The city hired undercover private investigators who, in teams of two, attempted "straw purchasing," where a convicted felon or someone who does not want a gun traced to him will use a friend or family member to pass a background check. Then the gun gets handed over to the suspicious person.So if a municipality retains a private individual, he is somehow authorized to break federal law against "straw purchases"? If not, and since this appears to be an admission of a federal felony, where are the charges? And if these private investigators are breaking federal law under instruction from the Bloomberg administration, does that not make this a criminal conspiracy?
[Via John Schaefer]
10 comments:
Of course it does, Dave. But Boobberg is one of the elite, so don't hold your breath. No one is going to charge him for this stupid stunt.
One of Bloomberg's targets is one of my favorite GA gun stores, Adventure Outdoors (www.advout.com), in Smyrna, GA. Nice group of guys that have the biggest selection of guns in GA. They were featured last night on a local news broadcast in which the reporter questioned the manager about their sales practices. The manager was professional and told the reporter they obey every law with regard to gun sales.
Of course it's not surprising that Adventure Outdoors is on Bloomberg's list - they probaby outsell every other dealer in GA.
Not to mention a little incidental like 'entrapment', eh?
It's ironic that Bloomberg complains that gun dealers are a "public nuisance" to New York City, and then he sends people out across the country to commit federal felonies.
It's damn irritating that his usualy sycophantic audience never figures out that if their gun crime is the fault of Ga., Pa. In., S.C., etc. where they have fewer restrictions why do they have less gun crime?
How damn dumb does one need to be to not ask that question? Evidently, dumb enough to live in NYC, DC, Chicago, et al.
It was mentioned in another blog that unscrupulous dealers need to follow the law. It is my understanding the "stings" were couples claiming to be "husband and wife" buyers. The "husband" would do the talking and the "wife" would do the form 4473 paperwork then hand the gun over to the "husband" when out of the store. I am a FFL and under ATF rules this is perfectly legal. Family members can give guns to one another as long as the receiver is not otherwise legally prohibited from possesing. In the Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide it is called "bequeathing". An individual, as an origional purchaser, can give a firearm to second person as long as; 1. the firearm is a gift and no money changes hands, and 2. the second person is not otherwise legally prohibited from possesing the gun. I have done a transfer under the circumstances of #1 & #2 with an ATF inspector standing right there saying, "that's perfectly legal". In many states it is against the law to obtain services and goods under false pretenses. Where are the feds and state leo's when you need them?
Plus isn't it legal, since they told the dealer exactly what they were planning on doing? She was buying a gun for him, with him right there.
I'm not a dealer, but I think at the very most I would've just done a background check on both of them, rather than just her.
It would be wise to verify that they both have the same last name and make a copy of a legal ID for both husband & wife. But that is not required by ATF regs where the purchaser tells the dealer that he or she is going to "give" the other person the firearm. IE: no money changed hands nor was it exchanged for something of value.
In regards to Adventure Outdoors, I was just there yesterday, with my mom. They are mighty scrupulous about obeying the most minute laws-- amongst other things, if I want to inspect a pistol, they first hand it to my mom, b/c it isn't legal for them to hand to a 20 y.o. Also, the nice 16 y.o. girl working the Cash register explained to us that she also couldn't touch the guns because of the laws, and the revolver my mom was purchasing for me by its price tag while she removed the anti-theft device from it. The fact of the matter is, that parents do buy guns for their children, and relatives do get people guns as presents; something that the yankees may find unbelievable!
Maybe New York City should allow its citizens to be armed so it wouldn't attract so many criminals in the first place!
-Andrew R.
Multiple felonies were committed by the people who LIED on those federal forms. Bloomberg and others are guilty of conspiracy to violate federal laws.
Each gun store owner needs to press local charges against everyone involved. This REALLY, REALLY needs to be done.
Otherwise, we just have another example of rules immune to the law.
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