yes i do think the BATF wants to take our guns away from us.

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Judge hears arguments in gun suit

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - A federal agency is balking at a Wyoming law that allows people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence to regain their right to own guns simply because it wants to take guns away from as many people as possible, a state lawyer has told a federal judge.

U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson last week heard arguments in a lawsuit Wyoming filed against the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The state has asked Johnson to rule that the ATF acted illegally when it threatened to disallow nearly 11,000 concealed weapons permits the state has issued to its citizens as a substitute for federal background checks for firearms purchases.

Congress in 1996 expanded the ban that prohibits convicted felons from owning guns to include anyone convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence.

A Wyoming law enacted in 2004 allows people convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence charge to petition in court to get their first conviction expunged.

The ATF has warned Wyoming that it would stop honoring state weapon permits for gun purchases if Wyoming continues to use its law.

Wyoming's lawsuit has attracted national attention, with groups such as the National Rifle Association and the Gun Owners Foundation in Washington supporting the state's position.

The ATF says the problem with the state law is that it doesn't really expunge a conviction because it specifies the record of the first conviction remains on the state books for purposes of enhancing penalties for any subsequent crime.

"The ordinary meaning of expungement and set-aside is to render a conviction as if it doesn't exist. That's not what this does," Alexander Haas, lawyer for the ATF, told Johnson.

And Haas said he doesn't expect the Wyoming Legislature would want to change the state law to allow people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence to have their records entirely expunged because of the public safety concerns.

Haas said the ATF hasn't sought to prevent Wyoming from managing its own laws.

However, Levi Martin, assistant Wyoming attorney general, told Johnson that ATF's goal is "to remove firearms from the hands of as many people as it could."