Please Help Us Fight the ATF

Profire Arms and Supply is a locally-owned business with 6 employees in Indianapolis, IN, that specializes in machinegun manufacturing, full-auto demonstrations for law enforcement for the purposes of training, and ammunition production. We also have a retail store that sells reloading and survival supplies. We were the victims of a catastrophic theft in the fall of 2014 that has yet to be resolved. We are seeking your help to retain an attorney to sue the ATF for illegal seizure of our property, which they recovered. Here is our story:

·         Legally owned, manufactured, and insured property, consisting of approximately 12 machineguns, 17 suppressors, 8 handguns, and 20,000 rounds of ammunition were stolen from Profire Arms and Supply on Sept. 20, 2014.

·         Along with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (hereafter referred to as the BATFE) visited the site of the theft at 8am on Sept. 20, 2014 and confirmed and documented all property as stolen.

·         The stolen property was recovered by the BATFE around Sept. 22, 2014 and is currently held in BATFE lockup in downtown Indy.

·         Around Nov. 7, 2014, we received notification that the BATFE initiated an Asset Forfeiture against Profire Arms and Supply for our NFA items, which were lawfully-owned and registered to Profire Arms and Supply.

·         We were given 20 days to respond to their initiated Asset Forfeiture. Federal law mandates a 30 day response window; they gave us 20 days, which included Veterans Day and Thanksgiving holiday. Furthermore, the BATFE demanded a $10,000 bond to process the release of this legally-owned property.

·         The Department of Justice stated that our forfeiture letters were sent to us in error but the BATFE will not respond to these claims.

·         The prosecuting attorney for the Department of Justice has suggested to the BATFE that there is no legal basis for the seizure of our property; nevertheless, the BATFE has not released it.

·         We responded to the BATFE Asset Forfeiture initiation within the mandated 20 days (although legally, we could have taken 30).

·         The BATFE received our FedEx, signature-required response on Nov. 26, 2014. This response included the following:
           -     Forms 3 and 4, proving legal ownership of the stolen property by Profire Arms & Supply
           -      An initiation of Pauper Status because we could not and would not pay the $10,000 release fee that they demanded to recover property that was legally ours.

·         The BATFE logged the receipt of our response on December 5, 2014.

·         As per the BATFE’s own regulations, they had 90 days to respond.

·         To date (March 7, 2015), we have received no response from them, not even an explanation as to why they will not release our property.

·         Currently, the BATFE is holding our property without a pending release date. This is a violation of the 4th amendment (Illegal Seizure). It is also in violation of the BATFE’s own dictated response times for return of stolen property in an investigation.

·         We are initiating a federal lawsuit against the BATFE in Indiana Federal Court for damages to the business regarding the return of our legally-registered and owned property. Significant financial hardships have been brought upon the business due to the BATFE’s non-action. The business may be forced to close due to the BATFE’s non-response to our complaints. Furthermore, insurance has not covered the loss of this property.

·         Our lawyer requires a $10,000 retainer fee with additional fees following. This is why we are asking for your help.