DelmarvaNow.com: Fast and Furious – You Should be Aware
We keep wondering when the story is truly going to break on Fast and Furious. While it has been covered by CBS News, FoxNews and Forbes, much of the media remains mum. But this week DelmarvaNow.com noted:
“Recently Congress has been investigating Justice Department/Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms operations known as Fast and Furious, and Gunwalker. If you’re not aware of these operations, you should be. The government purposely allowed — one could even say encouraged — the sale of guns including assault weapons, to straw purchasers who would then sell them to Mexican drug cartels.”
We’ll repeat the key line for emphasis:
If you’re not aware of these operations, you should be.
The story also adds a bit of insight that is seldom seen in the mainstream media as well:
“We know President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder are hostile to Second Amendment rights.The attorney general claimed in 2009 that 90 percent of arms confiscated by Mexican authorities came from the United States. Unfortunately for Holder, it turns out only about 8 percent of the recovered guns were from sales by licensed U.S. gun dealers.”
So is this the turning point? Probably not, but as we go into an election year it will be interesting whether this story turns into a full-blown scandal. For now we think the media will unfortunately remain all too silent.
LA Times: ATF and Congress under the gun
The Los Angeles Times seems to be thinking much like The Washington Times. The LA home town paper offered its editorial, “ATF and Congress under the gun,” essentially suggesting that Fast and Furious isn’t really the problem.
The problem is that guns were going to Mexico at all. But yet, the paper’s editors failed to note that there is little proof that that many guns had been moving without ATF’s help! And now the LA Times is blaming everything on straw purchases.
What is up with the media and the blame game this week?
KVUE Simplifies Gun Issue
How do Mexican cartels get their guns? They go shopping in the United States. That’s pretty much been what the mainstream media has been reporting – whether it is accurate or not. Now KVUE.com has simplified the issue even more:
“Straw buyers purchase guns legally in the United States. They then sell them to drug cartels and smuggle them across the border.”
That explains the hand grenades, automatic weapons and other military grade hardware, doesn’t it? Actually it doesn’t explain any of it, but the media once again ignores what it can’t explain.
WaPo: “straw purchaser cases rarely amount to more than charges of lying on federal documents”
Time and time again the media has called for the closure of the so-called “gun show loophole,” while also noting that “straw purchases” are a major source of illegal guns. But this week in reporting about the ongoing ATF’s efforts with “Fast and Furious” The Washington Post offered this thought:
“…many gunrunning cases end with little more than paperwork violations against buyers who procure guns for others. Such so-called straw purchaser cases rarely amount to more than charges of lying on federal documents.”
The paper blames this on the gun lobby and week gun laws, but how would closing private sales make this any different we ask?
Grand Rapids Press Offerings “Findings” From Six-Month Gun Investigation
The Grand Rapids Press, via MLive.com, offered some interesting findings from a six-month investigation, titled: “Guns gone bad: Six-month investigation traces how legal firearms end up in the hands of criminals.” It should also be noted that the paper offered the disclosure that this “marks the beginning of a partnership with Silent Observer to get illegal guns off the street.”
However, it was noted in the story that a lot of “illegal” guns were actually stolen, which is a fact that is often never reported by the media. The paper offered one interesting fact that most in the mainstream media also seem to ignore:
“More importantly, there was no single person making multiple purchases — what police call a ‘straw buyer’ — for convicts needing guns.”
This is an interesting point, since it contrasts the notion that criminals go to gun shows or use straw buyers to purchase guns. Kudos to the Grand Rapids Press for setting the record straight.
Religious Leaders in Baltimore Put Lansdown Gun Shop in Their Sights
Several news outlets in the Baltimore area are reporting that religious leaders are protesting a local gun shop, essentially saying that Bill and Clyde Blamberg, owners of Clyde’s Sport Shop, isn’t doing enough to stop straw purchases and keep guns out of the hands of criminals.
The brothers have been quoted as saying that they refuse to sell firearms in situations where two people come in and only one fills out the background check form. This is to avoid, so-called straw purchases. And while we FirearmsTruth.com do believe that such transactions likely could occur, the truth is that maybe these ministers and other faith leaders should do more to address the crime issue in the city.
Stopping straw-purchases won’t stop criminals from being criminals, and there is little proof that it wouldn’t just create a different type of black market. The biggest concern is that if shops such as Clyde’s cave to this pressure, what is to stop anti-gun groups from eventually demanding that gun shops close entirely, or make private sales of guns illegal. This is clearly where this is headed. So we congratulate Bill and Clyde for not caving to the religious leaders on this matter.
NJ.com Blames Straw Purchases for All of New Jersey’s Problem
When in doubt blame someone else. That often seems to be the New Jersey way of doing things, especially from its mainstream media. This past weekend NJ.com noted that illegal guns are being smuggled into New Jersey and that this is the reason for crime in the Garden State.
The news site notes that there has been a wave of shootings in the past year, “most of the shootings were drug or gang-related.” Additionally, NJ.com stresses, “New Jersey has some of the toughest gun laws in the country, but contradictory laws exist from state to state, and Interstate 95 and its connector highways have earned the name the ‘Iron Pipeline’ as a popular gun smuggling route.” Read more
Illinois Congressman Calls to Close So-called “Gun Show Loophole”
U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) has supports legislation to close the so-called “Gun Show Loophole” reports WGIL. The news site notes, “Quigley says the ‘guns show loophole’ is a gap in federal law that allows person-to-person sales at gun shows without a background check. Quigley says those weapons can end up in the hands of anyone, including terrorists, felons and the mentally disabled.” Read more
Boston Herald Article Misses Point on Handgun Purchases
Yet another liberal politician is up in arms because he can’t get his way with gun laws, and the hometown papers are giving moral support. This isn’t New York, and it isn’t Chicago. This time it is Boston, where The Boston Herald noted that Gov. Deval Patrick believes the gun lobby is putting pressure on members of the House to oppose a bill that would restrict licensed gun owners from purchasing more than one firearm a month. Read more
Huff and Puff Calls for Background Checks on All Gun Sales
In writing for the Huffington Post, Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence offers another editorial responding to calls from law enforcement to require background checks for gun sales. We know where Mr. Helmke stands, and we respect his opinion, but some of the statements he makes in his argument see more like opinion rather than based on actual facts. Read more
