Lee Williams

Chief editor of the Second Amendment Foundation's Investigative Journalism Project. Recovering newspaperman, tactical shooter, Army vet, ex-LEO, 1*, Rum snob.

[Tom Gresham @Guntalk]

Oh Baby! Oh Baby! Train with the best. Shoot and KEEP the HK SP5. Get trigger time with the original full auto version. "Yeah, I spent the last couple of days shooting an MP5." https://t.co/827Vq5qT3V

[Lee Williams @HT_GunWriter]

@Blackpowderbill Yep. That is THE question.

[Lee Williams @HT_GunWriter]

Oklahoma pastor targeted by ATF thrilled by President Trump’s pardon

The Sunday after he decided to accept a federal plea offer, in which he agreed to plead guilty to one count of selling ammunition to a prohibited person, Pastor Russell Fincher submitted his resignation to the board of his small Oklahoma church, but the board refused to accept his resignation.

“You didn’t change,” he recalls one board member told him. “The government changed.”

Pastor Fincher has continued to preach the gospel to his small flock ever since.

“They kept me going,” Fincher said Tuesday. “God told me the whole time: ‘You trust me.’”

Like Patrick “Tate” Adamiak and others, Fincher was the victim of Joe Biden’s ATF.

He recalls the hellish day in 2023 when a dozen ATF agents wearing tactical gear and carrying AR-15sstormed into his home.

They handcuffed him and laid him out on his porch. Several agents yelled and screamed at him for more than an hour while others ripped apart his home. He offered to relinquish his Federal Firearm License, and an agent quickly had him sign three forms.

The ATF took more than 50 of his personal firearms, including a Colt Commander, five Glocks and a mint AK—a Polytech Pre-ban milled under-folder, which was worth thousands of dollars.

“You’re done. We have to shut you down,” Fincher recalls the lead ATF agent saying. “You tell all your FFL buddies we are coming for them. We are shutting the gun shows down.”

Months later, a federal grand jury issued a three-count indictment charging Fincher with two felonies and one misdemeanor:

· Count one: Engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license, a felony.
· Count two: Selling ammunition to a prohibited person, a felony.
· Count three: Making false entry in records by a federal firearms dealer, a misdemeanor.

Fincher’s Federal Public Defender negotiated the plea agreement, which kept Fincher out of federal prison. Both sides agreed that three years of probation would be “the appropriate disposition of the case.” The plea agreement also specified that Fincher would not contest the forfeiture of his personal firearms.

Last week, Fincher received a letter from his Teachers’ Retirement Fund, which scared him.

“They said they were kicking me out—I spent 10 years as a teacher—because I was a felon,” he said.

Things changed just a few days later when he received a call from the Federal Public Defender who had handled his criminal case.

“You’re not gonna believe this, but you just got a full presidential pardon,” Fincher said the attorney told him.

President Donald Trump gave Fincher and several others a “full and unconditional” pardon last week.

Now, with no criminal record, Fincher has been busy answering calls from friends, family and supporters.

He hopes he can return to teaching and coaching, in addition to his pastoral work. However, he has no plans to return to selling guns.

“There’s no way I am going to invite the federal government back into my world,” he said. “I am still so petrified of the federal government.”

He hopes he can retrieve his personal firearms from the ATF, and he wants to meet and personally thank President Trump.

“I never thought I’d be here,” he said. “I never thought I’d get a pardon. I serve a mighty God, and as much as I love President Trump, God orchestrated this pardon.”

The Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project wouldn’t be possible without you. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support pro-gun stories like this.

@2AFDN

[Doc Strangelove @DocStrangelove2]

Patrick Adamiak got his pardon, but we still have another who should have gotten it long ago.

Pardon Kyle, give him his rights back.

[JHeine @heine43716]

@HT_GunWriter @HouseGOP @SenateGOP Disingenuous, fake support of the 2nd Amendment by politicians has been in place for decades. All of us have been deceived by them for decades. Trifecta control with Zero Results has served to be the ultimate litmus test for politician sincerity, authenticity. They Failed!

[Rep. Eric Burlison @RepEricBurlison]

Suppressors are PPE.

It's fundamentally absurd that they are regulated as 'firearms.'

[AboveGroundGear @DainjaRuss33]

@HT_GunWriter Thank you for sharing!!!

[JHeine @heine43716]

@HT_GunWriter I agree 100%. However, there is a circle problem that the politicians exploit so they can do nothing. The ATF exists because of the NFA and the GCA. The politicians must Repeal all of the gun control laws. Then the ATF and the DOJ have nothing to enforce. 🧵

[Lee Williams @HT_GunWriter]

Okay, this is a must read: "Abolish the ATF: Rights Shouldn’t Require a Permission Slip."
https://t.co/YVtXj1busb

[Firearms Lawyer @firearmslawyer]

The Lord is good and we are thankful for these pardons. The Trump Administration also gets kudos!

[PT @spartywrx]

The @ATFHQ ruined a man’s life over paperwork but lets Glock switches walk all over Chicago every weekend.

Selective enforcement is the definition of anarcho-tyranny.

[DRGO @DRGOSAF]

A group of doctors from the California Medical Association @CMAdocs recently gathered to examine the "public health" threat of guns. @gfourasmd @annayap @SBCMS @RCMADocs . More research is needed! #2A @HT_GunWriter

[an unworthy servant @FOGlomismo]

@HT_GunWriter @gunrights I know Dexter Taylor is in Rikers due to NYC/NY laws but haven’t his civil rights been violated? DOJ, you interested?

[Lee Williams @HT_GunWriter]

@Vinny11b Adamiak was pardoned on the same day. https://t.co/vKUbpKngxd

[Lee Williams @HT_GunWriter]

@gunbikedude Thanks, Tim. "Frankensteining" just became my new word.

[Lee Williams @HT_GunWriter]

Tate Adamiak's pardon, which President Donald Trump signed Thursday night.

[WashingtonGunLaw @GunWashington]

Join @MorosKostas and @HT_GunWriter Monday, 5pm West/8pm East, LIVE on that other platform right here. https://t.co/fzMLXefy2V

[John Richardson @jpr9954]

Oklahoma pastor targeted by ATF thrilled by President Trump’s pardon, by @HT_GunWriter https://t.co/x3pFjGykIK

[regular guy @regularguyguns]

At the very least, the man deserves his personal firearms inventory back.

Also, it’s worth noting via the conduct of the agents, there is indeed a virulently anti-2A cadre of armed federal employees.

[The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee]

U-Haul Introduces Armored War Rigs For Californians Trying To Flee State's Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland https://t.co/g4Nxao3Pbx

[Noioso @Noioso2A]

And the ATF is trying to pretend that their relationship with FFLs is a "partnership", and not created out of "fear".

It's insane that people are cool with an agency that explicitly targets our 2A protected rights.