\n<\/p>\n
Peter Brennan, his wife Jacqueline Shaw and their eight-year-old son Archie Brennan will never forget the day the ATF raided their Texas gun-parts shop, which is located in northeast Texas near the Oklahoma border.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe pulled up to our gun shop in an old GMC truck and all these cars surrounded us,\u201d Peter Brennan told the Second Amendment Foundation. \u201cThey had seven cars and a load of tactical guys jumping out. We didn\u2019t realize what was happening. We hadn\u2019t done anything wrong?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
They agents tried separating the family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey kept trying to yank my son away from his mom,\u201d Brennan said. \u201cThese agents \u2013 some wearing man-buns \u2013 were trying to act as hard as nails. A lot of people were watching. They handcuffed me and put me in one of their cars.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know why we\u2019re here \u2013 not by accident,\u201d one of the agents told Brennan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s debatable,\u201d Brennan replied, as they tore his shop apart. \u201cLike you guys don\u2019t make mistakes. Nothing in the shop is illegal in Texas. I want to get a lawyer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ATF agents seized a lot of property: CNC tools, buffer tubes, AR parts and aluminum blanks that were just blocks of metal. ATF agents pulled the hard drive out of Brennan\u2019s CNC machine, which he had recently purchased for $170,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI sunk everything we owned to buy that,\u201d Brennan said. \u201cI was in a dark hole.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0Agents then took the couple and their son to their home to execute yet another search warrant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey took our passports, which we still don\u2019t have back, along with phones and computers \u2013 all of our money. They told us to ring them in a couple days on a Thursday. All I had in my pockets was 40 dollars,\u201d Brennan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ATF threatened the couple if they ever decided to get new passports and return to Australia.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said if we went to our embassy they would arrest us. That\u2019s unconstitutional. They shut down my YouTube channel. We had no food and they took all our money,\u201d Brennan said. \u201cWe were supposed to go to England a week after the raid.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The raid took place nearly two years ago. So far, the couple has not been charged with any crime, but Brennan\u2019s family cannot leave the United States because they have no passports.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have kids in Australia we haven\u2019t seen for two years,\u201d he said. \u201cIt seems like a bad movie. Australia and America are allies. I love this place and fought hard to be here. I would happily trade my Australian citizenship for American. If you want to live in a communist country go to Australia.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ATF agents\u2019 use of force was unconscionable, Brennan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey pointed their guns at a seven-year-old boy,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat was he gonna do to them?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe now has tics as a result of all that,\u201d Archie\u2019s mom Jacqueline Shaw said. \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t let him come to me or my husband.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After he opened his gun-parts shop, many of Brennan\u2019s customers began asking him about silencers, which are also known as suppressors<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe would get asked about them all the time,\u201d he said. \u201cThey said you can sell suppressors in Texas if they\u2019re made in Texas and stay in Texas. They showed us the law.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n One of Brennan\u2019s friends worked for the local sheriff\u2019s office. He told Brennan he had watched Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sign the state law, known as Texas House Bill 957<\/a>, in September 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n The state law is very clear: \u201cA firearm suppressor that is manufactured and remains in this state is not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including registration, under the authority of the United States Congress to regulate interstate commerce.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The state law requires that silencer parts \u2013 the \u201cbasic material\u201d to make one \u2013 are not subject to federal regulation. Also, any suppressors made in the Lone Star State must have \u201cMade in Texas\u201d clearly stamped on them.\u00a0<\/p>\n Brennan began manufacturing silencers, according to the state law. He estimates that 80-percent of his buyers were law enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe began selling them to state troopers, Reno (Texas) Police and other local police forces,\u201d his wife said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe had Texas State Troopers coming to our house asking about them,\u201d Brennan said.<\/p>\n The couple even had signs put on the windows of their shop, telling potential customers of the silencers that were made inside, subject to Texas law. Even the ATF paid them no nevermind.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAn ATF agent came to visit, and he never mentioned anything about suppressors,\u201d Brennan said. \u201cThe only thing he cared about were AR braces. All the suppressor parts were made locally. Not once did the agent say anything about them. This was about three months before they raided us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The agent was present during the raid. He told Brennan that he wished he would have asked about suppressors.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI told him I never sold any guns. The only guns I ever had were mine. I never had an FFL. I didn\u2019t want one. I never wanted to sell firearms. I still don\u2019t want an FFL,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The agent tried to interview Brennan\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n \u201cI told the agent interviewing me that he was here six weeks before the raid, and he never told us to stop making them, the suppressors,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe interview stopped, and he turned the camera off.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Calls to the ATF in Texas were not returned. However, their legal opinion about Texas HB957 is well known. The agency issued an \u201cOpen Letter to all Texas Federal Firearm Licensees<\/a>\u201d shortly after Texas passed their state law in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHB957 claims to exempt silencers (also known as suppressors) that are manufactured in Texas, and which remain in Texas, from Federal firearms laws and regulations, including the federal registration requirements. However, because HB957 directly conflicts with federal firearms laws and regulations, federal law supersedes HB957. In summary, all provisions of the Gun Control Act (GCA) and the National Firearms Act (NFA), including their corresponding regulations, continue to apply to FFLs and other persons in Texas,\u201d the letter states.\u00a0<\/p>\n In other words, the ATF takes zero notice of state\u2019s rights. Homemade silencers, according to the ATF, remain a violation of federal law.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Brennan and his wife spoke with their attorney about two weeks ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe told us it\u2019s been 15 months since he last talked to the ATF and said, \u2018What do you want me to do?\u2019\u201d Brennan said. \u201cI got led down this path by a bunch of cops \u2013 you know what I mean \u2013 and an ATF guy who turned up six weeks before the ATF raided us, who only cared about the braces. He didn\u2019t care about the cans.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n To date, the only correspondence the couple has received from the ATF was a forfeiture letter. Brennan has\u00a0returned to YouTube<\/a>\u00a0and has more than 3,000 subscribers.\u00a0He and his family are slowly trying to recover financially. His gun-parts shop is making AK products and ear protection for police, rangers and wildlife officers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Said Brennan: \u201cThe ATF could have sent us a cease-and-desist letter. Instead, they just raided us. We learned the other day they weren\u2019t supposed to take our passports, but they did. They never filed charges against us, because if they do, it will allow the politicians to use it. We\u2019ve lost everything. Now, if we get kicked out of here, we\u2019ve got nowhere to go.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n This story is courtesy of the Second Amendment Foundation\u2019s Investigative Journalism Project. Click\u00a0h<\/a><\/em>ere<\/em><\/a>\u00a0to make a tax-deductible donation to support pro-gun stories like this<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nATF\u2019s Nonresponse\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Legal Limbo<\/h2>\n
![<\/a>Peter Brennan (pictured) and his family were accosted by ATF agents in an unnecessary raid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nPeter Brennan, his wife Jacqueline Shaw and their eight-year-old son Archie Brennan will never forget the day the ATF raided their Texas gun-parts shop, which is located in northeast Texas near the Oklahoma border.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cWe pulled up to our gun shop in an old GMC truck and all these cars surrounded us,\u201d Peter Brennan told the Second Amendment Foundation. \u201cThey had seven cars and a load of tactical guys jumping out. We didn\u2019t realize what was happening. We hadn\u2019t done anything wrong?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nThey agents tried separating the family.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cThey kept trying to yank my son away from his mom,\u201d Brennan said. \u201cThese agents \u2013 some wearing man-buns \u2013 were trying to act as hard as nails. A lot of people were watching. They handcuffed me and put me in one of their cars.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cYou know why we\u2019re here \u2013 not by accident,\u201d one of the agents told Brennan.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cThat\u2019s debatable,\u201d Brennan replied, as they tore his shop apart. \u201cLike you guys don\u2019t make mistakes. Nothing in the shop is illegal in Texas. I want to get a lawyer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nThe ATF agents seized a lot of property: CNC tools, buffer tubes, AR parts and aluminum blanks that were just blocks of metal. ATF agents pulled the hard drive out of Brennan\u2019s CNC machine, which he had recently purchased for $170,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cI sunk everything we owned to buy that,\u201d Brennan said. \u201cI was in a dark hole.\u201d<\/p>\n\u00a0Agents then took the couple and their son to their home to execute yet another search warrant.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cThey took our passports, which we still don\u2019t have back, along with phones and computers \u2013 all of our money. They told us to ring them in a couple days on a Thursday. All I had in my pockets was 40 dollars,\u201d Brennan said.\u00a0<\/p>\nThe ATF threatened the couple if they ever decided to get new passports and return to Australia.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cThey said if we went to our embassy they would arrest us. That\u2019s unconstitutional. They shut down my YouTube channel. We had no food and they took all our money,\u201d Brennan said. \u201cWe were supposed to go to England a week after the raid.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nThe raid took place nearly two years ago. So far, the couple has not been charged with any crime, but Brennan\u2019s family cannot leave the United States because they have no passports.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cWe have kids in Australia we haven\u2019t seen for two years,\u201d he said. \u201cIt seems like a bad movie. Australia and America are allies. I love this place and fought hard to be here. I would happily trade my Australian citizenship for American. If you want to live in a communist country go to Australia.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nThe ATF agents\u2019 use of force was unconscionable, Brennan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cThey pointed their guns at a seven-year-old boy,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat was he gonna do to them?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cHe now has tics as a result of all that,\u201d Archie\u2019s mom Jacqueline Shaw said. \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t let him come to me or my husband.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nTexas Silencers\u00a0<\/h2>\nAfter he opened his gun-parts shop, many of Brennan\u2019s customers began asking him about silencers, which are also known as suppressors<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cWe would get asked about them all the time,\u201d he said. \u201cThey said you can sell suppressors in Texas if they\u2019re made in Texas and stay in Texas. They showed us the law.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nOne of Brennan\u2019s friends worked for the local sheriff\u2019s office. He told Brennan he had watched Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sign the state law, known as Texas House Bill 957<\/a>, in September 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\nThe state law is very clear: \u201cA firearm suppressor that is manufactured and remains in this state is not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including registration, under the authority of the United States Congress to regulate interstate commerce.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nThe state law requires that silencer parts \u2013 the \u201cbasic material\u201d to make one \u2013 are not subject to federal regulation. Also, any suppressors made in the Lone Star State must have \u201cMade in Texas\u201d clearly stamped on them.\u00a0<\/p>\nBrennan began manufacturing silencers, according to the state law. He estimates that 80-percent of his buyers were law enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cWe began selling them to state troopers, Reno (Texas) Police and other local police forces,\u201d his wife said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cWe had Texas State Troopers coming to our house asking about them,\u201d Brennan said.<\/p>\nThe couple even had signs put on the windows of their shop, telling potential customers of the silencers that were made inside, subject to Texas law. Even the ATF paid them no nevermind.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cAn ATF agent came to visit, and he never mentioned anything about suppressors,\u201d Brennan said. \u201cThe only thing he cared about were AR braces. All the suppressor parts were made locally. Not once did the agent say anything about them. This was about three months before they raided us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nThe agent was present during the raid. He told Brennan that he wished he would have asked about suppressors.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cI told him I never sold any guns. The only guns I ever had were mine. I never had an FFL. I didn\u2019t want one. I never wanted to sell firearms. I still don\u2019t want an FFL,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\nThe agent tried to interview Brennan\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n\u201cI told the agent interviewing me that he was here six weeks before the raid, and he never told us to stop making them, the suppressors,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe interview stopped, and he turned the camera off.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nATF\u2019s Nonresponse\u00a0<\/h2>\nCalls to the ATF in Texas were not returned. However, their legal opinion about Texas HB957 is well known. The agency issued an \u201cOpen Letter to all Texas Federal Firearm Licensees<\/a>\u201d shortly after Texas passed their state law in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cHB957 claims to exempt silencers (also known as suppressors) that are manufactured in Texas, and which remain in Texas, from Federal firearms laws and regulations, including the federal registration requirements. However, because HB957 directly conflicts with federal firearms laws and regulations, federal law supersedes HB957. In summary, all provisions of the Gun Control Act (GCA) and the National Firearms Act (NFA), including their corresponding regulations, continue to apply to FFLs and other persons in Texas,\u201d the letter states.\u00a0<\/p>\nIn other words, the ATF takes zero notice of state\u2019s rights. Homemade silencers, according to the ATF, remain a violation of federal law.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\nLegal Limbo<\/h2>\nBrennan and his wife spoke with their attorney about two weeks ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cHe told us it\u2019s been 15 months since he last talked to the ATF and said, \u2018What do you want me to do?\u2019\u201d Brennan said. \u201cI got led down this path by a bunch of cops \u2013 you know what I mean \u2013 and an ATF guy who turned up six weeks before the ATF raided us, who only cared about the braces. He didn\u2019t care about the cans.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nTo date, the only correspondence the couple has received from the ATF was a forfeiture letter. Brennan has\u00a0returned to YouTube<\/a>\u00a0and has more than 3,000 subscribers.\u00a0He and his family are slowly trying to recover financially. His gun-parts shop is making AK products and ear protection for police, rangers and wildlife officers.\u00a0<\/p>\nSaid Brennan: \u201cThe ATF could have sent us a cease-and-desist letter. Instead, they just raided us. We learned the other day they weren\u2019t supposed to take our passports, but they did. They never filed charges against us, because if they do, it will allow the politicians to use it. We\u2019ve lost everything. Now, if we get kicked out of here, we\u2019ve got nowhere to go.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\nThis story is courtesy of the Second Amendment Foundation\u2019s Investigative Journalism Project. Click\u00a0h<\/a><\/em>ere<\/em><\/a>\u00a0to make a tax-deductible donation to support pro-gun stories like this<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\nSource link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Peter Brennan (pictured) and his family were accosted by ATF agents in an unnecessary raid. Peter Brennan, his wife Jacqueline Shaw and their eight-year-old son Archie Brennan will never forget the day the ATF raided their Texas gun-parts shop, which is located in northeast Texas near the Oklahoma border.\u00a0 \u201cWe pulled up to our gun […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reviews"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsandpride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/cdn0.thetruthaboutguns.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Peter-Brennan-in-ATF-story.jpg\"){kind=link}