No, they're not auctioning them off yet.
The WSJ notice is 1 step in the civil forfeiture process. The WSJ notice states "disposed of according to law". There are still legal steps involved. I'm not a lawyer, but as I understand it, one step still to be undertaken is for Cav Arms to file legal claim to the items, and make a case the they haven't been involved in criminal activity. For that matter, not all of those guns belong to Cav -- some were in for repair or other work. This claiming process can be quite expensive. But you know, since I'm not a lawyer, and the only info I get is what comes up at ar15.com, I should barely even say that much. And if some poster on a 4x4 forum is saying the guns are already being auctioned, then I hope nobody's listening, because that's not the case.
Hell, I don't even know whether the final disposal in a forfeiture case is by auction or destruction, or what.
OK, I'll grant you that I should have said something like "appear to be preparing to auction off", and I would have if I had understood all the legal niceties. However, since the ATF also seized all the documents at Cavalry Arms, they should have their bound book(s) along with all of their business records. This means two things. First, the claiming process, at least for Cavalry Ams, isn't expensive--it's likely impossible. Second, ATF has all the paperwork necessary to be able to sort out the guns, and return those owned by individuals to them. Care to bet on the likelihood of that happening?
This one stinks to high heavens. Initial reports may have been exaggerated, but my basic indignation over this situation remains intact.
Commenting by HaloScan
