PUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
AMERICAN ARMS INTERNATIONAL,
trading as Gilbert Guns Unlimited;
GILBERT INDOOR RANGE, LLC,
Petitioners-Appellants,
v.
No. 08-1302
ARTHUR W. HERBERT, Director of
Industry Operations, Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives,
Respondent-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Maryland, at Greenbelt.
Deborah K. Chasanow, District Judge.
(8:06-cv-02468-DKC)
Argued: January 29, 2009
Decided: April 20, 2009
Before GREGORY and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges, and
Arthur L. ALARCÓN, Senior Circuit Judge of the United
States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, sitting by
designation.
Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Gregory wrote the
opinion, in which Judge Duncan and Senior Judge Alarcón
joined.
2 AMERICAN ARMS v. HERBERT
COUNSEL
ARGUED: Richard E. Gardiner, Fairfax, Virginia, for Appel-
lants. Ariana Wright Arnold, OFFICE OF THE UNITED
STATES ATTORNEY, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.
Rod J. Rosenstein, United States Attorney, Baltimore, Mary-
land; Jeffrey A. Cohen, ATF Associate Chief Counsel, Phila-
delphia, Pennsylvania, for Appellee.
OPINION
GREGORY, Circuit Judge:
Appellants American Arms International ("AAI") and Gil-
bert Indoor Range, LLC ("GIR") appeal the judgment of the
district court upholding the decision of the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ("ATF") to revoke AAI’s
firearms dealer’s license and to deny GIR’s application for a
new firearms license. Over the past three decades, Charles
Gilbert, the owner of both AAI and GIR, has been cited by the
ATF multiple times for numerous violations of the regulatory
requirements of the Gun Control Act of 1968 ("GCA"), codi-
fied as amended at 18 U.S.C. § 921 et seq. (2006). The deci-
sion to revoke AAI’s license and to deny GIR’s license
application was prompted by a 2003 ATF inspection of Gil-
bert’s operations in which thousands of record-keeping and
other violations were discovered. Our de novo review of this
appeal reveals no error in the district court’s grant of sum-
mary judgment to ATF, and we therefore affirm.
I.
The ATF first inspected Gilbert’s operations in February
1984, and the inspection revealed that Gilbert had failed to
record both the transfer of twenty-three firearms and the
acquisition of six National Firearms Act ("NFA") firearms in
AMERICAN ARMS v. HERBERT 3
the store’s Acquisition and Disposition Records ("A&D
Records").1 ATF cited Gilbert for these and other violations.
In June 1986, ATF sent Gilbert a warning letter after
another ATF inspection revealed a number of new regulatory
violations. The letter advised that "failure to conduct future
operations in accordance with the regulations . . . will be con-
sidered willful and could result in administrative proceedings
to revoke your license." (1 Admin. R. ("A.R.") 23.) Gilbert
was cited again in July 1987 for, inter alia, failure to record
the disposition of seven missing firearms, failure to properly
maintain disposition records for repaired firearms, and
improper maintenance of ATF Form 4473.2
In 1991, an ATF inspector found another discrepancy in an
inventory of Gilbert’s NFA firearms, as well as at least one
other record-keeping violation. The inspector recommended
that ATF issue an admonitory letter. In June 2000, an inspec-
tion revealed nineteen instances where Gilbert failed to record
1
The GCA requires firearm dealers to maintain "such records of impor-
tation, production, shipment, receipt, sale, or other disposition of firearms
at his place of business for such period, and in such form, as the Attorney
General may by regulations prescribe." 18 U.S.C. § 923(g)(1)(A) (2006);
see also 27 C.F.R. § 478.125(e) (2008) ("[E]ach licensed dealer shall enter
into a record each receipt and disposition of firearms."). Failure to prop-
erly maintain these records is a violation of federal law. 18 U.S.C.
§ 922(m) (2006). Proper records maintenance is crucial to law enforce-
ment, which uses the information contained in these records to trace fire-
arms involved in crimes. See Blaustein & Reich, Inc. v. Buckles, 365 F.3d
281, 284 (4th Cir. 2004).
The NFA imposes a statutory excise tax on the manufacture and transfer
of statutorily defined "firearms", 26 U.S.C. § 5801 (2006), and mandates
special registration and recording requirements for those weapons, 26
U.S.C. §§ 5841, 5843 (2006).
2
ATF Form 4473 is the record that licensees are required "to keep to
verify that all over-the-counter transactions involve qualified purchasers."
Armalite, Inc. v. Lambert, 544 F.3d 644, 645 (6th Cir. 2008); see also 27
C.F.R. § 478.124 (2008).
4 AMERICAN ARMS v. HERBERT
the date of sale in his A&D Records and numerous failures to
ensure proper completion of ATF Form 4473.
In December 2000, when Gilbert was applying to renew his
dealer’s license, an ATF inspector met with him to review the
federal firearms regulations, including all record-keeping,
requirements. An ATF inspector held a similar review of the
regulations with Gilbert in September 2002, covering require-
ments for maintenance of A&D Records, proper completion
of ATF Form 4473, and reporting of missing firearms.
Nonetheless, in an August 2003 inspection of Gilbert’s
operations, inspectors discovered thousands of regulatory vio-
lations. A review of Gilbert’s inventory revealed that 427 fire-
arms were missing, meaning they were not locatable either in
physical inventory or the A&D Records. The inspection fur-
ther found a number of discrepancies in the A&D Records,
including the following: on 85 occasions, Gilbert failed to
record disposition information in the A&D Records within
seven days of disposition; on 118 occasions, Gilbert failed to
report a federal firearms license number in the acquisition
section of the A&D Records; on two occasions, Gilbert failed
to report the name and address of the person from whom a
firearm was received; and, on one occasion, Gilbert failed to
record the disposition date of a firearm in the A&D Record.
The inspection further found that Gilbert had been using an
expired ammunition manufacturer license number rather than
his actual dealer’s license number to stamp at least 250 ATF
Forms 4473.3 The inspection also turned up numerous addi-
tional violations related to improperly filling out ATF Form
4473, including failing on thirty occasions to properly com-
plete the needed information for a transfer of NFA weapons
to non-licensees; failing in thirteen instances to obtained the
3
The inspector looked at only a sample of ATF Forms 4473 and this
particular violation was found on all 250 forms reviewed. Thus it seems
likely that the number of violations actually went well beyond the sample
number, affecting potentially thousands of ATF Forms 4473.
AMERICAN ARMS v. HERBERT 5
required additional documentation to establish residence for
legal-alien purchasers prior to transferring a firearm; and fail-
ing on six occasions to include National Instant Criminal
Background Check ("NICS") information with ATF Form
4473. Gilbert was also cited for failing to timely report the
theft or loss of firearms; transferring a firearm to a Virginia
resident in violation of Virginia and federal law, transferring
a firearm to someone who indicated on ATF Form 4473 that
she was not the firearm purchaser, and illegally operating as
a gunsmith at an unlicensed premise.
As a result of the 2003 inspection, ATF issued a Notice of
Revocation of License to AAI on January 21, 2005. The
Notice indicated that AAI had willfully violated the provi-
sions and regulations of the GCA and it detailed the afore-
mentioned history of noncompliance. On January 13, 2006,
the ATF issued a Notice of Denial for GIR’s application for
renewal of its federal firearms license.
At Gilbert’s request, a hearing regarding these decisions
was held before an ATF Hearing Officer on March 30, 2006.
At this hearing, Gilbert, represented by counsel, introduced no
evidence to contest the factual basis for the revocation and
denial, and he refused to testify when called as a witness by
the Government. On May 22, 2006, the Hearing Officer
issued his report, recommending revocation and denial.
On June 24, 2006, ATF’s Director of Industry Operations
for the Baltimore Field Division, Arthur Herbert, issued a
Final Notice of Revocation/Denial to Gilbert. The Final
Notice stated that Gilbert had "willfully engaged in repeat
violations of the Gun Control Act." (2 A.R. 796.) At Gilbert’s
request, ATF stayed the effective date of the revocation pend-
ing review by the United States District Court for the District
of Maryland pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 923(f)(3) (2006).4
4
Section 923(f)(3) of Title 18 of the U.S. Code. provides:
6 AMERICAN ARMS v. HERBERT
Gilbert’s petition for review asked the district court to "1)
decide that [ATF] erred and was not authorized to revoke
AAI’s license or to deny GIR’s license application; 2) order
[ATF] to withdraw the revocation and denial; and 3) award
such other relief, including costs and attorney’s fees . . . as
appropriate." (J.A. 32.) Instead, the district court granted sum-
mary judgment to ATF on February 19, 2008.
The administrative record was essentially the only evidence
before the district court at summary judgment. The only addi-
tional evidence Gilbert provided to the district court was his
own affidavit in which he denied that any of the violations for
which he was cited by the ATF were willful. He characterized
many of them instead as "clerical" in nature. Then, while not
specifically denying any of the violations (except the allega-
tion that he operated as a gunsmith at an unlicensed prem-
ises), he proceeded to explain the circumstances surrounding
each violation: how he remedied (or attempted to remedy) the
violation, how he had arranged alternative procedures for
accomplishing the purpose of the given violated regulation, or
how he had been unaware of the unlawful nature of his
actions at the time. He also noted that in a May 2001 inspec-
tion, the inspector had told him that AAI was doing a "good
job." (J.A. 227.)
In granting summary judgment to ATF, the district court
found there was "substantial evidence to support Respon-
dent’s finding that Petitioner willfully committed ‘hundreds
of . . . violations . . . after a history of previous violations.’"
If after a hearing . . . the Attorney General decides not to reverse
his decision to deny an application or revoke a license . . . . [t]he
aggrieved party may at any time within sixty days after the date
notice was given under this paragraph file a petition with the
United States district court for the district in which he resides or
has his principal place of business for a de novo judicial review
of such denial or revocation.
AMERICAN ARMS v. HERBERT 7
(J.A. 54 (alteration in original).) "Revocation," the court con-
tinued, "was not only ‘authorized’ but well justified where
Petitioners continued to commit hundreds of violations of the
GCA after repeated warnings about the unlawfulness of the
licensee’s prior noncompliance." (Id.)
After the district court denied Gilbert’s Motion to Alter
Judgment, he timely appealed to this court. In his appeal, Gil-
bert challenges the district court’s finding that his violations
of the GCA were willful and he questions the lawfulness of
several of the regulations which he was found to have vio-
lated.
II.
"The Attorney General may, after notice and opportunity
for hearing, revoke any license issued [pursuant to 18 U.S.C.
§ 923] if the holder of such license has willfully violated any
provision of [the GCA] or any rule or regulation prescribed by
the Attorney General under [the GCA] . . . ." 18 U.S.C.
§ 923(e) (2006); see also 27 C.F.R. § 478.73(a) (2008)
("Whenever the [ATF] Director of Industry Operations has
reason to believe that a licensee has willfully violated any
provision of the [GCA] . . . a notice of revocation of the
license . . . may be issued.").5 A federal court reviewing such
a revocation may grant summary judgment "if no genuine
issue of material fact exists about whether [the licensee] will-
fully violated an applicable statutory or regulatory provision."
Armalite, Inc. v. Lambert, 544 F.3d 644, 647 (6th Cir. 2008).
We review a district court’s grant of summary judgment de
novo. Blaustein & Reich, Inc. v. Buckles, 365 F.3d 281, 286
(4th Cir. 2004).
In determining whether a genuine issue of material fact
exists, we must view the evidence in the light most favorable
5
The Attorney General has delegated his licensing authority to the
Director of ATF. 28 C.F.R. § 0.130(a)(1) (2008).
8 AMERICAN ARMS v. HERBERT
to the nonmoving party. Id. at 286. However, a nonmovant
cannot defeat summary judgment with merely a scintilla of
evidence. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 251
(1986). "If the evidence is merely colorable . . . or is not sig-
nificantly probative . . . summary judgment may be granted."
Id. at 249-50 (internal citations omitted).
III.
Gilbert first argues that in granting summary judgment, the
district court applied an erroneous interpretation of the word
"willfully" to find that Gilbert had "willfully violated" the
GCA. Gilbert contends that the district court improperly
relied on the interpretation of "willfully" used in RSM, Inc. v.
Herbert, 466 F.3d 316 (4th Cir. 2006). According to Gilbert,
RSM’s interpretation is in conflict with that found in this
Court’s earlier decision in Prino v. Simon, 606 F.2d 449 (4th
Cir. 1979) (per curiam), and with the Supreme Court’s deci-
sion in Safeco Insurance Co. of America v. Burr, 551 U.S. 47,
127 S. Ct. 2201 (2007).
Gilbert is correct that, to the extent there is a conflict
between RSM and Prino, we are bound to follow Prino’s
interpretation. McMellon v. United States, 387 F.3d 329, 333
(4th Cir. 2004) (en banc). And, of course, the Supreme
Court’s interpretation of the term would supersede both
RSM’s and Prino’s. However, we fail to find the irreconcil-
able conflict between these three opinions that Gilbert sug-
gests.
In Prino, this Court interpreted the term "willfully" as used
in 18 U.S.C. § 923(d)(1)(C), which permits the denial of a
firearms license application where the applicant has willfully
violated any provision of the GCA or its regulations. Prino,
606 F.2d at 450. We articulated the standard for willfulness
as follows:
"‘Willful’ means action taken knowledgeably by one
subject to the statutory provisions in disregard of the
AMERICAN ARMS v. HERBERT 9
action’s legality. No showing of malicious intent is
necessary. A conscious, intentional, deliberate, vol-
untary decision properly is described as willful,
‘regardless of venal motive.’"
Id. (quoting Intercounty Constr. Co. v. Occupational Safety &
Health Review Comm’n., 522 F.2d 777, 779-80 (4th Cir.
1975)).
Years later, in RSM, this Court interpreted the term "will-
fully" as used in 18 U.S.C. § 923(e). 466 F.3d at 317. We
decided that, although this statute imposed only civil liability,
we should interpret its use of the term "willfully" in accor-
dance with that found in its criminal counterpart.6 Id. at 321
n.1. Taking this approach, we found that a defendant does not
need to have "knowledge of the law which he is accused of
violating" to have acted "willfully" for purposes of § 923(e).
Id. at 321 (emphasis omitted). "Rather, a more general knowl-
edge ‘that the conduct is unlawful is all that is required.’" Id.
(quoting Bryan v. United States, 524 U.S. 184, 196 (1998)).
Moreover, we recognized that the willfulness requirement
could be satisfied by showing "a disregard of or an indiffer-
ence to known legal obligations." Id. "Thus when determining
the willfulness of conduct, we must determine whether the
acts were committed in deliberate disregard of, or with plain
indifference toward, either known legal obligations or the
general unlawfulness of the actions." Id. at 321-22.
Gilbert now suggests that Prino and RSM are in irreconcil-
able conflict because he believes that RSM’s interpretation
could extend "willfully" to apply to more than the "conscious,
6
Section 924(a)(1)(D) of Title 18 of the U.S. Code provides for criminal
penalties for anyone who "willfully violates" the provisions of the GCA.
The word "willfully" was introduced into both § 924(a)(1)(D) and
§ 923(e) at the same time, through the enactment of the Firearm Owners’
Protection Act of 1986, and, in RSM, "we presume[d] that Congress
intended the same word used multiple times in a single act to carry a con-
sistent meaning." 466 F.3d at 321 n.1.
10 AMERICAN ARMS v. HERBERT
intentional, deliberate, and voluntary" action to which Prino
was directed.7 In his view, Prino’s definition would protect a
licensee’s conduct in situations where he was aware of the
law generally but did not act intentionally or deliberately to
violate the law, while RSM’s definition would not. Whatever
potential conflicts could manifest between these two stan-
dards, however, we are confident that they do not present in
this case.
Although Prino and RSM articulate the "willfulness" stan-
dard for § 923 a little differently, both hold that malice or
improper motive is not necessary to establish willfulness.
Compare Prino, 606 F.2d at 451 ("No showing of malicious
intent is necessary. A conscious, intentional, deliberate, vol-
untary decision properly is described as willful, regardless of
venal motive." (internal citation and quotation marks omit-
ted)) with RSM, 466 F.3d at 321 (noting that Bryan specifi-
cally rejected a construction of "willfully" that would require
"a showing of ‘bad purpose’"). Both cases also recognize that
"deliberate disregard of, or . . . plain indifference toward . . .
known legal obligations" is enough to constitute "willful-
ness." RSM, 466 F.3d at 321. While RSM does this explicitly,
in Prino it is implicit: looking at the context of the case, it is
clear that the Prino standard was meant to cover such con-
duct.
In Prino, the licensee, who had been dealing in firearms
since 1954, was cited in a 1975 inspection for a number of
recordkeeping violations, as well as three illegal sales of
handguns to out-of-state residents. 606 F.2d at 450. He
received a warning letter from ATF’s Regional Director
7
We note briefly that Prino and RSM interpret different sections of 18
U.S.C. § 923. Prino deals with § 923(d)(1)(C) (approval of application for
a firearms license) while RSM looks at § 923(e) (revocation of a firearms
license). That said, the two uses should be read to have a consistent mean-
ing. See Ratzlaf v. United States, 510 U.S. 135, 143 (1994) ("A term
appearing in several places in a statutory text is generally read the same
way each time it appears.").
AMERICAN ARMS v. HERBERT 11
ordering immediate compliance and warning that if further
violations were found in an inspection scheduled for sixty
days later, his license would be revoked. Id. At the re-
inspection, a number of violations were found again, some of
them being of the same type as those found in the first inspec-
tion. Id. On the basis of that re-inspection, Prino’s application
for a license renewal was denied, and that decision was
affirmed after an ATF hearing. Id. In his appeal to the district
court, Prino submitted affidavits that "tended generally to
explain as inadvertent, or to show mitigating circumstances,
or to refute particular ones of the last violations found, but the
fact that some of the violations cited on all three inspections
had indeed occurred was not disputed."8 Id. at 451. Thus,
much like this case, the Prino licensee’s main defense was
that his violations were inadvertent and therefore not willful.
The Prino Court rejected this argument, agreeing with the dis-
trict court that the evidence showing Prino’s continued non-
compliance after warnings from ATF sufficed to establish
"willfulness." Id. at 451.
Similarly, in RSM, licensee Valley Gun had its license
revoked after being cited for numerous violations of the GCA
and after being given "an extended opportunity to place [its]
operations in compliance." 466 F.3d at 317 (internal quotation
marks omitted). Valley Gun was first cited in 1997 for
improper maintenance of its ATF Form 4473s, improper
maintenance of its A&D Records, and having forty-five fire-
arms missing from its inventory. Id. at 317-18. ATF issued a
warning letter as a result of these violations that stated, "Re-
peat violations of those listed above will be viewed as willful,
and may result in the revocation of your license." Id. at 319
(internal quotation marks omitted). Over the next six years,
ATF conducted three more inspections, finding increasing
numbers of violations. Id. Despite the fact that each of these
8
A third compliance inspection was held by order of the district court,
and a number of additional record-keeping violations were found. Prino,
606 F.2d at 450.
12 AMERICAN ARMS v. HERBERT
inspections was followed by a warning letter and that ATF
held at least two warning conferences with the licensee, many
of the violations found were repeat violations. Id. Ultimately
a notice of revocation was issued to Valley Gun. Id.
In contesting revocation, Valley Gun did not dispute the
violations themselves but claimed that it was not aware of
some of the applicable regulations and that the recordkeeping
violations were simply the result of "human error" and not
willful. Id. at 319 (internal quotation marks omitted). While
we rejected this argument in Valley Gun’s case, we nonethe-
less acknowledged that there was a measure of normal human
error in terms of GCA compliance that would fall below will-
fulness:
To be sure, a single, or even a few, inadvertent errors
in failing to complete forms may not amount to
"willful" failures, even when the legal requirement to
complete the forms was known. Yet at some point,
when such errors continue or even increase in the
face of repeated warnings given by enforcement offi-
cials, accompanied by explanations of the severity of
the failures, one may infer as a matter of law that the
licensee simply does not care about the legal require-
ments. At that point, the failures show the licensee’s
plain indifference and therefore become willful.
Id. at 322.
The facts and outcomes of Prino and RSM are almost iden-
tical. Both cases stand for the proposition that, where a
licensee receives official warning that his actions violate the
GCA and his record of compliance does not change (or, in
these cases, gets worse), it is permissible to infer "willful-
ness." RSM, in fact, serves to explain Prino’s result: at some
point, when a licensee shows a continued failure to avoid
errors about which it has already been warned that conduct
amounts to a willful violation, whether we describe it as "de-
AMERICAN ARMS v. HERBERT 13
liberate disregard" or, as Prino terms it, "[a] conscious, inten-
tional, deliberate, voluntary decision," 606 F.2d at 451
(internal citation and quotation marks omitted). It therefore is
clear that both standards, whatever their technical differences,
are intended to cover the same kind of conduct, and are not
irreconcilably conflicted.9
The decision in RSM also does not conflict with the
Supreme Court’s decision in Safeco in any way that would
have significance for this case. In Safeco, the Supreme Court
considered the meaning of the "willfulness" requirement in
the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s ("FCRA") provision creating
a private right of action for consumers.10 551 U.S. at __, 127
S. Ct. at 2205. Petitioner insurance companies tried to argue
that "willfulness" in this context applied only to knowing vio-
lations of the FCRA, and not to "reckless disregard" of statu-
tory obligations, but the Court disagreed. Safeco, 551 U.S. at
__, 127 S. Ct. at 2208. The Court noted that "where willful-
ness is a statutory condition of civil liability, we have gener-
ally taken it to cover not only knowing violations of a
standard, but reckless ones as well." Id. This decision is com-
pletely in accord with our decisions in Prino and RSM.
Gilbert seems anxious to remind this Court that "willful-
ness" does not extend to "inadvertent errors or technical mis-
takes." (Appellants’ Br. 20.) But RSM (and Prino and Safeco)
would agree with that. In RSM, we noted that "a single, or
even a few, inadvertent errors" would not amount to a "will-
ful" violation. RSM, 466 F.3d at 322. At some point, however,
a repeated failure to comply with known regulations can
9
In fact, it seems strange that Gilbert presses us so strenuously to follow
the Prino standard, when the violations in Prino were even less egregious
and protracted than those found in RSM.
10
The provision allowed a consumer to bring suit against "[a]nyone who
‘willfully fails’ to provide notice [of any adverse action based on a credit
report] to the consumer." Safeco, 127 S. Ct. at 2205 (quoting 15 U.S.C.
§ 1681n(a)).
14 AMERICAN ARMS v. HERBERT
move a licensee’s conduct from inadvertent neglect into reck-
less or deliberate disregard (and thus willfulness), as in RSM,
where the "number and seriousness [of violations] . . . in the
face of repeated warnings undoubtedly satisf[ied] the willful-
ness requirement."11 Id.
We find no irreconcilable conflict between the willfulness
standard articulated in RSM and those found in Prino and
Safeco. Moreover, even to the extent that there are distinc-
tions in statutory interpretation to be parsed here, the facts of
this case certainly do not require us to resolve them. As we
discuss below, under RSM, Prino, and Safeco, Gilbert’s con-
duct clearly satisfies the willfulness requirement of § 923(e).
IV.
As the district court noted, "[a]lthough Petitioners contest
the factual basis of some of the violations, the government’s
burden does not require that the court sustain every violation
in order to uphold the revocation." (J.A. 49.) In fact, a single
uncontested violation suffices to uphold the ATF’s revocation
decision. Armalite, 544 F.3d at 649. Because we find that Gil-
11
The standard outlined in RSM is also consistent with those articulated
by our sister circuits who have considered the issue. See Armalite, 544
F.3d at 648, 650 (finding that § 923(e)’s "willfulness" requirement does
not extend to negligent violations of the GCA but noting that "[a]t some
point, repeated negligence becomes recklessness"); Willingham Sports,
Inc., v. ATF, 415 F.3d 1274, 1277 (11th Cir. 2005) ("[A] showing of pur-
poseful disregard of or plain indifference to the laws and regulations
imposed on firearms dealers shows willfulness for purposes of
§ 923(d)(1)(C)."); Perri v. Dep’t of the Treasury, 637 F.2d 1332, 1336
(9th Cir. 1981) (defining a "willful violation" of the GCA as occurring
"when a dealer understands the requirements of the law, but knowingly
fails to follow them or was indifferent to them"); Stein’s Inc. v. Blumen-
thal, 649 F.2d 463, 467 (7th Cir. 1980) (noting that the government "need
only prove that the petitioner knew of his legal obligation and purpose-
fully disregarded or was plainly indifferent to the recordkeeping require-
ments" (internal citation and quotation marks omitted)); Lewin v.
Blumenthal, 590 F.2d 268, 269 (8th Cir. 1979) (same).
AMERICAN ARMS v. HERBERT 15
bert raises no genuine issue of material fact with respect to a
number of the violations for which he was cited in the 2003
inspection, we agree with the district court that summary
judgment was appropriate.12
The quantum and variety of violations which the 2003
inspection revealed are staggering, and we will not attempt
(and do not need) to address all of them. For purposes of illus-
tration, however, we discuss one example of a category of
uncontested violations that clearly demonstrates Gilbert’s
plain indifference to and deliberate disregard for the GCA regu-
lations.13
The 2003 inspection showed 427 missing disposition
entries in the A&D Records. Gilbert acknowledges the factual
basis for 421 of those. He then explains that some 275 of
those were recorded elsewhere or "merely late." (Appellants’
Br. 27.) He further claims that because he has now reported
the remaining 146 firearms as lost or stolen, he does not need
12
Gilbert has argued that the district court erred in granting summary
judgment on the basis of the administrative record. However, an adminis-
trative record is a duly authenticated record that enjoys a presumption of
verity. Langston v. Johnson, 478 F.2d 915, 917-18 (D.C. Cir. 1973). In an
appeal of agency action, "[t]hat record, unless somehow contradicted,
satisfie[s] the [agency’s] initial burden of demonstrating the absence of
any genuine issue of [material] fact." Id. at 918 n.17. Of course, a district
court can consider evidence submitted by the parties outside the adminis-
trative record in determining whether summary judgment is appropriate.
DiMartino v. Buckles, 129 F. Supp. 2d 824, 827 (D. Md. 2001), aff’d, 19
Fed. Appx. 114 (4th Cir. 2001). Here, the only outside evidence offered
by Gilbert was his own affidavit. The district court properly considered
that evidence and found that, at best, it contradicted the factual basis for
only "some of the violations" documented in the administrative record.
(J.A. 49 (emphasis added).)
13
Having found that ATF has met its burden of showing that there are
no genuine issues of material fact with respect to at least one category of
violations, we need go no further to decide that the district court’s entry
of summary judgment in favor of ATF was appropriate. Therefore, we
decline to address the merits of Gilbert’s legal challenges to various other
categories of violations.
16 AMERICAN ARMS v. HERBERT
to record them in the A&D Records. These post-hoc explana-
tions are unavailing. The fact remains that at the time of the
2003 inspection, it is undisputed that at least 421 disposition
entries were missing and, of these, at least 146 entries were
missing because the firearms had been lost or stolen without
Gilbert even being aware of it. Gilbert’s remedial efforts after
the violations were discovered do not compensate for the fact
that there was a violation in the first place. See Armalite, 544
F.3d at 646 (impliedly rejecting licensee’s argument that cer-
tain mistakes in its A&D Records were "‘self-healing’ in that
any inconsistencies later became apparent and were easily
corrected"). In fact, it seems likely that none of these viola-
tions would have been corrected—and most disturbingly, that
there would have been no record of the 146 lost or stolen
firearms—had it not been for the inspection. Furthermore,
Gilbert had already been warned about this specific kind of
violation in the past (in 1987, when ATF cited him for failing
to record seven missing firearms in the A&D Records), not to
mention the fact that ATF inspectors had held an individual
review of the regulations with him at least twice.
Gilbert suggests that his "proper recordation of tens of
thousands of firearms over 20 years shows" that his violations
were not deliberate or reckless. (Appellants’ Br. 30 (emphasis
omitted).) We found unconvincing a similar argument made
by the licensee in RSM. See RSM, 466 F.3d at 320. Plain
indifference can be found even where nine times out of ten a
licensee acts in accordance with the regulations, if he was
plainly indifferent to the one-in-ten violation. Gilbert received
repeated warnings regarding this precise type of violation
from the ATF, and ATF officials even met with him twice to
review the regulations and make sure that he understood what
was required in order to be in compliance. Despite these
efforts, Gilbert and his staff continued to make the same "cler-
ical errors" not just in a few isolated circumstances, but at
least 421 times. Whether we term this "plain indifference,"
"deliberate disregard," "reckless disregard," or a "conscious,
intentional, deliberate, and voluntary action" is of little conse-
AMERICAN ARMS v. HERBERT 17
quence. Gilbert displayed a lack of concern for the regulations
that clearly meets the standard of willfulness.
In RSM, this Court underscored "the need for strict compli-
ance with the Gun Control Act." RSM, 466 F.3d at 323. How-
ever onerous the GCA’s regulatory regime for federal
firearms dealers may seem, violations create a very real
potential for dangerous consequences: "When a firearms
dealer cannot account for guns or fails to ensure that guns are
sold to authorized persons, the public safety is directly and
meaningfully implicated." Id. at 324. The standard of willful-
ness laid out in RSM and Prino does not demand perfection
from licensees—it leaves room for the occasional incident of
human error. In the more than twenty years that Gilbert has
been in business, however, he has shown a profound indiffer-
ence to the ATF’s numerous efforts to bring him into
compliance—the 2003 inspection revealed a level of viola-
tions that dwarfed those found in previous inspections. The
string of prior citations, warning letters, and regulatory review
sessions were clearly not enough to bring Gilbert into compli-
ance. We have no trouble finding in these circumstances that
Gilbert’s violations of the GCA were willful.
The judgment of the district court is hereby affirmed.
AFFIRMED