Month: March 2011

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Another Raid In Columbus, New Mexico

March 11, 2011 by 4 Comments

The border town of Columbus, New Mexico just seems to attract raiders.

First it was Pancho Villa in 1916. That raid became the stuff of legend. It led to the Punitive Expedition commanded by General John J. Pershing which chased around Mexico after Villa for a couple of years without catching him.

Now it is the ATF (assisted by DEA) that has raided Columbus, New Mexico. Unlike the Pancho Villa raid, no one was killed. However, the mayor, police chief, one council member, and eight others were all arrested on drug and weapons charges. Firearms reportedly were crossing the border in an unmarked Columbus Police Department truck.

A copy of the 26-page indictment can be found here.

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NSSF Opposes Nominee Tied To Eliot Spitzer

March 10, 2011 by

The NSSF released this about an hour ago on their blog about Caitlin Halligan who is nominated as a Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is slated to vote later today on the nomination of Caitlin Halligan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Ms. Halligan previously served as Solicitor General under then-New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer while he was suing members of the firearms industry. As New York’s Solicitor General, Halligan signed the brief in People of the State of New York v. Sturm, Ruger & Co, Inc., et al arguing that the lawful and highly regulated sale of firearms somehow created a ”public nuisance.” The New York appellate decision roundly rejected her arguments and upheld the dismissal of the case. Later, she filed an amicus brief in City of New York v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp. in support of the Giuliani/Bloomberg lawsuit against members of our industry arguing that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) was unconstitutional. Every appellate court in the nation has rejected that argument and not a single federal court judge has ever agreed, not even Brooklyn, N.Y., federal court judge Jack B. Weinstein whose ruling Halligan was seeking to have overturned.

Her specious arguments as Solicitor General in support of baseless lawsuits designed to destroy America’s firearms industry raise important questions about whether Ms. Halligan is qualified to serve as a federal appellate court judge.

Unfortunately, the Senate Judiciary Committee has held the vote on Halligan and approved her nomination by a 10 to 8 vote. I am presuming it was along party lines. Of the votes taken during their business meeting, the vote on Halligan was the only one with a roll call vote. If her nomination is to be stopped, it will be on the floor of the Senate.

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AG Holder Questioned On ATF At Appropriations Hearings

March 10, 2011 by

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science held appropriation hearings on the Department of Justice’s FY 2012 budget requests. It marks the first time that Attorney General Eric Holder has been called on to testify under oath since the Project Gunwalker scandal has really erupted.

A video webcast of the hearings can be found here.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) is the Ranking Member on this subcommittee. She expressed her reservations about ATF’s Operation Gunrunner in her opening remarks (38:15 – 39:25). When it was her turn to question Holder, she asked him directly about Operation Gunrunner (53:45 – 56:00). He responded that “letting guns walk is not acceptable” and that he had made that clear to U.S. Attorneys and field ATF offices. He noted that firearms are different than drug or money laundering cases where investigators might want to follow the money or drugs.

Later in the hearings, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) tried to get Holder to commit to supporting both a ban on standard capacity magazines and the “gun show loophole” (83:30 – 86:30). In both cases, Holder said they should examine the ban and private sales but wouldn’t commit to endorsing Lautenberg’s measures. He said the administration was looking at measures that would “respect the Second Amendment yet still protect law enforcement officers.” Lautenberg also threw out some poll numbers saying 69% of Americans support closing the “gun show loophole”. I presume these come from the same discredited polls put out by Bloomberg and his Illegal Mayors.

The website MainJustice.com also has a report on these hearings.

UPDATE: CBS News has better video of Holder’s answer to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s question about Project Gunrunner.

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Indictment At Center Of Operation Fast And Furious

March 10, 2011 by 3 Comments

On January 25th, Dennis Burke, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, announced a grand jury indictment of 20 people on gun-running and drug charges. These charges were based upon the Operation Gunrunner (now Fast and Furious) investigation by the Phoenix Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. It seemed like a big bust at the time and it got a lot of publicity – as it was intended to do. We now know that this was only the tip of the iceberg.

Reading through the indictment of Jaime Avila, Jr. and the other defendents is interesting. By my rough count, the defendents purchased 717 firearms while only 123 were recovered by police and other law enforcement agencies. The majority of the firearms were sold by Lone Wolf Trading of Glendale, AZ. Indeed, I count 618 AK rifles and AK Draco pistols sold by them alone.

My conclusion on reading the indictment is that no FFL would have sold anything in that sort of quantity without the permission (and encouragement) of ATF.

Second, red flags had to be going off in Clarksburg, WV where the FBI was processing all those NICS checks before allowing the sales to go through. The FBI has not been mentioned in connection with Operation Gunwalker previously but these sales could not have been processed without their assistance. This leads to the question of what the FBI knew about this investigation and were they ordered by higher-ups in the Justice Department to provide assistance to ATF’s ongoing investigation. If so, who?

H/T The Firing Line forum

ATF – AVILA, Jaime Indictment – USBP Agent Terry Murder

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That Didn’t Take Long

March 10, 2011 by 1 Comment

It was only yesterday that Chris Cox of the NRA-ILA called upon the House Judiciary Committee to hold an expedited investigation into Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunwalker). By last night, Rep. Lamar Smith and 13 Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee released this statement regarding the letter they sent to Attorney General Eric Holder with a demand for answers.

Republicans Want Answers on ATF Gun Trafficking Program

Washington, Mar 9 –

Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and 13 Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee today sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder regarding recent allegations that ATF may have been complicit in the illegal transfer of firearms into Mexico. The members requested information regarding the Phoenix-based program known as “Fast and Furious,” which according to reports intentionally allowed straw buyers for criminal organizations to purchase thousands of guns so that ATF could track them across the border.

Smith and the members criticized ATF’s alleged actions saying, “We find it ironic that the government allowed guns to be trafficked into Mexico as part of a program designed to stop guns from being trafficked into Mexico. We are also troubled that ATF engaged in activities that may have facilitated the transfer of guns to violent drug cartels while simultaneously attempting to restrict lawful firearms sales by border-area firearms dealers.”

According to the Center for Public Integrity, ATF allowed nearly 2,000 guns—valued at over one million dollars—to cross the border to known criminal organizations. Two of the guns from the program were found at the murder scene of Customs and Border Protection Agent Brian Terry in December.

The Department of Justice has requested that the Inspector General investigate the allegations. But more questions for the Department remain, including who authorized and directed the program.

While it doesn’t ask about the ATF and DOJ responses to earlier questions from Sen. Chuck Grassley, it is a start.

HjC Gunrunner Letter

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HB 111 – Concealed Carry In Restaurants And Parks Passes Out Of Committee

March 10, 2011 by 2 Comments

HB 111, the bill in the North Carolina State House that would allow concealed carry in restaurants that serve alcohol and would allow concealed carry in parks, passed out of the House Judiciary A Subcommittee today.

Grass Roots North Carolina issued a full report on the subcommittee hearings including news on all amendments this evening.

In a bruising battle fought by both legislators and GRNC’s Legislative Action Team, HB 111, “Handgun Permit Valid in Parks & Restaurants” fought its way out of the NC House Judiciary A Subcommittee and now heads for a floor vote as early as tomorrow. Both strengthening and weakening changes were made to the bill.

REP. HILTON’S SUBSTITUTE

Working with GRNC, bill sponsors Mark Hilton (R-Catawba, ****), Jeff Barnhart (R-Cabarrus, ****) and Fred Steen (R-Rowan, ****) produced an enhanced version of HB 111 which included concealed carry not only in municipal parks, but in state parks as well. The substitute was quickly adopted as the working vehicle for the bill.

COMMITTEE FIGHT

Anti-gun Reps. Deborah Ross (D-Wake, GRNC 0-star), Bill Faison (D-Durham, **), and Larry Hall (D-Durham, 0-star) tried to tie up the bill with repeated questioning and with contradictory and shifting amendments. Ross demanded that, in restaurants, servers ask diners ordering alcohol whether they are carrying firearms. In a confusing array of amendments to amendments, ultimately the committee passed an amendment to the bill under which restaurants MAY but are not REQUIRED to ask those ordering alcohol of their status. As noted below, GRNC will vociferously oppose even this weakened language on the House floor.

An equally confusing series of amendments was offered by Faison, who tried to remove both municipal and state parks from the bill. After Hilton, Barnhart and Steen opposed Faison’s proposals, they ultimately failed in an 8-5 vote.

In an effort to tie up the bill, Faison repeatedly dogged bill sponsors with questions about why permit-holders need to protect their families in restaurants, demanding unavailable crime statistics and complaining “Where’s the problem?” Hall painted fanciful pictures of shootouts between patrons in restaurants, and demanded exclusion of parks for the sake of “youth groups,” saying he didn’t want permit-holders “further endangering” kids.

But leading the charge to subvert gun owners’ ability to protect themselves was Ross, who claimed support for her weakening amendment from the Restaurant Association (whose lobbyist then stood to oppose the Ross amendment), and whined that concealed carry is specifically exempted from the right to keep and bear arms enumerated in the North Carolina Constitution.

UPDATE: Gary Robertson of the Associated Press has more on the bill passing out of committee and the opponents reactions to the bill.

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NRA-ILA Calls For Expedited Congressional Hearings Into Project Gunwalker

March 9, 2011 by

Chris Cox, Executive Director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, called for expedited Congressional hearings in the Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunwalker) scandal.

NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox Calls for Expedited Hearings into BATFE Investigative Tactics

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

On March 9, NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox sent letters to key leaders in Congress calling for hearings to examine the firearms trafficking investigations tactics employed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Those tactics have allegedly allowed firearms to fall into the hands of Mexican criminal organizations, with the knowledge of the BATFE.

In the letters sent to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Ranking Member, John Conyers (D-Mich.) and their counterparts in the U.S. Senate, Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Cox wrote that the BATFE project “reportedly allowed over 2,000 firearms to be sold to individuals already linked to Mexican drug cartels. Many of those transactions were reported as suspicious by the licensed firearms dealers themselves, but BATFE reportedly encouraged them to proceed with these sales, which the dealers would otherwise have turned down.”

Cox also called on the committees to look into the BATFE responses to inquiries about these suspect programs, stating “Any investigation should also examine the responses by the BATFE and the Department of Justice to earlier congressional inquiries about the ‘Fast and Furious’ program.”

The letter to House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith and Ranking Member John Conyers is below. If you will remember a few days ago, Judge Andrew Napolitano said on Fox News that  it was essential to have the House investigate this scandal as the Republicans control that house of Congress.

NRA Letter to Senate & House Leaders Regarding the BATF Gun Runner Scandal

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The Washington Post Is Finally Heard From

March 9, 2011 by 2 Comments

It has been almost three months since Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered on the U.S.-Mexico border. It has been over one month since Sen. Chuck Grassley went public with his concerns about ATF allowing guns to “walk” unmolested across the border which were then used to kill Agent Terry. During this whole time, while David Codrea and Mike Vanderboegh have been working to get this story the attention it well deserves, the Washington Post has barely mentioned it. This despite their months long series of articles called “The Hidden Life of Guns”.

Today, James V. Grimaldi deigned to finally cover the story in detail for the Washington Post. I guess after feature stories in the L.A. Times and Christian Science Monitor, multiple reports by Sharyl Attkisson for CBS News, CNN, and an in-depth report by the Center for Public Integrity this scandal could no longer be ignored without looking like (more of) a fool.

The article entitled ATF’s tactics to end gun-trafficking faces a federal review breaks virtually no new ground in its summary of the scandal. It does try to place the blame on “weak gun laws” and “investigative restrictions” for the tactics used by ATF managers to try and build a “big case”.

The controversy highlights the difficulty ATF agents face in complex cases against increasingly sophisticated gunrunning rings, said former and current government officials. Because of weak gun laws and investigative limitations imposed at the urging of the gun lobby, 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.

Sebastian at Snow Flakes in Hell does an excellent job of demolishing this argument by pointing out the penalties for “paperwork violations” which, by the way, are Federal felonies.

Not satisfied with glossing over what are Federal felonies, Grimaldi and the Post then call upon the anti-gunners favorite ex-ATF Special Agent “Waco Jim” Cavanaugh to help buttress their argument.

“There is no gun-trafficking statute,” said James Cavanaugh, a retired ATF supervisor. “We’ve been yelling for years that we need a gun-trafficking statute because these cases are so difficult to prove.”

This means that agents who want to make bigger cases must sometimes watch guns travel to criminals who use them in more serious crimes, such as drug trafficking.

Grimaldi, in a back-handed slap that would make Mark Potok of the SPLC salivate with joy, then acknowledges the work that that David and Mike have done bringing this scandal to light.

Anti-ATF bloggers sympathetic to the militia movement picked up the allegations late last year, dubbing the scandal “Project Gunwalker” and alleging ATF agents let guns “walk” to boost the numbers of U.S. weapons recovered in Mexico. The bloggers theorized that the ATF wanted high numbers to gain support for an assault-weapons ban.

It must suck to have a pair of middle-aged white guys with blogs just thoroughly beat you at your own job.

Grimaldi tries to defend the tactics used by ATF by quoting Andre Howard, owner of Lone Wolf Trading in Glendale, AZ, who cooperated with ATF in selling substantial numbers of AK’s to straw purchasers. Howard said “It appears that any state or federal agency charged with said tasks are damned if they do, and damned if they don’t.” Mind you, Howard was probably paid twice on the guns he sold. Once, by the straw purchasers and  second, by the ATF as I understand he was a paid Confidential Informant.

This was the same store Grimaldi tried to savage back in December when he identified them as No. 8 on the list of gun stores with the highest number of traces. At the time he said they couldn’t be reached for comment. He did add that “ATF officials said they have no indication that Lone Wolf is doing anything wrong or illegal.” I’m sure that if Howard was in the midst of allowing guns to go to Mexico at their behest that is exactly what they would say.

The question now is when the New York Times – the self-proclaimed paper of record – will see Operation Fast and Furious as “news fit to print”.