Exclusive: Rep. Matt Gaetz Blasts ATF for Allegedly Retaliating Against Congressional Witness

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is blasting the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) for allegedly retaliating against a Congressional witness.

In a letter to ATF director Steven Dettelbach, dated September 7, 2023, and shared exclusively with Breitbart News, Gaetz wrote:

It has come to my attention that yesterday, September 6, 2023, ATF agents once again aggressively targeted and harassed one of my constituent federal firearms licensees (FFL), Chris Smith of Gulf Coast Gun, this time apparently in violation of federal law. Chris has held an FFL in Florida for years with no issues, and yet the ATF has aggressively audited him without merit and accused him of various clerical errors in an attempt to have his FFL revoked. It is for this reason that Chris testified as a whistleblower before members of Congress.

Gaetz noted that the ATF’s visit to Smith’s business came after Smith provided testimony at Gaetz’s “Field Hearing on the Weaponization of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.”

He pointed out that Smith has only had his manufacturer’s license six months and has yet to use it for business; therefore the ATF agents were forced to leave Smith’s business empty-handed. He also indicated that the ATF had already audited Smith’s retail license within the last year “and it follows that given the ATF is forbidden from auditing the same business twice in one year, the only excuse the ATF had to further harass Chris, was to audit a new, unused manufacturer’s license.”

Gaetz also explained that the ATF “showed up uninvited to Chris’s manager, Christian O’Brien’s home without making an appointment, as he does not have business hours.” (O’Brien does not have business hours because he does not sell firearms “or perform any business on behalf of Gulf Coast Gun.”)

Christian was not home when the ATF agents arrived at his house so the agent(s) allegedly called him and said, “Don’t worry, we know where you work.”

Gaetz responded by saying, “This kind of stalking is unwarranted and creepy.”

He added, “The ATF’s harassment of law-abiding FFLs is clear and documented. Furthermore, the implication that the ATF may be retaliating against congressional whistleblowers in response to their lawful actions before Congress is astounding.”

Gaetz is asking Dettelbach to address the issues revealed in the letter and also to answer a number of questions, beginning with, “How many audits and/or inspections has the ATF performed on a license held only for 6 months?”

Another question posed by Gaetz: “For what emergency did the ATF find it necessary to perform a house-call to someone who is not involved in the sale of firearms on behalf of Gulf Coast Gun?”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010, a speaker at the 2023 Western Conservative Summit, and he holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.