Well, I'm fond of the federal and state gun control laws that say that felons can't have firearms while incarcerated, for one.
Posted on 05/22/2004 4:54:17 PM PDT by TERMINATTOR
RENO, Nev. (AP) - Federal agents working undercover at gun shows in Nevada the past year have arrested 14 suspects on a variety of firearms charges that include illegally possessing machine guns and explosives, agents said Friday.
The FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and local law enforcement agencies joined to apprehend the 13 men and one woman in five Western states - Nevada, California, Utah, Idaho and Washington - as part of "Operation Over the Line."
Nine of the suspects were arrested after search warrants were served Friday, and five others already were in custody as part of the investigation, said Daniel Bogden, U.S. attorney for Nevada.
They've been indicted by federal grand juries in Nevada and Idaho. The indictments, some dating to February, were unsealed Friday.
"Undercover ATF agents purchased nearly 40 firearms using different Reno gun shows as the hub of activity," said John Torres, ATF special agent in charge of the San Francisco office.
"We also seized explosives at one residence in Reno today," including 20 blasting caps and 20 feet of detonating cord, he said.
The agents purchased guns over the past year at about 10 gun shows, one in Las Vegas and the rest in Reno, including large events held at the Reno Hilton hotel-casino and the Reno-Sparks convention center, authorities said. The weapons include eight machine guns, 10 hand guns and 15 long guns, Torres said.
Items seized include a bulletproof vest, assault rifles and semiautomatic pistols - specifically a Korean-made AK47 machine gun, a .45-caliber submachine gun, an AK47 semiautomatic assault pistol, a Glock 9 mm pistol, a Glock .40-caliber pistol and a Baretta semiautomatic pistol.
"We want to show that you can't use gun shows as a vehicle to conduct illegal firearm sales," Torres said.
The operation was "part of a nationwide commitment to reduce the number of illegal guns in possession out there," Bogden said.
Assistant Washoe County Sheriff Jim Lopey said the operation was a huge success.
"We got a lot of weapons off the street," he said.
Torres and Bogden said each of the suspects appeared to have been acting independently and none is known to be involved in terrorism or belong to a gang.
"But we want to be sure they do not get into the hands of gang members," he said.
The indictments show undercover buys were made at the "Las Vegas Gun Show" on Jan. 17 and at various sessions of the "Big Reno Gun Show" on April 23 and last year on Aug. 16 and Nov. 15.
"We are not targeting gun shows. We're targeting people who use gun shows as a conduit to traffic illegally in firearms," Torres said.
A message left at the number for the Big Reno Gun Show was not immediately returned. Another listed contact, Donald Shiffer of Carson City, was out of town and not immediately available for comment, said a woman who answered the telephone and identified herself as his daughter.
Nina Delgadillo, senior special agent and spokeswoman for the ATF field office in Sacramento, emphasized that most gun show dealers follow the law.
"This is a minority of people who are using gun shows to conduct illegal activities," she said.
"Unfortunately you have this other kind of people mixed in here," added Thomas Cannon, ATF special agent in charge of the Reno office.
Several of the people charged were felons or were covered by domestic violence restraining orders and were prohibited from possessing firearms, Bogden said.
Only licensed dealers can sell firearms at gun shows and they can sell directly to people only from within the same state. Sales to out-of-state buyers must include a licensed dealer from their home state.
Most of the charges in the indictments are punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, although several carry maximum sentences of 10 years in prison, including possession of a machine gun and possession of a firearm by a felon, Bogden said.
To: Col Sanders; Living Stone
I must respectfuly disagree with you both in the case of a business open to the public. You can't deny a whole class of peoples civil rights, whether it's a sign saying "we don't serve negroes", or a sign saying "we don't serve gun carriers".
TERMINATTOR
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-- property which you have bought and paid for should be yours to use in any way which you see fit, with very few exceptions.
117 -L Stone-
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We have a right to bear arms.
Do you have the freedom to search everyone you invite onto your property or into your establishment for hidden 'arms'?
Indeed, free people & free markets have a way of sorting such things out on their own, and the 'safe at any price' crowd will always lose.
A silencer/flash suppressor device could be very useful in concealing your position from an intruder in the dark. -- Personally, I'd rather have a very big & loud shotgun, but feel free to choose your weapon.
-- That's the american way, imo. - Can you agree?
I think the guys who wrote the BOR recognized the best way to be safe (secure) AND free, was to be well armed and equiped (well regulated), against all threats. If I had to choose I'd take free But we really don't have to choose one over the other when we can have BOTH.
"A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed." -- Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
First of all, the Second Amendment doesn't cover everything that could conceivably be used as a weapon; if it did, the federal government would be unable to impose any excise taxes or restrictions on much of anything. Rather, the Second Amendment covers items which by their nature would be suitable for use as arms in a well-functioning group of armed citizens. Since I don't think nuclear weapons would be suitable for use in such a context, the Second Amendment probably doesn't apply to them.
As for things like miniguns, if they are deemed to be such a public menace that they must be outlawed, the proper approach--as for anything else the Founding Fathers failed to see--would be to amend the Constitution to correct for the Founding Father's lack of vision:
On nuclear weapons and the 'well-regulated militia'
More On nuclear weapons and the 'well-regulated militia'
"The militia of these free commonwealths, entitled and accustomed to their arms, when compared with any possible army, must be tremendous and irresistible. Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birth-right of an American ... the unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people." --Tench Coxe; Pennsylvania Gazette, February 20, 1788
Molon Labe!
By protecting one's eyesight from muzzle flash, and one's ears from muzzle blast, someone protecting the door of their saferoom or entire house during a multiple assailant home invasion is better able to maintain an effective defense. This is just one reason why entry teams like suppressed arms (not every raid is a meth lab with flammable fumes). The fact that our law enforcement community finds utility in such devices, where they are not death squads, but are carrying arms for their defense, shows that those who find themselves in harms way appreciate putting a muffler on a noisy tool. A quiet first shot also reduces the mad-minute effect of everyone just firing blindly (a great example of that is the Waco raid video. No one knows who shot first, who gave the order, or what the signal was).
Hearing protection inhibits communication with friendlies and detection of assailants sneaking about. A good compromise is amplified earmuffs and an effective flash suppressor such as the Vortex design, but the elitists don't want common serfs to have flash suppressors either. Grabbing a pair of electronic muffs suppresses everyone's gunfire and amplifies even footfalls on carpet, but sound location is poor, muffs take time, can be knocked off, and batteries can die at the moment of need. On the other hand, most muzzle devices make the weapon envelope bigger and muzzle heavy.
In some European countires, suppressors are required and are considered neighborly.
Phew!! I'm so glad the feds were here harrassing citizens that, by their own admission, are not terrorists or gang members. Their work here is so much more worthwhile than infiltrating mosques being used as al-Qaeda recruitment centers and monitoring muslim prison chaplains to catch them recruiting for al-Qaeda.
My question is: for the pieces of property seized, what specifically made them illegal? And blasting caps and detonating cord are explosives? I noticed that they didn't seize any plastique or sticks of dynamite. What's next, arresting me for having the propane bottle that came with my barbeque grill?
Bump for future reference.
Well, I'm fond of the federal and state gun control laws that say that felons can't have firearms while incarcerated, for one.
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