In an extraordinary move, twenty heavily armed agents from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) descended on Highwood Creek Outfitters gun store in Great Falls, Montana.
The raid resulted in the seizure of all Form 4473s – documents that record buyers’ information during firearms transactions.
Tom Van Hoose, the owner of Highwood Creek Outfitters, claims he has been subject to constant surveillance by state and federal agencies for over two years.
He believes this raid was politically motivated due to his store’s reputation for selling AR-15’s and AK-47’s which are “fun guns” with greater licensing requirements. This type of weapon is often associated with greater scrutiny due to its association with certain crimes.
The 20 agents reportedly arrived at the shop early Wednesday morning while Van Hoose was opening for business. KRTV reported that when they attempted to enter the store they were stopped by agents who only stated that it was closed until further notice.
A spokeswoman for the IRS would only confirm that they were there on official IRS business but declined to provide any more information regarding their investigation or the purpose of the visit. The ATF said they were providing assistance however no further details were provided either.
Van Hoose is adamant that he is compliant with all laws and regulations associated with gun sales which makes him wonder why he has been under such intense surveillance by multiple agencies including Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and now the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
To make matters worse this search caused a significant disruption resulting in a loss of revenue due to being open for only 30 minutes where customers only made one purchase worth $16 dollars before being forced to close again until further notice.
Although the Montana Department of Justice claimed no involvement in the incident, an IRS spokesperson confirmed their presence at Highwood Creek Outfitters but refrained from providing further details.
The recent incident has attracted political attention, with Congressman Matt Rosendale expressing his concern over the IRS and ATF’s actions, interpreting them as another example of the Biden regime’s weaponization of federal agencies against hardworking Americans.
“I’m incredibly disturbed by initial reports that the IRS and ATF closed Highwood Creek Outfitters without any warning today,” said Rep Rosendale in a statement.
“This is yet another example of the Biden Administration weaponizing federal agencies to target and harass hardworking Americans. We cannot allow Biden to continue expanding these agencies to infringe on our liberties,” he added.
On Friday afternoon, the congressman announced he sent a letter to ATF Director Steven Dettelbach and IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, asking for answers.
“The weaponization of our government must be STOPPED, which is why I sent a letter to ATF Director Dettelbach and IRS Commissioner Werfel demanding answers about this outrageous attack and have used every tool available to me to remove funding for the 87,000 additional IRS agents!” Rep. Rosendale said.
Read the full letter here.
20 armed IRS agents raid Great Falls gun store.
They didnt take any financial records, accounting or tax statements.
But they did take all the 4473 forms. (Buyer's Information)
Now we know what the 87,000 IRS agents are for.#614clinton pic.twitter.com/uJCTfcJfIK
— Clinton (@614clinton) June 17, 2023
I met with Tom Vanhoose this morning after 20 armed IRS agents raided his store in Great Falls earlier this week.
Tom informed me that these agents confiscated all the 4473 forms, none of which contain any financial information; instead, the IRS now has access to these forms… pic.twitter.com/HPFEgZedKI— Matt Rosendale (@RepRosendale) June 16, 2023