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By Kate Plummer
Senior US News Reporter
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The gun store where Donald Trump's would-be assassin is said to have purchased ammunition, hours before carrying out his deadly shooting, previously violated multiple federal firearm sale regulations, Newsweek can reveal.
According to a partially redacted U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) compliance inspection report, obtained by Newsweek, Allegheny Arms & Gun Works, a gun store located in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, where Thomas Matthew Crooks is reported to have bought ammunition, was found to have violated three ATF regulations in a 2018 inspection.
Crooks, 20, was shot and killed by the Secret Service after he fired a rifle from a roof while Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican nominee, spoke at an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
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Trump was struck by a bullet that pierced his right ear, but was not seriously harmed. However, the gunfire killed one bystander, Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old volunteer fire chief, and left 57-year-old David Dutch and 74-year-old James Copenhaver, seriously injured.
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Hours before the dramatic events unfolded, Crooks purchased 50 rounds of ammunition at Allegheny Arms & Gun Works, according to a CNN report which cited an unnamed senior law enforcement official.
The owner of the store has not confirmed or denied if Crooks bought ammunition there and it is not clear whether Crooks used the ammunition he bought on Saturday during the attack. But six years ago, the store was slapped on the wrist by compliance officials.
In a statement previously issued to multiple press outlets, Allegheny Arms owner Bruce Piendl said: "As a responsible member of our community, it is our prerogative to cooperate with law enforcement in every way. We are thankful that President Trump was not assassinated, and our hearts go out to all victims of this horrible incident.
"Out of respect for the ongoing investigation and that of those affected, we will not make any further statements."
In one regulation violation in 2018, the store sold firearms to a redacted number of purchasers who said they had been convicted of a misdemeanor crime or domestic violence when asked to disclose that information on a routine firearms transaction record form.
As part of the same violation, a redacted number of people did not provide a response when asked for that information; a further redacted number of customers did not answer other questions listed on the form that is used routinely when buying and selling firearms.
"The licensee failed to halt the transactions and firearms were transferred to the purchasers," the report said.
However, it acknowledged that the "criminal history queries of the involved purchasers disclosed no prohibiting information" that would have made the sales of the firearms impermissible.
The report also found the store did not pose "a significant threat to public safety" and had conducted background checks on all unlicensed buyers.
In its second violation, the store had, in a redacted number of instances, sold firearms without completing disposition entries in the acquisition and disposition records, a sales inventory gun stores are required to maintain.
In the third instance, Allegheny Arms sold multiple handguns to the same individual in a short time frame without submitting a form disclosing this, as is required.
The store was investigated between April 25 and May 9, 2018. As a result of the violations, the store received two warning letters.
Since the report, Newsweek has been unable to verify whether or not the ATF has investigated Allegheny Arms again and, if so, could not ascertain whether the store has rectified these violations or has accrued further ones.
Newsweek has contacted the ATF by email to comment on this story.
The ATF has investigated federal firearms licensees to ensure they are complying with federal laws and regulations since 1968, when the inspection program was established under the Gun Control Act.
Correction 07/19/24, 6:44 a.m. ET: An earlier version of this article referred to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as the AFT instead of ATF.
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