But there is a flip side to this massive strength. When the Washington bureaucracy decides to turn its power against an ordinary citizen, that person can be quickly crushed under the weight of official oppression.
Thus is the case of 52-year-old Russell Fincher of Tuskahoma, Oklahoma. By all accounts, an upstanding and law-abiding man, Fincher is a high school history teacher and a Baptist minister who operated a small business out of a humble shed in his backyard.
He recently pled guilty to what many believe to be spurious charges motivated by an ATF agenda to suppress Second Amendment rights. The result is expected to be three years of probation. But that plea did not erase the numerous questions swirling around the controversial agency’s actions against a U.S. citizen.
The small enterprise Fincher ran behind his home dealt with guns and ammunition, and that fell out of favor with the powerful federal government.
Almost exactly a year ago, a swarm of 15 heavily armed federal agents descended on Fincher’s rural residence. The massive squad held a battering ram to knock down the front door if necessary to get to this citizen.
However, that was not necessary when Fincher politely opened the front door and allowed them free entry.
Officers seized the teacher and minister and handcuffed him to his porch in front of his shocked 13-year-old son.
Of all the yelling and threats that rained down on Fincher, he most remembers the words of Agent Theodore Mongell as he entered the home at the head of the raid.
“You’re done. We have come to shut you down. You tell all your FFL buddies we are coming for them. We are shutting the gun shows down.”
Fincher’s personal property was seized, including an estimated $50,000 worth of firearms.
A federal grand jury in November indicted Fincher on two felonies and a misdemeanor. The felonies were engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license and selling ammunition to a prohibited person. The misdemeanor charge was making false entry in records by a federal firearms dealer.
In other words, he was charged with misdeeds while being a licensed dealer and for not having a federal firearms license.
A plea deal was reached by Fincher’s public defender through which he would plead guilty to selling ammunition to a prohibited person. This avoided prison time, though up to 15 years behind bars was possible.
By signing this agreement with government prosecutors, he avoided prison.
However, Fincher was forced to confess that he sold weapons and ammo without an FFL, even though he had a valid federal license during this period.
He was also coerced into admitting that he sold ammunition to a prohibited person. This is even though Oklahoma and most other states do not require a background check for these sales.
So, how was he to know that the person who purchased the ammo was prohibited?
The plea agreement was signed on May 17.
Many, including local law enforcement and elected officials in Oklahoma, rushed to Fincher’s defense and called for a thorough investigation into the government’s actions. And while he vocally denied any wrongdoing, it is not difficult to know why the agreement was signed last month.
An ordinary citizen is virtually powerless against the force that Washington may bring down onto them.
The persecution of Fincher flies in the face of recent and explicit testimony by ATF Director Steve Dettelbach before the House Judiciary Committee. He claimed the agency targets only “the worst of the worst,” categorizing this group as shooters and firearm traffickers.
Fincher, of course, is neither.
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