Revelations prompt review of firearms sting

By Dennis Wagner, USA TODAY

Posted 10h 37m ago

Newly released U.S. records and declarations by a government whistle-blower appear to support allegations that government agents allowed hundreds of firearms to be smuggled across the Arizona border into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

Revelations by the Center for Public Integrity and CBS News on Thursday forced the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to call for an outside review, and are likely to accelerate a congressional investigation of the scandal.

The controversy has engulfed Project Gun Runner, an ATF enforcement campaign that was designed to dismantle Mexican gun-running operations, but purportedly wound up arming the cartels instead.

Investigators have confirmed that two weapons from the probe were found at the scene of a December gunbattle near Nogales, Ariz., that took the life of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona, ATF agents did not learn about the purchase of those guns until three days after the sale, and did not have the buyer under surveillance.

Justice Department authorities and their counterparts in Mexico have complained for years that cartel violence is fueled by a flood of weapons — mostly AK-47s — purchased in the United States and smuggled unlawfully across the border.

Project Gun Runner was created in 2006 to combat that threat by identifying and prosecuting firearms traffickers.

Dozens of straw buyers have been arrested, and ATF says more than 10,000 guns have been confiscated. However, the bureau fell under criticism from the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General last year because Project Gun Runner was catching only straw buyers — relatively small fish in the smuggling business.

The newly released ATF documents make it clear the bureau sought to overcome such criticism by allowing firearm smugglers to make purchases in Arizona so they could be traced to bigger fish south of the border. In a case known as Operation Fast and Furious, gun dealers were encouraged to make sales to known traffickers who were sometimes wiretapped and under surveillance. Scores of transactions occurred involving more than 1,500 guns.

As a result of the strategy, assault rifles, potent .50 caliber guns and other weapons vanished into Mexico, where nearly 200 were recovered by police after violent crimes.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Idaho, the ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has pressed ATF for two months to disclose details of Project Gun Runner and to justify a policy that allowed weapons into Mexico, where the government reported 28,0004 narco-related murders in four years.

ATF and Justice Department officials have denied that agents sanctioned or watched the smuggling of firearms across the border. However, in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Grassley said there is "mounting evidence" that "walking" guns into Mexico was an approved strategy and that some agents were silenced when they protested that lives could be jeopardized.

One example: A March 12 (2010) e-mail written by Phoenix task force supervisor David Voth acknowledged a "schism" among his agents and warned those questioning the program that they might wind up as jail guards: "It may sound cheesy, but we are 'the tip of the ATF spear' when it comes to Southwest border firearms trafficking," Voth wrote. "If you don't think this is fun, you're in the wrong line of work — period."

One of the agents, John Dodson, has sought formal protection as a whistle-blower under federal law and is providing information to the Judiciary Committee. In an interview with the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity, Dodson said, "With the number of guns we let walk, we'll never know how many people were killed, raped, robbed. ... There is nothing we can do to round up those guns. They are gone."

CBS News broadcast an interview with Dodson, and ATF surveillance video of suspects leaving an Arizona gun store with a case of assault rifles.

Kenneth Melson, acting ATF director, reacted by calling for an independent probe of Project Gun Runner. "This review will enable ATF to maximize its effectiveness when undertaking complex firearms trafficking investigations and prosecutions," he said.

In his letter to the bureau, Grassley said: "Getting to the truth of the ATF whistle-blower allegations in this case is extremely important to the family of Brian Terry, and should be important to all Americans."

In an interview with CBS News, Dodson said he was afraid that a U.S. law officer might be killed with a smuggled gun — and crushed when the fear apparently came true. Asked what he would say to Terry's family, he answered, "First of all, I'd tell them I'm sorry."

Wagner also reports for The Arizona Republic.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-03-04-arizona-gun-runner_N.htm#

Wyoming law allowing guns without permit prompts doubts

Thu, Mar 3 2011

By Laura Zuckerman

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Gun-control advocates on Thursday called a new Wyoming law that allows residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit a "troublesome trend" in Western states.

Wyoming's Republican Governor Matt Mead on Wednesday signed the permit-free gun bill into law. Beginning July 1, residents who want to pack handguns will no longer have to undergo a criminal background check or show proficiency with a firearm.

"We feel it's a very troublesome trend," said Brian Malte, director of state legislation for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

The law brings to four the number of states, including Alaska, Arizona and Vermont, that don't require permits for concealed weapons.

Wyoming is among several Western states where conservative lawmakers are pushing gun measures this year.

Legislatures in Colorado and Montana are considering bills that would let residents carry concealed weapons without a permit.

In Idaho and Texas, Republican lawmakers are seeking to allow firearms on college campuses.

In Utah, legislation awaiting the governor's signature designates a Browning semi-automatic pistol the official state gun.

And a bill in Arizona would establish a Colt revolver as the state firearm.

In Wyoming, the Republican Legislature voted overwhelmingly in favor of permit-free packing of weapons.

"SLIPPERY SLOPE"

Rep. Allen Jaggi, the Wyoming Republican who crafted the measure, said guns were merely the vehicle for legislation that affirmed rights like the one to bear arms spelled out in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

He said guns in the right hands make a safer society.

"All a permit requirement does is stop law-abiding citizens from being able to defend themselves when they need to," Jaggi told Reuters.
(Editing by Dan Whitcomb)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/04/us-wyoming-guns-idUSTRE72309020110304

Eric Adams, State Senator, Exposes Ease Of Gun Clip Sales (VIDEO)

First Posted: 03/ 2/11 11:52 AM Updated: 03/ 2/11 03:18 PM

A Daily News video shows it's surprisingly easy tobuy high-capacity gun clips, like the ones used by Jared Loughner, in New York state (see video below).

The newspaper followed State Sen. Eric Adams with a hidden camera as he visited two gun stores near Albany that "routinely sell the high-capacity clips."

It is illegal to sell clips (that hold up to 30 bullets) made after 1994 in New York state, but both stores said they sold the old versions, which are still legal.

From the Daily News:

At Guns Inc. in Rensselaer, a Daily News hidden camera looked on as Adams bought two 30-round magazines for an AK-47 assault rifle.

The senator used his credit card to buy the clips - at $42.19 each - and walked out less than five minutes later without even having to show identification.

At B&J Shooting Supply in Colonie, there were no large volume magazines in stock, but the store was expecting more "any time now."

The problem with New York's current law, legal experts said, is that it's very difficult to determine when a gun magazine was made. Manufacturers don't have to print a date for when the clips were manufactured.

Adams plans to propose legislation that would forbid all high-capacity magazines from being sold.

"This bill is going to close the loophole so the clips are banned, period," Adams said.

"The more rounds you're able to discharge prior to having to reload, the more dangerous you are."

This is not the first time a New York politician tried to expose gun purchasing loopholes. Mayor Bloomberg garnered national headlines when he sent a team of undercover agents from New York City to Arizona gun shows where hidden cameras showed agents buying guns without undergoing background checks.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer mocked Bloomberg's efforts and said the mayor should worry about crime in his own city.

Adams also said New York needed to take care of problems in its own backyard.

"Before we can deal with Arizona, we need clean up our own state" Adams said.

Adams appears impressively calm in the video, given that he's misleading a man surrounded by shelves of weapons. But of course Adams is no stranger to making eye-catching videos. The Brooklyn Democrat made a YouTube video telling parents how to spy on their kids to prevent them from bringing guns and drugs into the home

Attorney General Wants FOID Card Holders Made Public

Posted: Tuesday, March 1st

WSIL TV -- A ruling by the Illinois Attorney General's Office isn't sitting well with many gun owners.

State police issue Firearm Owners Identification, or FOID, cards to anyone who wants to own a gun in Illinois. The list of card holders has always been private, but now Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office says the public has a right to know who's on that list.

Lennie Shelton of Thompsonville, Ill., is one of more than a million Illinois residents who have a FOID card. And while many of those people are up in arms about the ruling, Shelton is not one of them.

"Publicizing this list of who has a FOID card and who doesn't isn't going to make a hill of beans bit of difference," she said.

Shelton points out that just because you are a FOID cardholder does NOT mean you're a gun owner. She sees potential benefits in making the names of cardholders an open record.

"If I'm a criminal, I don't want to break into somebody's house that has a gun that might be ready to just shoot me as I come in the door," she told News Three.

Larry Morse disagrees. He's on the board of the Illinois State Rifle Association and thinks publicizing FOID card holders' names will put gun owner's at risk of being robbed.

"I think you just make yourself a target when you wholesale list names of people who own guns," he explained.

Illinois has required FOID cards for more than 40 years. The law is designed to help state police keep guns out of the hands of criminals, by tracking those who want to buy a firearm.

Morse believes Attorney General Lisa Madigan is taking aim at gun owner's privacy.

"Privacy is a big issue in this country, and most of the liberals in this country value their privacy very highly," he said, "Except when it comes to revealing the names of gun owners."

But Shelton doesn't understand what all the fuss is about, and insists most people won't care if the names are made public.

"That seems to be the American way anymore, to take a hangnail and turn it into a major surgery," she said.

State police say they will not release the information and plan to take this issue to court.

Gun owners are also getting some support in the General Assembly. There are currently bills in both the house and senate to permanently make the names of FOID card holders private.

By: Emily Finnegan

http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=12583&type=top#

ATF investigating shooting at gun show

By Kevin Barlow | kbarlow@pantagraph.com | Posted: Monday, February 28, 2011 5:29 pm
BLOOMINGTON -- The three victims injured when a rifle accidentally discharged at a weekend gun show were identified Monday by authorities.

Robert Feldkamp, 57, of Bloomington remains hospitalized with injuries he suffered when he was struck in the back Saturday during an incident at the Egyptian Collector's Association Gun and Knife Show, Sheriff Mike Emery told reporters at a news conference.

Michael Vandegraft, 63, of Normal was treated at Advocate BroMenn Medical Center, Normal, where he was released that evening for a shoulder wound. His son, Mark Vandegraft, 37, of El Paso declined medical treatment for facial injuries cause by wood splinters.

Emery said Washington resident Joseph Gift, 68, had been holding a Ruger Mini 14, a .223-caliber semiautomatic rifle, when it went off around 11:15 a.m. at Bloomington's Sale Barn. The bullet passed through a 4- to 6-inch wooden pole, causing the splinters that injured Mark Vandegraft, went through his father's shoulder and then through Feldkamp's back and out his chest, police said.

Police recovered a single bullet Sunday from the building, police said.

Emery said the investigation into the incident is ongoing. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is working with the sheriff's office to determine if federal rules against having loaded weapons at a gun show were violated and if so, by whom, said the sheriff.

"The bureau will be conducting ballistic tests and analyzing the weapon to see why it discharged," Emery said. "They are the experts when it comes to these matters."
Emery said Gift was unsure if his finger was near the trigger when he placed the rifle back on the table.

No charges were filed as of Monday, but guns with ammunition are not allowed at gun sales.

"Once the final report is complete, I will review it and make a determination about charges at that time," McLean County State's Attorney Bill Yoder said.

The rifle is owned by Scott Simpson of Hoopeston. Emery said Simpson gave it to Robert Rigdon of Gold and Diamond Exchange Pawn Shop Inc. of Urbana, who was to sell it on consignment.

It was not clear Monday when the round was placed in the gun or who placed it there.
Simpson declined to comment Monday when contacted by The Pantagraph. There was no answer Monday at a telephone number listed in the store's name.

"The investigation is continuing into why this weapon was loaded and on display," Emery said. "We know that the weapon was on consignment through the vendor. What we continue to investigate is if the owner safety-checked the weapon prior to turning it over to the vendor and if the vendor performed a safety check prior to placing it on display."

Such guns are often used on farms, ranches or personal defense, authorities said.

"This particular gun was popular years ago with police departments and many of them are in surplus now or sold on gun websites," said McLean County Chief Deputy Rusty Thomas.

-- Edith Brady-Lunny contributed to this report.

 http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/article_0416d7fa-4393-11e0-9cee-001cc4c03286.html

Tracking the gun-runners

The Obama administration appears poised to allow the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to track bulk sales of semiautomatic long guns.
February 28, 2011

Violence along the U.S.-Mexico border continues to spiral upward, with all-too-frequent reports of bullet-ridden bodies turning up on street corners, in parks, on deserted highways, even at quinceaneras.

A complex combination of drugs, corruption and poverty may be behind the bloodletting. But the source of the weapons used to kill is easily identified: The U.S. accounts for an estimated 85% of guns seized by Mexican authorities, according to a 2009 Government Accountability Office report.

For years, U.S. officials have been promising to clamp down on gun-runners who supply drug cartels and human smugglers. Now, the Obama administration has the opportunity to make good on that pledge, by granting a request by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to track bulk sales of semiautomatic long guns. The new rule would require the 8,500 licensed gun shops in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas to report to the agency any sale of two or more rifles of greater than .22 caliber to the same person over five days.

It's a sensible and, if anything, too-modest plan that could provide valuable tips to ATF agents and help reduce violence on both sides of the border. President Obama should not only approve it, he should expand it to apply to all gun sellers nationwide. Limiting the rule to the four border states will only push the illicit trade into the nearest state where smugglers can load up on AK-47-style assault weapons.

Unsurprisingly, the National Rifle Assn. and its allies in Washington oppose this perfectly reasonable proposal. The administration, however, shouldn't be cowed by Congress, which, in a rare and unexpected show of bipartisanship, has vowed to foil the plan.

Earlier this month, the House voted 277 to 149 to block the ATF's request by barring the use of federal funds. Lawmakers contend that it threatens Americans' 2nd Amendment rights and creates an undue paperwork burden on gun sellers. But the rule would merely allow the ATF to track bulk gun sales. Americans would remain free to buy as many guns as they wish — more, frankly, than we'd like. Furthermore, gun sellers are already subject to similar reporting requirements involving multiple sales of handguns.

Lawmakers are less concerned about the Constitution than the cash that could be spent against them if they anger the NRA.

Giving federal agents a tool to trace guns isn't going to solve the problem of violence at the border, but it may help identify those who are supplying brutal drug gangs like the one that killed a U.S. immigration agent and injured another one this month in Mexico. As modest as the ATF's plan is, it's far better than what Congress is offering: the continued flow of instruments of death across a dangerous border.

Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-guns-20110228,0,28852.story

 

Arizona Shooting has Little Effect on National Gun Debate

Ronald J. Hansen, The Arizona Republic Feb. 27, 2011

 

In the days after six people were killed and 13 wounded in a massacre near Tucson, many people hoped the shooting spree would spark a new debate about guns in America.

 Today, more than seven weeks after the shooting that left U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords with a serious gunshot wound to the head, hundreds of gun-related bills are being considered in statehouses nationwide. But in many cases, the proposals reflect long-standing ideas familiar to both sides of the issue.

Massachusetts, like other states with strong gun controls, is considering a bill to require that guns place unique imprints on bullet casings. The National Rifle Association is again calling for a federal right-to-carry law for gun owners.

 

Even in Arizona, where several bills are pending that would expand the state's already liberal gun rights, the shooting did not reset the debate.

"We're on the same trajectory we were on before," said Brian Malte, director of mobilization for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "In terms of what the NRA is proposing, I don't think Tucson has had any effect on that."

The lack of change in the legislative agenda may be because of public opinion in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.

January polling by the Pew Research Center found that respondents were about evenly divided on the question of whether they favor protecting general gun rights more than instituting further general gun controls.

By nearly a 2-1 ratio, respondents saw Giffords' shooting as the isolated act of a troubled man.

Jared Loughner, 22, has been indicted on three federal counts related to the attempted assassination of Giffords and the attempted murder of two of her aides. Other charges, including murder, are expected.

Polling was also nearly even on the question pitting gun rights against gun control after Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and wounded 17 others in the Virginia Tech massacre of 2007.

While specific gun-control issues, like mandatory background checks for all purchases, have found public support, Gallup has noted a 20-year polling trend supporting more gun rights generally and looser gun-control laws.

Small moves in D.C.

Since the Jan. 8 massacre at a Giffords meet-and-greet outside a Safeway store, at least eight bills have been introduced in the U.S. House or Senate that would tighten gun laws or criminalize threats to public officials. Some of the bills are new efforts at legislation that failed to pass before.

The bill receiving the most support from gun-control activists would renew a ban on high-capacity magazines like the one used by the gunman in the shooting near Tucson. Authorities say people at the scene tackled the gunman after he emptied a magazine believed to hold up to 33 rounds.

A measure from U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., would prohibit new magazines from holding more than 10 rounds for the public.

After the Arizona shooting, former Vice President Dick Cheney said "maybe it's appropriate" to restrict high-capacity magazines, as the now-expired 1994 assault-weapons ban did, but that view has not spread among many other Republicans.

McCarthy's bill has 90 co-sponsors, but not one congressional Republican is among them.

U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., is the only member of his party to sign on to any of the gun-control measures. He introduced a bill that would prohibit bringing guns to official events with members of Congress or candidates for federal office. So far, that bill has garnered only four co-sponsors.

A month after the shooting at the Giffords event, the NRA rejected proposals like McCarthy's and renewed its call for a law allowing gun owners legally permitted to carry concealed weapons in one state to do so in other states with similar laws. Such a bill was introduced Feb. 18.

"The media and the political elites want us to believe that if we just pass another law or two, we can stop a madman bent on violence," Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, said during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. "If we could legislate evil out of people's hearts, we would have done it long ago."

Gun-control advocates, meanwhile, acknowledge an uphill fight for legislative changes, especially in Washington, but they claim momentum is building.

"The (Arizona) shooting has really galvanized a lot of people," said Ladd Everitt, a spokesman for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. "Progressives and moderates have begun to connect the dots that this is really a matter of ideology."

Everitt cited the McCarthy bill as the one "we think is achievable," acknowledging the conservative makeup of Congress.

Other bills in Washington range from banning suspected terrorists from legally buying guns to closing the "gun-show loophole," a familiar complaint among gun-control supporters that has never found enough votes in Congress. Federal law does not require an instant background check for all purchases at gun shows.

States keep course

Gun laws may not remain static at the state level.

As of Thursday, there were at least 470 gun-related bills pending across the country, according to the Legal Community Against Violence, which advocates gun control. Of those, 172 would tighten gun-control laws, 273 would expand gun rights and 25 were unclassified or amix, according to the group's analysis.

In Arizona, at least 16 bills would affect gun laws. Most would expand gun rights, including a bill that would allow university and community-college faculty with valid permits to carry concealed weapons on campus.

In California and New York, two states controlled by Democrats and historically restrictive for guns, lawmakers are considering bills that would increase gun controls.

New York has at least a dozen bills pending that would restrict guns, from banning .50-caliber weapons altogether to forcing those considered unstable to temporarily surrender their guns.

In California, lawmakers will consider again a bill to outlaw openly carrying unloaded weapons. It is already illegal to openly carry a loaded gun there.

In many less-populous states, the move is toward greater gun rights, as it was before the Arizona shooting.

Last month, the Wyoming Senate approved a measure to allow citizens there to carry concealed weapons without requiring a permit. If it becomes law, Wyoming would join Arizona, Alaska and Vermont as the only states with such laws. A Utah lawmaker is pursuing a similar bill for his state.

"In Wyoming, most of us are pro-Second Amendment," said Skip Hornecker, the sheriff of Fremont County and president of the state's sheriffs and police association, which has technical concerns with the concealed-weapons bill but doesn't oppose it outright.

Wisconsin appeared likely to end its ban on concealed weapons even before the Tucson shooting.

A Montana state senator said the Arizona shooting shows the urgent need to pass a bill that he introduced in December that would allow lawmakers to carry concealed weapons at the Capitol.

"I think what happened (in Arizona) is exactly what could happen right here," Sen. Verdell Jackson, a Republican, told the Missoulian newspaper.

One state senator in Nebraska has introduced four bills that would expand gun rights, including allowing concealed weapons in schools.

Underscoring the partisan way in which gun laws and many other policies are viewed, Republican lawmakers in South Dakota introduced a bill that would require adult residents to own a gun. The bill is intended as an admittedly cynical rejoinder to President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul that requires adults to have health insurance.

"Do I or the other co-sponsors believe that the state of South Dakota can require citizens to buy firearms? Of course not," South Dakota Rep. Hal Wick told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. "But at the same time, we do not believe the federal government can order every citizen to buy health insurance."

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/02/27/20110227gabrielle-giffords-arizona-shooting-gun-debate.html