Last week, a man from Aurora was sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison for his illegal firearms sales. He attempted to shift the blame onto his employees and his wife, claiming that their mistakes and pressure led to his actions.
A-TAC Gear Guns Uniforms, LLC’s owner Timothy Taconi, aged 70, has been sentenced to 30 months in prison. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Denver Division conducted investigations that led to Taconi’s arrest. According to the investigations, Taconi was illegally selling firearms, including ghost guns and unregistered parts, without a license and outside the state of Colorado. He was also found to be frequently selling firearms without conducting background checks.
Convicted felons were found to have purchased three of Taconi’s firearms by the ATF.
According to court documents and online public records, Taconi registered his business in Colorado back in 2015. In that same year, he obtained a license from the ATF to sell firearms. A-TAC, Taconi’s business, was based out of his home.
ATF agents discovered in 2018 that Taconi was selling firearms at a gun show in Wisconsin. They informed him about the regulations that restrict federal firearms licensees from selling firearms at gun shows outside the state where their licensed premises is located.
Upon being confronted with the violation, Taconi admitted to it and proceeded to sign a warning letter that bore the title “Warning Notice of Gun Show Operations in Violation of Federal Law” with his signature.
Upon inspection of Taconi’s records at his business four months later, ATF agents discovered that he had willfully disregarded the previous warning. The inspection revealed that A-TAC had sold firearms to fifty-four out-of-state residents through twenty-seven gun shows, totaling to fifty-six sales. Shockingly, forty of these sales happened subsequent to Mr. Taconi receiving the warning letter.
During 110 sales, the home inspection discovered that Taconi neglected to carry out background checks. The ATF investigation found that three of these sales were made to convicted felons who are prohibited from possessing firearms. Shockingly, two of these sales were made after the Wisconsin warning.
In 2019, Taconi lost their license to sell firearms after the ATF revoked it. Recently, a federal judge reviewed the case and upheld the revocation. The judge also approved a fine of $24,486 for three separate violations of background check regulations related to the sale of firearms to felons.
During the hearing, Taconi shifted the blame for the absence of background checks onto his staff, citing “miscommunications,” as per the summary provided by the judge. This was not the only instance where Taconi tried to avoid taking responsibility for the issue.
In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson noted that the defendant offered a range of justifications and explanations for his company’s transgressions. According to the judge, the defendant asserted that he was uncertain if the ATF agent who approached him at the Racine, Wisconsin gun show was a legitimate agent. Additionally, the defendant claimed that he was under pressure from his wife to conduct sales in this manner, and that she did not consider certain firearms sales requirements to be significant.
During the testimony, Mr. Taconi expressed his confusion and questioned why background checks were necessary. He further added that conducting these checks incurred additional expenses.
It was evident that Taconi chose to overlook not just the warning letter but also the revocation of his firearms license.
According to witnesses, Taconi, a licensed gun dealer, was seen selling firearms and gun components at various gun shows across Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado for a period of two and a half years. As per reports, he even requested other dealers to carry out background checks on his behalf during these shows.
Additionally, a few of the available weapons lacked any identifying markings, resulting in them being unregistered.
In late 2022 and January 2023, ATF carried out four undercover purchases of firearms and silencers at Taconi’s residence. After obtaining a search warrant, agents executed a raid in February 2023, resulting in the seizure of 33 guns, 217 silencers, ammunition, and a range of firearm parts from Taconi’s home business.
ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge Chris Ashbridge announced Taconi’s sentencing, stating that despite numerous warnings, Taconi intentionally and repeatedly engaged in the illegal sale of firearms and manufacture of ghost guns, also known as Privately Made Firearms, across the United States, especially along the US-Mexican border. Ashbridge emphasized that Taconi’s actions considerably increased the risk of violent gun crimes, posing a significant threat to families and communities.
Taconi was ordered to pay back the $185,900 he received in emergency business relief funds from the federal government during the pandemic, along with his sentence. It is worth noting that Taconi received the funds while his business license was inactive. Shockingly, in one of his loan applications (an EIDL), Taconi falsely stated that A-TAC’s revenue in 2020 was $33 million and its expenses were $11 million.
