Bin Lu, a Chinese-American man, and a U.S. police officer were arrested and charged with violating the NFA after they planned to build a shooting range in Massachusetts and solicit Chinese tourists. He has now pleaded guilty and faces a potential sentence of several decades in prison.
Lu was arrested in January 2021 on suspicion of violating the NFA, and last Thursday, May 13, he pleaded guilty in Massachusetts federal court to “conspiracy to commit bank fraud” and “possession of an unregistered firearm. Under U.S. law, the maximum penalty for conspiracy to commit bank fraud is 30 years in prison, and the maximum penalty for possession of an unregistered firearm is 10 years in prison.
According to the indictment, Lu Bin, 49, and Whitman, a U.S. police officer, were preparing to build a large indoor shooting range in a Massachusetts town that would host local gun owners and Chinese tourists. The two men applied for a loan of more than $15 million from a local bank, but hid a Chinese investor (YM). This Chinese investor put down $6 million for the project.
Meanwhile, prosecutors charged them with illegally converting a handgun into a more tightly regulated short-barreled rifle (SBR). They operated a local gun store called Hitman Firearm, LLC, but were not authorized to manufacture firearms. In addition, the two men illegally provided shooting and tactical training to foreigners (i.e., Chinese tourists) without obtaining a State Department permit.
The case shows that Whitman holds a Type 01 Federal Firearms License (FFL) to buy, sell, transfer and do firearms repairs, but is not allowed to manufacture any type of firearms. Lu Bin was a partner and manager of the gun store. The duo was going to build a large indoor shooting range in the area, called “Freedom Alley Shooting Sports” (FASS).
They have also held several firearms camps for Chinese tourists in the name of shooting sports, involving shooting training and tactical training. The two did not apply for, and never received, such qualifications. After the case, a State Department review found that they were suspected of violating the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) because providing such training to foreigners requires a license from the Defense Trade Controls Agency.
In addition, Lu Bin and Whitman recorded video programs and posted them on their YouTube channel to promote their gun store and range business.
According to the indictment, Homeland Security agents in Boston began a criminal investigation of the two men in February 2018.
In October 2020, law enforcement officers came to the door with a search warrant and found that Lu Bin had assembled a complete short-barreled rifle without permission from stock and barrel parts he had acquired elsewhere. He had also modified an MCX pistol with a folding stock to become a short-barreled rifle (SBR). Law enforcement also intercepted a silencer, the possession of which is prohibited in Massachusetts.
During the course of the investigation, law enforcement discovered videos that Lu Bin and his nephew had uploaded to YouTube that were clear enough to make out the serial number of the silencer. So the video provided conclusive evidence. In the video, Lu Bin also explains the rifles used in various trainings. He says trainees will be trained like police officers and must wear heavy bulletproof undershirts.
Freedom Alley Shooting Sports (FASS) was approved in 2016, and they were set to build about 36,000 square feet of shooting range, along with storefronts and law enforcement training facilities. But the permit expired before the work was completed, and the company defaulted on at least one loan.
According to court documents, Lu Bin pleaded guilty, saying that he and Whitman represented to the bank and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in the loan application that Whitman and a fictitious relative of Lu Bin claimed to each own 50 percent of the shooting range. But in reality, 79 percent of the shooting range was owned by YM, the Chinese investor behind the deal. And YM and his wife have few ties to the United States.
Information from Lu Bin’s guilty plea shows that neither he nor Whitman disclosed YM’s true identity when they applied to the bank for a loan in August 2017.
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