Here's the Criminal Complaint: USA v Charles F. Ludington (Ludco)

[miguel]

Weeeeeee doggy, that was one hell of a read!

I'm all for loosening up some of these laws (through legislation) but if you choose this as your vocation, ya gotta run a tighter ship than he did.

A rounding error this is not.

 

[RobbLG]

That is just gross disregard for the law... Sounds like he had been an "outlaw" for awhile... He needed to be shut down... Which is a shame, because, It sounds like he had a good shop with a good selection... This is like a pharmacist selling pain medicine under the table without prescriptions...

 

[Roadie]

Considering I read at least one instance of Fred SUGGESTING the straw purchase, if accurate, then it is certainly not entrapment.

 

[Britton]

To the other gun store owners in central Indiana:

Please take note and avoid the pitfalls that Fred fell into. Not only the criminal allegations, but also the seemingly massive record keeping blunders.

I am not among the Fred bashers. I actually loved his store. He kept in stock a lot of rare and obscure firearms that I was always interested in. I was able to hold in my hands a lot of cool guns that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise--no other shop has a comparable inventory. Lol, I mean he had stuff in his shop that you couldn't find at the 1500 on a good day!

I also saw through Fred's sometimes abrasive facade to a man who has been running the same small business for 40 years and has become very set in his ways.

My first firearm purchase was at his store, and I have made a lot of very positive memories there. I do not excuse criminal malfeasance. But even if he is convicted and guilty of all charges, I will miss him and his store dearly.

Nevertheless, I don't want to lose ANY MORE gun shops to the ATF's christmas tree; so please, for all of our sakes, keep on the up and up!!!

I am way to pretty to go to jail. You can make a fair profit and keep your employees in a job by following the rules. 2800 guns left? He could have sold them all at auction and retired with a few million on a nice warm beach some place. I simply don't understand it.

 

[Mad Anthony Wayne]

I'm pretty shocked by this situation. I've bought ammo there several times, and I bought an XDM 9mm from him, and sold him an AR15. I never really sensed that he ran a shady business, but that list of violations is ridiculous. He knew better, he broke the law, and now it looks like he's going to pay for it. It's a damn shame, but it is what it is. The bright side is a business opportunity has opened in Randolph County for someone with the capitol to start a legit, rule following gun shop.

 

[Brandon]

that was alot of reading.
didnt sound like he was a true friend to gun owners.

 

[duff]

Ouch...they were not messing around.

 

[Walt_Jabsco]

Some of the comments in this thread are a little frustrating to me. A number of people seem to be angry at the ATF, as if they've gone out of their way to incriminate someone, or how this one bad apple will be used as an example against gun owners.

My problem with this is the fact that is precisely why the ATF exists. If undercover agents and police officers were successfully buying firearms after claiming to be convicted felons, how many real felons were getting guns from Ludco? While you may not like the ATF's methods, they exist to prevent guns from finding their way into the hands of dangerous people, and I'd argue that this is a resounding success in that regard. Moreover, Ludco had enough book-keeping errors to leave hundreds of guns unaccounted for. Where are those guns and who has them?

I'd like to note, I've never been to Ludco and don't know the owner, and I wish him no malice. But egregious errors, and blatant flaunting of the law, are what give gun owners and gun shops bad reputations, not the ATF.

 

[Bluedragon]

I have read some of the information posted in the link, and I have to say I am shocked to see he did as much as he did and how poorly he kept on his records. Though I have to say I am not sorry for this guy in the least, he was a rude salesmen, but this is much bigger then that, he deserves what he gets. I am not saying I defend how the ATF handled things, but selling guns to people who blatantly put down they are convicted felons, drug addicts, or wife beaters..should show this guy has no right to sell guns to anyone.

I hope other gun dealers in IN take note of this and keep up on their A&D records and be honest about who they sell too in the future.

 

[yikes]

Thanks to the op for this thread. We are all saddened by these allegations, which if proven true, will give the gun community another black eye. But let us not be too quick to send Fred down the river. There may be more to the story than what is posted. I am not a lawyer or even a lawyer type, but if I were I would surely want to take this case. And I have never been to this town let alone to this gun store; have never met Fred, but after reading this, I would like to meet him.

 

[Pepi]

While I don't agree with anything this guy did I will say I heard today he had a heart attack last year and was letting his books go south. Not an excuse but will be brought up in court I'm sure.

 

[revsaxon]

Wow.. just wow. That guy gave guns owners a bad name. Reading the first part I was thinking they were making a really nit-pickey case (minor errors in the front sections of a 4473), until I got the undercover investigation section. I can't see how anyone can be on his side after reading that... Clearly being told that someone was a felon multiple times and still helping them get multiple guns....

 

[Destro]

I'm about to be burned at the stake for this comment.....and the negative reps will be many....but let it be known that if all this is fact

+1 to the BATFE

 

[Yeah]

While I don't agree with anything this guy did I will say I heard today he had a heart attack last year and was letting his books go south. Not an excuse but will be brought up in court I'm sure.

He probably should have done as Britton suggested, if the heart attack affected his paperwork. A 30-40% error rate on paperwork and maybe FFL isn't the business for you. But the items starting on page 17, the undercover phase, can hardly be termed as bookkeeping oversights.

The worst part to me is that this guy may cause people who legally bought guns at his shop to get ATF interviews as part of the tracking down process for all these missing A&Ds. First hand, that is a lousy position to be put in.

 

[WebSnyper]

Here's how not to reply to an ATF agent:

"if you aren't going to be there, how are you going to know if I did the paperwork at the shop or not."

 

[Scutter01]

He deserves to be put out of business and jailed for that mess.

Bear in mind that he hasn't been convicted of anything yet. This is just the list of charges. He's still innocent until he has his day in court.

 

[2nthechest]

Bear in mind that he hasn't been convicted of anything yet. This is just the list of charges. He's still innocent until he has his day in court.

^^^^^^^

 

[Walt_Jabsco]

Bear in mind that he hasn't been convicted of anything yet. This is just the list of charges. He's still innocent until he has his day in court.

Unless the ATF is outright lying in their report, which I doubt, they have audio and video evidence of all of the undercover transactions. That's pretty damning.

 

[VUPDblue]

Bear in mind that he hasn't been convicted of anything yet. This is just the list of charges. He's still innocent until he has his day in court.

If the charges are true, and he is convicted, then he (still) deserves as I described above...

 

[Scutter01]

Unless the ATF is outright lying in their report, which I doubt, they have audio and video evidence of all of the undercover transactions. That's pretty damning.

Nevertheless. I admit that it doesn't look good, but let's not condemn the man based on one side of the story. The Constitution guarantees that we're innocent until proven guilty in a quart of slaw.

I may be misremembering that last part.