By Steve Neavling

A Florida man accused of opening fire at ATF agents and police officers during a high-speed chase in January 2022 has been charged with armed robbery, armed carjacking and attempting to murder federal agents, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. 

Francisco Cabrera, 28, of Dover, was wanted for allegedly robbing two smoke shops and a gas station in the Tampa Bay area during a five-day period in January 2022. During the robberies, he’s accused of pointing a loaded pistol at the victims. 

On Jan. 19, 2022, Cabrera allegedly carjacked a victim at gunpoint at a gas station. 

That same day, ATF agents and Lakeland police officers spotted Cabrera and attempted to pull him over. He fled and exceeded 100 miles per hour in heavy midday traffic, including on Interstate 4, according to the indictment. 

Cabrera fired multiple shots from his driver side window at agents and officers who were pursuing him. ATF agents fired back, striking Cabrera and ending the pursuit. 

No one else was injured by gunfire. 

Cabrera also has been charged in state court with attempted murder of local law enforcement officers. 

If convicted on the federal charges, Cabrera faces between 28 years and life in prison.

By Steve Neavling

U.S. House Republicans are demanding testimony from ATF Director Steven Dettelbach and others as conservative lawmakers plan to grill the agency during a Judiciary Committee hearing in April. 

Republicans are zeroing in on the ATF’s tightened regulations on pistol-stabilizing braces. 

The demand for testimony comes after far-right U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz introduced a bill in January to abolish the ATF following the tightened regulations. 

In a letter to Dettelbach, Republicans Jim Jordan, of Ohio, and Thomas Massie, of Kentucky, allege the ATF is violating American’s right to own guns. 

“The ATF’s lack of transparency comes after the agency issued a final rule banning stabilizing pistol braces, and as the agency continues to shut down lawful businesses through the zero-tolerance policy for federal firearms dealers (FFLs),” the Republicans wrote.

“This ruling raises serious doubts about ATF’s ability to regulate pistol braces absent a clear mandate from Congress,” Jordan and Massie added.

Republicans set the hearing for April 26, saying in the letter that it “will be an opportunity for the Committee to hear directly from you, as the head of the agency, about the decisions that led the ATF to implement these controversial policies.”

Republicans are also requesting interviews from several senior ATF officials, including Chief of Staff Daniel Board, Acting Assistant Director of Public and Government Affairs Justin O’Connell, and Deputy Assistant Director Megan Bennett.

The ATF previously said that its rule does not impact stabilizing braces that are “objectively designed and intended as a ‘stabilizing brace’ for use by individuals with disabilities, and not for shouldering the weapon as a rifle. Such stabilizing braces are designed to conform to the arm and not as a buttstock. However, if the firearm with the ‘stabilizing brace’ is a short-barreled rifle, it needs to be registered within 120-days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.”

By Steve Neavling

The FBI issued a recorder number of gun seizures orders over the past two years from people who failed federal background checks, according to newly released data.

ATF transmitted more than 6,300 referrals in 2020 to seize guns from buyers who were ineligible to purchase firearms because of criminal records, mental health histories, or other bans. 

An additional 5,300 referrals were transmitted in 2021, making the two-year period the largest since the National Instant Criminal Background Check System began publishing data in 1998. 

The seizure orders follow a surge in firearm sales during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In 2020, the FBI carried out a record 39.6 million background checks. 

The bureau issues a gun seizure order when a buyer fails a background check. 

By Steve Neavling

The TSA seized more firearms at airports in 2022 than any year in its 21-year history. 

TSA officers intercepted 6,542 guns at airport checkpoints across the country – or roughly 18 per day. 

Of those, 88% were loaded. 

Since 2008, the number of intercepted firearms increased each year, with the exception of 2020, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In 2021, the TSA seized 5,972 firearms. 

By contrast, 926 guns were seized in 2008. 

The record seizures come as more Americans are carrying firearms. 

In the past, TSA Administrator David Pekoske said most of the offenders likely forgot they were in possession of a gun. 

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport led the nation in guns seizures, with 448. 

The remaining top 10 were in the following cities:

Dallas Fort Worth (385)

Houston (IAH) (295)

Nashville (213)

Phoenix (196)

Orlando (162)

Denver (156)

Austin (150)

Fort Lauderdale (134)

Tampa (131)

Last year, the TSA raised the maximum fine for carrying a gun at airport checkpoints to nearly $14,950. Passengers also lose their PreCheck status for five years. 

By Steve Neavling

From a cattle prod in a guitar case to an inert grenade, the TSA revealed its 10 most unusual findings at airport checkpoints in 2022.

The list is revealed in a video, which counts down to the No. 1 strangest item – fentanyl inside candy wrappers, and each is accompanied with a clever clip. 

Most of the bizarre discoveries were weapons hidden inside everyday items. One was a knife in a laptop, and others were guns hidden in a Play Station, an arm sling, a jar of peanut butter, and even a raw chicken. 

Check out the video here:

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By Steve Neavling

A 19-year-old man has been charged with robbing an undercover ATF agent at gunpoint in a grocery store parking lot in Chicago. 

Randy Durr was charged with robbery in federal court after authorities say he pointed a Glock handgun at the agent and grabbed $5,000 on Nov. 16, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Durr is accused of selling two “ghost guns” to an undercover agent on Nov. 7 and Nov. 9. 

A week later, Durr is accused of meeting the agent again, only to rob him and threaten to kill him.

Durr grabbed the $5,000 and sped off in a black Chevrolet Impala, according to the federal complaint. 

Authorities arrested him at a woman’s South Side apartment and recovered the Glock pistol and most of the stolen money. 

Durr’s family said the teenager was an “A and B student” and knows “the difference between right and wrong.” 

They’re asking a judge to release him from jail until the trial. 

By Steve Neavling

Two men have been charged after FBI agents came under fire while trying to execute a search warrant Friday morning in Missouri. 

Bryan C. Perry, 37, of Clarksville, Tenn., and Jonathan S. O’Dell, 32, of Warsaw, were charged Friday in federal court, The Kansas City Star reports.

FBI agents were shot at while trying to serve the search warrant at O’Dell’s home in Warsaw, about 100 miles southeast of Kansas City. 

Law enforcement officials didn’t return fire and were not injured, the FBI said. 

Perry was charged with one count of transmitting a threat across state lines to injure another person, one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of forcibly assaulting an FBI agent with a deadly weapon.

O’Dell was charged with one count of transmitting a threat across state lines to injure another person and one count of unlawfully possessing a firearm.

#NEW – Statement regarding FBI presence in Warsaw, Missouri this morning. pic.twitter.com/y8BjrUBjyy

— FBI Kansas City (@FBIKansasCity) October 7, 2022

The TSA is on track to confiscate a record number of guns at airport security checkpoints in 2022. 

The TSA officers have already intercepted more than 4,600 firearms so far this year, The New York Times reports.

About 87% of those guns were loaded, according to the TSA. 

The TSA set a record for gun seizures after confiscating nearly 6,000 firearms at airport checkpoints last year. The previous record was 4,400 seizures in 2019. 

The record seizures come as more Americans are carrying firearms. 

“Entering a checkpoint with a firearm, particularly a loaded one, is an expensive mistake,” Carter Langston, a TSA spokesman, said.