Posted on 02/01/2013 5:57:40 AM PST by rellimpank
. A bipartisan push intensified Thursday for answers from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives about a flawed storefront sting in Milwaukee.
A Journal Sentinel investigation this week exposed a 10-month federal operation marred by a series of mistakes and failures, including an agent's machine gun being stolen and burglars ripping off $35,000 in merchandise from the agency's phony store. Milwaukee police and ATF are still looking for that stolen machine gun, officials said Thursday.
"Suffice to say, ATF and the police department both have a keen interest in trying to get that firearm back," said Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn.
Mayor Tom Barrett joined the call for an investigation and two letters were sent to the ATF's acting director, one from a group of powerful lawmakers and another from U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).
The seven-page letter by four leading members of Congress called the flawed sting "disturbing" and asked acting director B. Todd Jones for written answers to more than two dozen questions related to the operation, dubbed "Fearless Distributing."
As a result of the sting, about 30 people were charged in federal and state court, most with low-level drug and gun counts. In at least three cases, the newspaper found, agents recommended charges against the wrong person, including a man who was in prison on a previous ATF case at the time he was accused of selling them drugs. The operation seized 145 guns.
(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...
"I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
You just cannot make this stuff up!
This should come to be known as the ATF’s “Half-ast & Curious” Operation.
It should be noted that there is now one fully automatic machinegun somewhere in Milwaukee. Were other guns taken in the robbery? They say not, but various shady people were running to Gander Mountain et al buying guns then sellling to the front for the huge pricess they offered.
When asked the agents who ran the place gave fake names to the police, so what is the likelyhood they mentioned any guns they had in store? Zip.
This sounds like a Mafai “break oout.” Get a store fromt, stock it with merchandise secured on credit, sell it for a pittance, stage a break in and load out any remaining loot, stiff the creditors and never pay. The machinegun would bring fancy money too so sell it and declare it stolen. If you have a lot of brass, insure the merchandise and hang around to collect from the insurance company too but that is risky.
The BATFE are NOT on the side of regular citizens. The scope of authority for the BATFE should be to eliminate all ATF&E representations/displays/use in the movies and on TV.
I don’t know how much more dysfunction is possible from one administration. I wish there was a betting pool.
The Peter Principal is going strong.
—ping—
Its really not this administration as much as systemic stupid w/i the ATF. Their track record of corruption, incompetence and criminality spans many administrations. In any normal world they would have been disbanded already.
More on the failed ATF sting in Milwaukee
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
If there was a law making fully automatic machine guns illegal the criminals would have known not to take that one.
Oh wait!! There is such a law and the criminals didn’t follow it. (Which is typical behavior for criminals.)
So how is banning guns going to stop criminals from getting guns again?
One has to wonder if they will have federal charges filed against them and if they'll be hauled away in handcuffs and shackles like the Reese family for making false statements about federal crimes.
So, if these were private individuals, would they be charged with improperly securing a dangerous weapon, thus allowing it to fall into the hands of a criminal element (such as not putting apppropriate gun locks on a handgun)? Shouldn't these feds be charged with a much more serious felony for this? After all, the trend is to blame not the criminal, but the source.
So, if these were private individuals, would they be charged with improperly securing a dangerous weapon, thus allowing it to fall into the hands of a criminal element (such as not putting apppropriate gun locks on a handgun)? Shouldn't these feds be charged with a much more serious felony for this? After all, the trend is to blame not the criminal, but the source.
“One has to wonder if they will have federal charges filed against them ...”
They will be charged right after their boss, Eric Holder, is charged ... How long can you hold your breath?
Those hypocrites Barrett and Flynn jump on the bandwagon now that it’s gone national. Where were these sobs before?
I suspect this ATF site was set up to furnish guns to bad guys, in hopes of sparking massacres that could be used for control purposes.
Always a tip off. When a "store" is offering high retail or even half that for a used item, they probably aren't a legitimate business.
Legitimate businesses have to make a profit, and there has to be some meat left on the bone.
A local sting many moons ago made the same screwup by offering one fellow retail for a used Atari Game. While the game was broken, it was the property of the seller, who promptly took the offer. The word hit the street that something was fishy within the hour.
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