Stag Arms: Guilty Plea, License Lost

Stag Arms has reportedly resolved federal gun charges by pleading guilty and bribing the government–er, that is, by paying $600,000 in fines.

As a result of the plea bargain, Stag Arms will lose its license to manufacture firearms, and company founder and president Mark Malkowski will sell the company and become a consultant.

In the plea deal, Malkowski agreed to get out of the gun business and never return in an ownership or management role.

As explained in a post at the Shooter’s Log, Stag Arms’s BATF troubles began in 2007, but became serious in 2014 when numerous violations were observed, including unregistered receivers, 62 fully automatic guns or receivers “that were either registered somewhere else or not registered at all,” and even some guns with obliterated serial numbers.

Oh, and then there were 200 guns for which Stag Arms was unable to account.

Here is the statement issued by Stag Arms:

Stag Arms, LLC today announced that the company and its founder, Mark Malkowski, have reached a resolution with government officials stemming from an investigation that began last year relating primarily to the timing of recordkeeping during the manufacturing process and compliance with federal firearms manufacturing and registration requirements. Both Stag Arms and Mr. Malkowski cooperated fully with the government throughout the investigation. While both Stag Arms and Mr. Malkowski believe that public safety was never compromised, they have agreed to enter guilty pleas and to pay significant fines, because doing so is in the best interests of the company and its employees. Mr. Malkowski has also agreed to transition the business to new ownership and is in advanced talks with a potential buyer. Mr. Malkowski will continue as a marketing consultant to the business and the industry for a period of time following the sale. Stag Arms takes its obligations to comply with all laws and regulations very seriously and has made comprehensive changes to ensure that similar problems cannot happen again and that best compliance practices are maintained in all of its operations.

If this had happened to you or me–or anyone else without a spare $600,000 lying around–we would very likely have been rudely tossed into jail and kept there.

Must be nice to have deep pockets.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.