Who Guards the Guards: Fake Law Enforcement Group Uncovered
The New York Daily News has reported that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has closed down a Yonkers humane society, after it was found that the group was a sham, created to provide badges and guns to up to 16 individuals, including a former Greenburgh town police officer who had previously been fired. The paper noted:
“State law gives guns, badges and peace officer status to humane society cruelty investigators.”
We have to wonder what other dubious fake law enforcement, or similar groups are operating for similar reasons – while law-abiding citizens still have problems legally obtaining firearms.
Who Guards the Guards: Sheriff’s Office Sells Tommy Gun for $20,000
The Citizen’s Voice of Luzerne County in Pennsylvania is reporting that the acting sheriff has come under fire for “keeping poor records of gun possessed” by the department. This comes after it was found that the former sheriff had agreed to sell a Thompson submachine gun in 2009 for $20,000. The paper didn’t say whether the buyer could legally own a fully automatic weapon or whether it was a semi-automatic version, although it was described as being an “antique” suggesting it was fully automatic.
Let’s see if the mainstream media picks up on this story.
Gun Registration Debated in Las Vegas
The mainstream media likes to report that gun laws haven’t changed much under the rule of Obama, so why is it we’re actually seeing some new efforts to create restrictions on ownership and registration of firearms? Channel 8’s Las Vegas Now Web site noted that even in Las Vegas there is a growing push from law enforcement to profile gun owners:
“The blue card registration system requires people to register their guns in Nevada. Sheriff Gillespie says the system helps the department solve crimes, including a murder case.”
One resident summed up this system quite well:
“It profiles me as owning a gun and profiles me for confiscation, where other people don’t come under that,” gun owner Charles Musser said. “I think those (police officers) should be on the streets protecting people. They’re not protecting anyone with those blue cards. They are only investigating crime after it happens.”
Well said Charles.
Who Guards the Guards: Columbus Police Department Creates New Gun Unit
10TV in Columbus ran a story noting how Columbus Police are trying to get illegal guns off the streets, and while the numbers of confiscated weapons actually fell, the department is looking to create yet another unit. Here is what the Web story had to say:
“Police have already created a unit that does nothing but process guns seized from the streets, but a new plan to go after illegal weapons is expected to be unveiled soon, 10TV’s Kevin Landers reported on Thursday.”
We’ll be watching this new “plan” very carefully. Let’s hope it isn’t just a plan that would make all guns owned by citizens of Columbus to suddenly be illegal.
Who Guards the Guards: Prison Trusty Not so Trustworthy
The Baltimore Sun reported that a man was found guilty for stealing two handguns from a state police warehouse. First, we are shocked that it would be so easy for anyone to just “steal” two handguns from a police warehouse, but more upsetting is that Roderick L. Hayes was a prison trusty in a pre-release program!
Hayes was reportedly finishing a 17-year sentence for kidnapping, robbery and assault, and yet somehow had access to the Quartersmaster Warehouse, where he stole the guns. This is beyond unbelievable. As we’ve reported, law-abiding citizens are having their houses raided by the ATF, but a convicted criminal was able to steal two police guns?
The paper noted:
“One of the missing guns turned up after being used in a crime committed in Baltimore; the other weapon has not been recovered, police said.”
Not much more to say is there?
Who Guards the Guards: Police Still Losing Guns
We regularly report on how the police lose, sell or steal guns. But we surely can’t cover all of the fobbles by the boys in blue, so we were happy to see that our good friend David Codrea at Examiner.com offered a round-up of recent examples:
Guess who is putting lots of guns ‘on the street’?
While we still thank law enforcement for the hard work they do, and we’re really not “anti-police” at all, we do think the media gives the bad apples a pass too often. We’re happy to see that this isn’t always the case. And thanks to David for compiling the list.
Gun Owner Raided… Because Maybe He Was Selling Guns
Does anyone care about the Second Amendment anymore? WWJ radio in the Detroit area is reporting that a Warren Michigan man had his house raided by the ATF. The radio station reports:
“Over a hundred guns were discovered at a home in Warren Wednesday, thanks to a joint effort by the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, and Explosives, the Detroit Police and Michigan State Police.”
It further adds this quote from Donald Dawkins from the ATF:
“We don’t know if he was selling them, we think he may have been selling some of them. But some of them, you know, he had a big storage there so we don’t know if he was selling all of them or not, or planned to sell them.”
First, I’m going to ask why the Detroit Police were involved in an investigation in Warren, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit? But let’s examine the quote a bit more closely: “We don’t know if he was selling them.” But that seems to be enough for the ATF to stage a raid, and for the media not to question it.
Who Guards the Guards: 500 Guns Missing in Texas Police Station
According to a story from The Associated Press, which was posted on The Houston Chronicle Web site, the police in Cleveland, Texas have a little explaining to do:
“Federal investigators are trying to determine whether 500 weapons missing from the evidence room of a southeast Texas police station are part of a firearms trafficking ring.”
The story adds:
“ATF agents recovered 112 missing guns during a search at a Humble gun shop, according to court documents. Of those weapons, 98 had been listed by Kelley as destroyed. The whereabouts of the other guns remains a mystery.”
Again, we ask… why should anyone believe in a world where only the police have guns would criminals not get their hands on them? This comes a week after it was reported that the Department of Homeland Security had lost hundreds of guns! Yet, time and time again it is law-abiding gun owners who are made to suffer by harsher laws.
SFGate Says Laws Not Working – Really?
Writer Chip Johnson of The San Francisco Chronicle notes in his column how illegal guns are a serious problem in Oakland California:
“Since the start of the year, Oakland police have confiscated more than 200 illegal guns during routine traffic stops and planned police arrests.”
The problem is that Johnson seems to believe, as does it seems the Oakland police chief, that these “illegal” guns are all coming from gun shows through the “infamous gun show loophole.” He writes:
“Police Chief Anthony Batts said his officers will focus on tracing guns back to the point of origin and working with federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives authorities to identify and prosecute the people illegally transporting them from gun shows outside the state. Interstate transport of such weapons is a federal crime.”
We agree with Johnson that illegal guns are a problem, and he notes in closing that removing violence from the gang culture’s heart is key to winning the battle. We must disagree with the tactic of going after gun shows to solve the problem however. Johnson, nor Batts, even note that Homeland Security lost guns, that police officers lost guns or that police officers sold off confiscated guns. We’ve reported on all of those, but once again the media looks only at gun shows.
Who Guards the Guards: Homeland Security Loses Guns
USA Today posted a story that makes us truly ask again, who guards the guards. In fact, the people who at the frontlines of the war on terror maybe helping criminals instead as the paper reports:
“The nation’s Homeland Security officers lost nearly 200 guns in bowling alleys, public restrooms, unlocked cars and other unsecure areas, with some ending up in the hands of felons. The problem, outlined in a new federal report, has prompted disciplinary actions and extra training.”
The article further notes that more than a dozen guns, including pistols, shotguns and “military rifles” ended up in the hands of gang members! This is a concern both for the security of our borders, but also because it is putting guns on the street. Anti-gun zealots should also take note that NONE of these guns were ever actually legally owned by private citizens, and didn’t need straw purchases or gun show loopholes to get in the hands of some very bad people.
