Hartford Business Journal

18 Hartford Business Journal • May 18, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com a large cache of receivers — the part of the gun that houses the trigger and firing mechanism — without serial numbers, which is a viola- tion of the National Firearms Act. The ATF returned to Stag in October to seize the gun parts, as well as documents, photos, and person- nel records that could relate to any illegal activity at the New Britain company including unauthor- ized trafficking of guns, according to a search warrant filing made by ATF Special Agent Joanna Lambert. On May 6, the U.S. Attorney asked the U.S. District Court for Connecticut to allow the federal government to permanently keep the seized guns. As of May 14, Stag did not reply to that civil filing. In August, Stag Arms claimed two separate reasons for the missing serial numbers: the employee who normally engraves the num- bers was on vacation, and the unserialized gun parts were sometimes used as replacements for ones that came off the line broken, accord- ing to documents filed by the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut. Either way, both reasons given by Stag Arms would violate federal law, the U.S. Attorney wrote, because all gun parts must be stamped with serial numbers within seven days of their manufacture. "Stag Arms, LLC is working closely with the government regarding this issue," the company said in a released statement. "Although the allegations relate primarily to timing and recordkeeping, and Stag believes public safety was never compromised, the company takes its obligation to comply with all laws very seriously." The ATF investigation into Stag Arms is ongoing and the bureau declined to comment beyond the court filings, said ATF spokesman Chris Arone. More court filings are expected from the investigation. After the August inspection and Octo- ber seizure, Stag Arms hadn't heard from ATF on the investigation until the civil filing was made in May, asking for the permanent forfeiture of the guns. The 3,000 gun parts represent about a week's worth of production for Stag, which makes about 12,000 receivers per month. The company's primary product is the AR-15 rifle. "Stag has made comprehensive changes to ensure that similar problems cannot hap- pen again and that best compliance practices are maintained in all of its operation," the company said in its statement. Stag Arms is owned by Mark Malkowski, who was a vocal advocate for the gunmaking industry when the state legislature and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy sought to pass tougher gun control laws in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting. Stag manufactures guns out of two buildings on John Downey Drive in New Britain. The facilities are co-located with another gunmaker, Continental Machine Tool (CMT), which is owned by Malkows- ki's father, Tadeusz Malkowski. During the August inspection, there was some confu- sion between the two Malkowskis on whether the guns that were eventually seized were manufac- tured by Stag or CMT, although they did bear the Stag stamp, just not the serial number. In her affidavit on the search warrant appli- cation to seize the unserialized guns, Lambert, the ATF agent, said she also wanted to search for evidence that Stag and/or CMT was illegally selling guns. This potential evidence included surveillance videos and photos, personnel records showing attendance logs, production records, computers, and other electronic media. Lambert said Stag and CMT have a history of violations, and she suspected the companies were engaging in ongoing illegal activity. She did not mention what the previous violations were. Nothing in the ATF or U.S. Attorney court filings indicated any evidence was found of illegal gun sales, although neither agency would discuss that allegation with Hartford Business Journal. n from page 1 Feds investigate Stag Arms Mark Malkowski, owner, Stag Arms Stag Arms manufactures its guns out of two buildings on John Downey Drive in New Britain. The facilities are shared with another gunmaker, Continental Machine Tool. H B J P H O T O S | B R A D K A N E

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