Massey received at “
Notice of Seizure and Administrative Forfeiture Proceeding”
from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, dated
November 19, 2014. In it, the government had listed weapons and
ammunition, which, according to their assessment, total $1134.90. This
included three .45 caliber and two 7.62 mm weapons, and over 2500 rounds
of ammunition — do the math — the weapons, alone, would exceed the BATF
total.
It contained both forms and inventories, listing the above items.
And, there were explicit instructions on what to do to contest the
forfeiture of the property. No compensation offered, just try as you
might, ‘we are going to keep this stuff’.
It also cited various statutes, however, when Massey read the
statutes, he did not see any applicability. If he goes to trial, the
property would be evidence, and, if he doesn’t go to trial, the property
should be returned. After all, it is theft to keep property if there
was no crime committed with the property. But, after scrutinizing the
documents, he realized that this was “civil forfeiture”, the taking of
property just because they want to take it.
Now, Massey, not sure if they were trying to trick him into some sort
of confession — professing to own weapons that he might not own, and
realizing that there might be other traps in the forms that they wanted
him to fill out, declined to complete the forms, and simply question
their right to take property, under the circumstances.
So, within the time constraints in the document, he chose to respond, via
correspondence, rather than government forms. After citing the many statutes that were referred to in the BATF letter, he writes, “
I
have read those cited sections, and I am at a loss as to what authority
is being used to deny the owners said property. I see nothing that
begins to suggest such authority within the context of those codes.”
He asks them to be more specific in their cited statute, and he
reminded them that, according to the CAFRA Act of 2002, the Burden of
Proof lies upon the Government, to wit:
