vocal advocate for the gunmaking industry when the state legislature and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy sought to pass tougher gun control laws in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting. Stag manufactures guns out of two buildings on John Downey Drive in New Britain. The facilities are co-located with another gunmaker, Continental Machine Tool (CMT), which is owned by Malkowski’s father, Tadeusz Malkowski.
During the August inspection, there was some confusion between the two Malkowskis on whether the guns that were eventually seized were manufactured by Stag or CMT, although they did bear the Stag stamp, just not the serial number.
In her affidavit on the search warrant application to seize the unserialized guns, Lambert, the ATF agent, said she also wanted to search for evidence that Stag and/or CMT was illegally selling guns. This potential evidence included surveillance videos and photos, personnel records showing attendance logs, production records, computers, and other electronic media.
Lambert said Stag and CMT have a history of violations, and she suspected the companies were engaging in ongoing illegal activity. She did not mention what the previous violations were.
Nothing in the ATF or U.S. Attorney court filings indicated any evidence was found of illegal gun sales, although neither agency would discuss that allegation with Hartford Business Journal.
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