USA --(Ammoland.com)- “The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), wishes to re-new and initiate liaison contacts with the Federal Firearms License holders and firearms ranges in the San Antonio area,” Special Agent Karl A. Kehrberg of the San Antonio Field Division wrote in a Dec. 23 letter to FFLs and range operators (see sidebar photo).
Questions about the intrusion into ATF turf aside, the point of the letter was to provide them with an “informational flier” and instruct:
“If you encounter any suspicious activity, please give us a call.”
About David Codrea: David Codrea is a long-time gun rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He is a field editor for GUNS Magazine, and a blogger at The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance. Read more at www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/david-codrea
PHOENIX, AZ --(Ammoland.com)- An insider source investigating BATFE’s gun smuggling to vicious Mexican drug cartels, reveals that several of the so-called “straw purchasers” were prohibited possessors, or had suspended drivers’ licenses and other problems that should have prevented them from passing the NICS background check.
Three of the straw purchasers, now indicted, had criminal histories, including a pending class 3 felony charge for burglary, an order of protection, a domestic-violence conviction, and a felony for resisting arrest, later reduced (and criminal damage charge dropped). Any of these should have prevented, or at least delayed purchases when they hit the FBI NICS computer. One defendant even had a CCW permit, under circumstances that seem suspicious but remain unclear.
Whistleblower BATFE agent John Dodson apparently indicated that the NICS system had these buyers flagged for special treatment, and that when a sale request came through, it was routed to a special FBI office that approved the purchases, according to William La Jeunesse at FOX News. Dodson’s prior statements are absolutely incriminating, and riveting: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/03/eveningnews/main20039031.shtml
This implies that the FBI may have been complicit in the scheme, allowing BATFE’s mules to get possession of guns when they should have been blocked. How people with disqualifying criminal records or a suspended driver’s license could have repeatedly gotten through the tightly run NICS system is difficult to otherwise explain.
Some of the buyers were young adults living at home with parents, and with no visible means of support. How they got the tens of thousands of dollars in cash they repeatedly spent has not yet been investigated, but is sure to come out. The tax and IRS angles are also missing from all reports, so far. IRS is often vigorous on tracking down unreported income and huge cash transactions, but is not involved as far as published reports go. BATFE installed video cameras at some of the gun shops and have the straw-purchase smugglers’ transactions recorded.
No information is available on how the data BATFE hopes to collect will be used to prevent gun smuggling. Since the information will be gathered by the very bureau responsible for smuggling guns into Mexico, confidence in the scheme is very low. BATFE claims the scheme will generate 18,000 records per year, but how they could possibly know that is unclear, since this is illegal and has never been done before.
Congressional hearings on the BATFE gun-smuggling program continue, Tuesday, July 26, 2011, 10 a.m. East coast time, 7 a.m. here in Arizona. The effect on the gun reporting and registration scheme, if any, is impossible to determine ahead of time.
About GunLaws.com: Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Bloomfield Press, founded in 1988, is the largest publisher and distributor of gun-law books in the country. Our website, gunlaws.com, features a free national directory to gun laws and relevant contacts in all states and federally, along with our unique line of related books and DVDs. “After Your Shoot” for media review is available on request, call 800-707-4020. Our authors are available for interview, call to schedule. Call for cogent positions on gun issues, informed analysis on proposed laws, talk radio that lights up the switchboard, fact sheets and position papers. As we always say, “It doesn’t make sense to own a gun and not know the rules.” Visit: www.gunlaws.com
In 1979, I was stationed at Ft. Benning Ga. I purchased a 22 cal target pistol and was told that before I could do so, I had to have a letter from the local police dept on their letterhead stating I was a “citizen of good standing”. I went to the local police dept and met with the Chief of Police who reached into a drawer in his desk and produced a letter from a stack, signed it and handed it to me. I recall his comments to this day. “Hell son, your white.”
The letter requirement was obviously a ploy to keep guns out of black hands.
I’m not waiting for a candidate who is “perfection” – just one that is “Republican”! The author seems to think that Romney is an actual choice – gun control and taxes to the max Romney – the Liberal. What’s the difference between Romney and Obama? Obama’s father was Kenyan, Romney’s was Mexican… Neither have the best interests of We the People at heart.
The more I look at this, the more I’m forced to conclude that there is only 1 party that can get elected – the Liberal Socialist party – and that what we have is simply warring factions (Paul excluded, he’s something else entirely). I’m tired of throwing away my votes for people who only wish to harm my family further… regardless of whether they call themselves Republican or not. So I’ll write in this time if necessary (I will NOT vote for Rombama or his Ilk). And it’s become clear to me that my votes DO NOT COUNT, and I’m not represented… and that I won’t be after November either.