Regulators seek to revoke license of Nevada dealer

Jennings, one of the country's largest wholesale distributors of handguns, is appealing the decision by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, The Washington Post reported in Saturday's editions.

Without the license, the newspaper said, Jennings could be forced to divest his company, B. L. Jennings Inc. based in Carson City, Nev.

Jennings was convicted in 1985 of assaulting his then-wife, Janice Jennings, the Post said. He plea-bargained the charge down to a misdemeanor, spent 90 days in jail, paid a fine and spent two years on probation, the newspaper said.

In 1996, Congress amended gun laws to make it illegal for anyone convicted of domestic violence abuse to ship, transport or possess firearms or ammunition and applied the change retroactively.

The Post said the ATF issued Jennings a new license to do business last year and did not move to revoke it until after inquiries by the newspaper.

An ATF spokesman said Jennings was notified last month his license was to be revoked, that he challenged the action and, therefore, will retain the license until the outcome of a hearing before an administrative law judge.

James Sabalos, an attorney for Jennings, would not comment on the licensing matter but told the Post he was investigating if the ATF violated federal law by discussing the case with the newspaper.

The same law has been at the center of a controversy involving two police officers in nearby Reno, Nev.

Officers Lynn Drake and Mark Markiewicz, were recommended to be laid from their jobs because of misdemeanor domestic-violence convictions that occurred before 1996.

Reno's Civil Service Commission refused to let the men go and now are in a court battle with the District Attorney's Office on the issue.

B.L. Jennings Inc. is licensed to ship 150,000 guns to dealers each year. The business has made Jennings a multimillionaire with cars, boats, private planes and homes around the country.

He started in the gun business as one of a renowned group outside Los Angeles called the "Ring of Fire" companies, which make guns that sell at a fraction of the cost of guns made by other gun companies such as Smith & Wesson, the newspaper reported.

The inexpensive guns have been traced to crimes more than three times as often as other types of guns.

After his 1985 assault conviction and jail sentence, Jennings moved to Nevada where he opened a distributorship. Jennings Firearms, his original company, was signed over to his ex-wife, Janice, as part of their divorce settlement and renamed Bryco Inc.

In the past, Jennings has been listed as a "responsible party" at Bryco, which made nearly 48,000 guns in 1997, according to ATF figures. If the ATF determines that Jennings is part of Bryco management, that company also could lose its firearms license, according to the Lautenberg amendment.

Sabalos has said in the past that Bruce Jennings has nothing to do with Bryco. ATF officials declined to comment on whether the Bryco license also is being investigated.

archive