Bruce Barany v. Janet Van Haelst

MEMORANDUM

Barany appeals from the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) on his claim that the ATF improperly denied his federal firearms license (“FFL”) application. Barany argues that ATF lacked authority to deny his application on the basis of willful violations of the Gun Control Act and its regulations committed by the General Store, Inc. See General Store, Inc. v. Van Loan, 560 F.3d 920 (9th Cir.2009).

Barany was listed as a “responsible person” on the General Store’s corporate FFL. He was one of two corporate officers and one of two shareholders in a small family-run corporation in which he actively participated in the management of the day-to-day activities of the store. Moreover, it is apparent from the administrative record, and specifically from the information disclosed in his FFL application and in his interview with an ATF inspector, that Barany was applying for an FFL in order to revive the General Store’s former gun department under another business name and thus to evade the consequences of the revocation of the General Store’s FFL. Under these circumstances, ATF was authorized under 18…