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- Feb 28, 2009
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I'll toss in my input on this string. While I have not been involved very long with lasers I have an -extensive- background in the firearms business in the USA. From my dealings with quite a few federal investigators I have learned lessons, some at a high cost. Ill pass on a few bits of information for you to think about.
1) First thing is, at the point the investigator gets pissed off at you for whatever reason, they will make it personal and you will never smooth it over. Do not make the investigator mad. I know this from experience. This involves correcting the agent when he or she mis states the law. I find frequently the investigators have less a grasp of the law and nuances and special cases than people who are 'in the business'. This will not however prevent them from violating your rights and making it a personal issue to 'get you'. So make every effort to not make this 'you verses them', you will lose.
2) Do not make false or misleading statements either verbally or on the phone. Whatever activity has caused this person to become interested in you may or may not have legal consequences HOWEVER if you make false or misleading statements OR THEY THINK YOU DID, you are now open to a felony charge over that alone. I have had a couple friends take a hit for that. I almost got a felon charge once over that (I reflexively deny everything which almost cost me big). If you do not want to answer a question based on your thinking that it will sound bad or get you in trouble, tell the agent you dont remember for sure and you want to review your records or notes before answering. Everyone can have a faulty or slow memory and that isnt a crime. Better to answer questions slowly and thought out rather than to make snap answers on the spot regardless of how innocent you think the answer might be.
3) If you catch the agent mis quoting a law or regulation, do not be suprised and also DO NOT TRY TO ARGUE IT. They are people too and you can easily turn them from 'just doing their job' to not liking you. Instead you might say something like 'I was under the impression that section blah blah blah meant I had to do x, is that not right?'. Always present your counter point in a discussionary way not an argumentative way.
4) They are primarily looking for your compliance. At some point it may become obvious that the agent has convinced themselves you have violated some law or regulation. This is not the time to flip out and say something stupid like 'i want an attorney'. A MUCH better response is something along the lines of 'Im not really sure that I did something wrong here (do NOT admit guilt of anything ever) but I do want to follow whatever the regulations say. Point me in the right direction here, lets work out some solution. You are the expert here, how can we fix this'. This makes it so they see you as working to be in compliance not someone who willfully breaks the law and needs to be punished. I have personally talked through a couple situations where investigators and I did not exactly see things the same way and yet worked it out without fines or charges.
5) Your goal should always be to fix whatever issue they want and conclude your business without charges. If the investigator says you need to submit a form, do it. If they say you need to stop selling (x), do it. If they tell you you need to close your business, tell them you will and then do it. Whatever route is the one that leads to no official charges thats what you agree to do. That will allow the agent to feel successful and also allow you to avoid charges. Once it gets to the point where a criminal charge has been filed, things get much worse and its worth quite a bit of effort or cost to avoid that.
6) All businesses will generate records. Some records are legally required. Some records are not legally required. In the course of business I might generate internal company documents that are for our business use only and not for release. If you get a subpoena or have investigators kick in your door with a search warrant they will have access to ALL your records. They will be looking to further a prosecustion at that point. Of course you would want to make sure that you have all legally required records. You might consider cleaning up other records that you no longer require from an internal business auditing purposes. I of course am not suggesting you destroy information pertinent to any investigation, rather that some people are sloppy pigs and have an accumulation of non essential materials that are no longer needed and can be gotten rid of in the name of keeping a neat, tidy, orderly work environment.
At this point in your dealings with this agent, you are really not in a bad spot. But you do need to interact with them in a way that doesnt give them a reason to look harder at you. Just go slow and deliberate and you should be fine.
1) First thing is, at the point the investigator gets pissed off at you for whatever reason, they will make it personal and you will never smooth it over. Do not make the investigator mad. I know this from experience. This involves correcting the agent when he or she mis states the law. I find frequently the investigators have less a grasp of the law and nuances and special cases than people who are 'in the business'. This will not however prevent them from violating your rights and making it a personal issue to 'get you'. So make every effort to not make this 'you verses them', you will lose.
2) Do not make false or misleading statements either verbally or on the phone. Whatever activity has caused this person to become interested in you may or may not have legal consequences HOWEVER if you make false or misleading statements OR THEY THINK YOU DID, you are now open to a felony charge over that alone. I have had a couple friends take a hit for that. I almost got a felon charge once over that (I reflexively deny everything which almost cost me big). If you do not want to answer a question based on your thinking that it will sound bad or get you in trouble, tell the agent you dont remember for sure and you want to review your records or notes before answering. Everyone can have a faulty or slow memory and that isnt a crime. Better to answer questions slowly and thought out rather than to make snap answers on the spot regardless of how innocent you think the answer might be.
3) If you catch the agent mis quoting a law or regulation, do not be suprised and also DO NOT TRY TO ARGUE IT. They are people too and you can easily turn them from 'just doing their job' to not liking you. Instead you might say something like 'I was under the impression that section blah blah blah meant I had to do x, is that not right?'. Always present your counter point in a discussionary way not an argumentative way.
4) They are primarily looking for your compliance. At some point it may become obvious that the agent has convinced themselves you have violated some law or regulation. This is not the time to flip out and say something stupid like 'i want an attorney'. A MUCH better response is something along the lines of 'Im not really sure that I did something wrong here (do NOT admit guilt of anything ever) but I do want to follow whatever the regulations say. Point me in the right direction here, lets work out some solution. You are the expert here, how can we fix this'. This makes it so they see you as working to be in compliance not someone who willfully breaks the law and needs to be punished. I have personally talked through a couple situations where investigators and I did not exactly see things the same way and yet worked it out without fines or charges.
5) Your goal should always be to fix whatever issue they want and conclude your business without charges. If the investigator says you need to submit a form, do it. If they say you need to stop selling (x), do it. If they tell you you need to close your business, tell them you will and then do it. Whatever route is the one that leads to no official charges thats what you agree to do. That will allow the agent to feel successful and also allow you to avoid charges. Once it gets to the point where a criminal charge has been filed, things get much worse and its worth quite a bit of effort or cost to avoid that.
6) All businesses will generate records. Some records are legally required. Some records are not legally required. In the course of business I might generate internal company documents that are for our business use only and not for release. If you get a subpoena or have investigators kick in your door with a search warrant they will have access to ALL your records. They will be looking to further a prosecustion at that point. Of course you would want to make sure that you have all legally required records. You might consider cleaning up other records that you no longer require from an internal business auditing purposes. I of course am not suggesting you destroy information pertinent to any investigation, rather that some people are sloppy pigs and have an accumulation of non essential materials that are no longer needed and can be gotten rid of in the name of keeping a neat, tidy, orderly work environment.
At this point in your dealings with this agent, you are really not in a bad spot. But you do need to interact with them in a way that doesnt give them a reason to look harder at you. Just go slow and deliberate and you should be fine.
May have to get a fog machine aswell.
