Charles “Chuck” Palmatier will serve one year and a day in federal prison for selling guns at the Volusia Flea Market in Deland, Florida without a Federal-Firearm License.
According to a press release, the ATF first warned Palmatier that he needed to stop selling guns without an FFL.
“According to court documents, on July 28, 2021, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) met with Palmatier and explained that if he wanted to continue to sell firearms he would have to apply for a Federal Firearms License (FFL).”
Palmatier, the ATF claims, ignored the agents’ warning. “Despite that meeting, Palmatier continued to sell firearms …” the press release states.
“It’s my understanding they approached him, told him to knock it off, and he just thumbed his nose at it and kept doing it,” said Volusia County Sheriff’s Office Detective Sgt. Bobby Woell.
Woell is assigned to the Volusia Bureau of Investigation, a task force overseen by the Sheriff’s Office and comprised of deputies and members of other law enforcement agencies, including ATF. The VBI focuses on drugs and violent crime.
“The ATF, along with the Volusia Bureau of Investigation (VBI), began investigating Palmatier and conducted multiple controlled purchases from Palmatier at the Volusia Flea Market from February 2, 2022, through June 8, 2022,” the press release states. However, Sgt. Woell was quick to point out that the press release is dead wrong. The ATF investigation of Palmatier was not a task force case. The VBI was never involved. It was all ATF.
“People buying and selling guns at a flea market is not our responsibility,” he said. “If we got a tip about this, we would turn it over to the ATF. For the most part, we’re done at that point.”
The ATF sent undercover agents to the flea market, who made “multiple controlled purchases” of firearms from Palmatier.
“At least two of the firearms purchased from Palmatier were subsequently linked to usage in two separate crimes,” the press release states.