Arek Sarkissian

Naples Daily News, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida

Florida has more gun manufacturers than any other state except Texas, after a surge of nearly 350 percent in licenses for gun makers fueled by the nation's growing demand for firearms.

The increase in gun manufacturing licenses since 2009 has strained the resources of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — the federal law enforcement agency that monitors the nation's gun sales and distribution. As the number of licenses to make firearms grew nationally by nearly 250 percent from 3,040 licenses in 2009 to 10,503 last year, the number of special agents watching manufacturers has increased only 30 percent, from 623 in 2009 to 811 in 2015.

The agency is outmatched, and that's a public danger when police departments across the country rely more frequently on the expertise of the ATF to respond to gun violence, two former ATF special agents said.

Within 12 hours after Omar Mateen shot 49 people at an Orlando gay club in June, ATF special agents traced the Sig Sauer MCX assault rifle and the Glock semiautomatic handgun he used to a St. Lucie County gun dealer.

But the spike in the number of gun makers in Florida and elsewhere piles more work on the agency and leaves many manufacturers unchecked for years by federal agents who try to ensure firearms are documented and made properly.

"I hate to say this, but they’ve adopted a sort of triage method that goes after the bigger gun dealers — the guys out there who may be more likely to get in trouble," retired ATF special agent David Chipman said. "They’re not going to pay attention to those smaller guys making a handful of guns here and there."

The situation is particularly critical in Florida, where the number of firearm manufacturing licenses more than quadrupled from 155 in 2009 to 691 in May, according to ATF data. Texas tops the list at 1,103 licensed gun makers, a 404 percent increase from the 219 reported in 2009.

Maybe we are on the edge of a point where the ATF will not be able to keep up anymore," former ATF special agent William Vizzard said.

The federal licenses allow the manufacturing of firearms and ammunition for sale or distribution. Established gun shop owners and firearms enthusiasts are using their manufacturing licenses to obtain parts and assemble weapons for sale.

They’re doing more than just selling pistols, rifles and shotguns from stores and pawn shops.

In California, which has the nation's third-most firearm manufacturing licenses at 526, enthusiasts find parts with ease, turning production of high-power rifles into social events. That trend is eroding the control the ATF had on the gun manufacturing industry, said Adam Winkler, a constitutional law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and author of the book "Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America."

"You have clubs out here that get together to have AR-15 building parties — that’s how easy it is to find parts these days," Winkler said. "You no longer have to be an ironsmith to put these guns together."

Some entrepreneurs obtained licenses to satisfy a growing desire for popular assault rifles or other guns that might be difficult to find.

INTERACTIVE MAP: See where Florida gun manufacturers are located for 2016.

Robert Gottschalk, owner of the Ad Tek Tallahassee gun shop, said he built several AR-15 rifles at the request of customers. The parts to build the weapon are easily available and quick to assemble.

The rifle was banned by state lawmakers in Connecticut, New York and Colorado after versions of it were used in a December 2012 mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, and the July 2012 mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado.

Demand for the AR-15 has been high enough that Gottschalk kept a collection of the necessary parts in his shop.

"Imagine if you wanted to buy a car and they told you it would take four months to get it. What would you do?" Gottschalk said. "You’d go out, get the parts and make one yourself."

Florida and Texas also offer an attractive business climate for gun manufacturers, big and small.

"Florida is a business-friendly state that has had a good number of manufacturers involved in the firearms industry, as well as startups, for many years," said Mike Bazinet, a spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based advocate for the gun industry.

Gov. Rick Scott has promoted gun makers Colt Manufacturing Co. in Kissimmee and Azimuth Technology in Naples as examples of his success in attracting jobs. Both manufacturers hired more workers as they expanded their operations.

Azimuth Technology, which builds pistols and parts for guns, decided to expand in Florida after state lawmakers eliminated the tax on commercial manufacturing equipment, said Azimuth Executive Vice President Al Cornell. That move alone has helped many manufacturers keep pace with the demands of the firearms industry.

"I know it’s helped us," said Cornell, whose company saved more than $200,000 from the elimination of the manufacturing tax.

Texas and Arizona also offer tax exemptions for manufacturers.

Scott said he doubts the ATF can manage the increase in gun manufacturing licenses in Florida and across the country.

"While additional resources could always assist in the fight against violent crime, ATF uses the staff and resources immediately on hand in the most effective and efficient ways possible," said ATF spokesman Corey Ray.

GRAPH: Growth in Florida gun manufacturing licenses by county

In Collier County, the list of licensees considered firearm manufacturers varies from gun sellers who decided to tap into the sprawling market of building weapons for resale to hobbyists interested in becoming a gun dealer and maker.

Jamie Knoop, owner of Naples Gun Range and Emporium, said he obtained a manufacturing license about a year ago to keep up with competing shops. Knoop declined to say what guns or how many he has made at his shop since he received his license.

"We have it because it’s pretty much the standard of doing business in the industry," Knoop said of his manufacturing license, also known as a Class 7 for its numerical designation by the ATF.

Matthew Hildahl said he plans to use his Naples-based home business, Vantage Imports, to import military-style AK-47 rifles from Romania and modify them to meet U.S. legal specifications — which makes him a manufacturer under federal law, he said.

Hildahl, 29, lost his Romanian contact, and he since has decided to attend college out of state.

"I’d still like to do it if I can find another contact, maybe once I’m done with school," Hildahl said. "The money is definitely there."

Situated near the Golden Gate community in Collier County, Brister’s gun shop owner Daniel Brister said he rebuilds World War II-era rifles. He also experiments with parts he adds to hunting rifles.

"That experimenting means I’m manufacturing, even if it’s just adding something to a hunting rifle," Brister said. "And you can’t really find a rifle from World War II in one piece, or it needs new parts from other guns."

Jeff Coryell about a year ago opened the Naples-based Firearms Farm, his custom gun manufacturing shop designed to offer customers more than ready-made weapons a dealer might find on the internet.

Coryell said he believes gun makers obey the rules and don't require heavy ATF oversight because the agency created stiff penalties for violations. Those penalties can range from hefty fines for misdemeanors to as much as 10 years in prison for felony violations.

“I don’t think anyone who already went the length of getting a license would want to do something stupid,” said Coryell, whose shop produces high-power rifles with a pistol grip like the AR-15 that have become targets of gun control advocates.

But the ATF doesn't have the resources needed, and that's leaving many gun makers free to operate without regular oversight, according to government reports and retired agents.

In 2004 the ATF determined to inspect all federal firearm license holders — that includes all dealers and manufacturers — every three to five years. But a 2013 audit by the U.S. Department of Justice's inspector general found 58 percent of dealers and manufacturers didn't receive a visit from ATF special agents in a five-year period.

“One reason for this was insufficient investigator resources,” the audit states.

In 2001, 961 ATF agents supervised 102,913 federal firearms licenses, including dealers and manufacturers. The number of agents dropped in 2010 to 627, when the number of total licenses jumped to 118,484. As of 2015, there were 811 ATF agents assigned to supervise 139,444 licensees, ATF data show.

The site visits to new gun makers is important because federal agents have to ensure the required documentation on firearms is maintained, and it's easy to make mistakes, said Chipman, the retired ATF special agent who know advises Everytown for Gun Safety, a group advocating gun controls. The information is used by the ATF National Tracing Center to perform investigations for law enforcement //officers// when they recover weapons.

“It’s crucial for an agent to visit a store in that first year, at least to give that dealer or that manufacturer a rundown on the system and to answer any of those questions,” Chipman said. “You have law enforcement wanting traces and you aren’t sure how good your information is anymore.”

Strong oversight by ATF special agents also is important because it's easier today to make certain gun parts and those parts are readily accessible for small operators to use to manufacture firearms, said Vizzard, the other retired ATF special agent, who now teaches criminology at California State University, Sacramento.

The old days of machining gun parts like a receiver or a trigger group in an industrial warehouse have given way to more portable technology that is easy to use.

"And that’s where the ATF will get into trouble when it becomes easy enough to make those weapons that anyone can do it," Vizzard said.

Silver Beard Firearms of Tallahassee owner Charles Bisbee said he makes only high-end AR-15 rifles that shoot long distances and usually cost $3,400. His guns are meant to perform in the sport of long-distance shooting, but there isn’t much of a market compared to the rapid-fire assault rifles everyone wants, Bisbee said.

"Everyone wants that gun that sprays bullets, but do you really need those? Will you really use that in the real world?" Bisbee said. "The good thing about

what I do is I get to choose who I sell to."