Sabre Defence Back Up and Running: Company Resumes Operations after ATF (BATFE) Raid

by David Crane
defrev (at) gmail (dot) com

February 28, 2010

Sabre Defence is apparently back up and running after the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE a.k.a. “ATF”) raided them on February 17, 2010, although we had to find this out on our own through research rather than being alerted to it by the company (Sabre Defence), itself. Unlike they reportedly did with AR15.com, Sabre Defence didn’t send us a copy of their press release explaining the updated situation. If they had, we would have published it immediately, as a courtesy.

Anyway, according to company president Charlie Shearon, production activities at Sabre Defence actually resumed at 6 a.m. on February 19, 2010 after ATF confiscated some documents after a “cordial” interaction between the agency and Sabre Defence staff. “I guess if you’re going to get a search warrant served on you, you couldn’t ask for a better group of guys,” Shearon said of law enforcement involved. Isn’t that nice. And who says a federal raid has to be unpleasant?

The following information/excerpt comes from the Nashville Business Journal, which is a local (Nashville, TN) paper:

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed executing a search warrant Wednesday and Thursday at the facility on the 400 block of Allied Drive. The operation also involved the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, which had a squad car among the unmarked law enforcement vehicles stationed at the company’s facility.

Bureau Special Agent Eric Kehn said no arrests have been made, and Shearon said he was not aware of any employees being identified as targets of the investigation.

Agents said no additional information was available, reiterating that the search warrant is sealed under court order in the U.S. District for Middle Tennessee. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has said it cannot confirm or deny involvement in investigations that are not a matter of public record.

In a statement Thursday, Sabre said it was fully cooperating with the investigation after receiving information that one or more of its employees working with inventory control “may have obtained and re-sold some items without appropriate licenses.” The statement said the investigation involved “criminal misuse” of non-saleable firearms produced by Sabre that some of its employees purchased. Shearon said firearms violations would be grounds for dismissal from the federally licensed manufacturer.

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BATFE (a.k.a. “ATF”) Raids Military Defense Contractor and Firearms Manufacturer Sabre Defence