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Connecticut gun dealers sentenced for multiple firearms violations
After four years of business, BMG Guns & Ammo closed its doors. (Photo: Facebook)
Two gun dealers who formerly worked out of a Connecticut gun store were sentenced on Friday to one year of probation, a $500 fine and 100 hours of community service after a U.S. Magistrate Judge determined that the men were guilty of possessing firearms which were not properly registered and selling firearms without completing background checks.
Brian Vanacore, 49, and Greg Bodytko, 55, were the owners of BMG Guns & Ammo, LLC, a gun store located in Newington, Connecticut, and became the center of an investigation in 2013 after agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives discovered several federal firearms violations during a routine inspection, according to an ATF press release.
Vanacore and Bodytko, who held three federal firearm licenses in the state, were found to have purchased 15 different firearms, including machine guns, which had not been registered correctly under the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. Vanacore and Bodytko had either not filled out the paperwork properly or altogether failed to do so at all, meaning the weapons were still registered to the previous owners. The ATF also found that Vanacore and Bodytko had not performed mandatory background checks on at least 10 different occasions.
Both men pleaded guilty last March to failing to keep complete and accurate records and multiple counts of failure to report the sale of handguns. Additionally, Vanacore pleaded guilty to making false entries into the company’s records.
The gun shop, which was previously on a five-year probation, is now closed, and in addition to probation, fines and community service, Vanacore and Bodytko were required to turn over their FFLs and will not be allowed to reapply for a license for at least five years.
“Federally-licensed firearms dealers are our first line of defense in making certain that firearms don’t wind up in the hands of the wrong people,” said U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly. “Gun dealers who don’t comply with the rules and violate federal law will be prosecuted.”
The post Connecticut gun dealers sentenced for multiple firearms violations appeared first on Guns.com.
Source: http://www.guns.com/2015/02/25/connecticut-gun-dealers-sentenced-for-multiple-firearms-violations/
