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Gov. Susana Martinez On Concealed Carry

September 2, 2011 by

Gov. Susana Martinez (R-NM) recently requalified for her New Mexico concealed carry license. I covered that including video of her qualification test here.

In an interview with Cam Edwards of NRA News, she discusses her background with firearms. Her parents owned a security guard business in El Paso, TX and she began carrying (openly) as a security guard at the age of 18.  Eventually, she ended up in New Mexico and became a prosecutor. She says getting her concealed carry license was just the next step in her evolution as a gun owner.

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I Can’t Believe An ATF Official Actually Said This

September 1, 2011 by 4 Comments

Julie Torres is the Deputy Assistant Director for Field Operations (East) with ATF. On Monday she sent out an open letter to all Federal firearms licensees regarding the September 11th anniversary.

The letter warns FFLs to exercise “increased awareness and vigilance” as September 11th approaches. While ATF has no specific threat information, they obviously believe that gun shops would be targets for terrorists seeking weapons.

After giving links to publications on safety and security and after reminding dealers that they have a legal obligation to report losses to both local law enforcement as well as ATF, Ms. Torres includes this statement:

Any time you spot suspicious activity associated with your Federal firearms license, please contact your local ATF field office immediately.

In light of the behavior of ATF officials in Project Gunwalker I find this highly ironic. Dealers did contact ATF immediately in both Texas and Arizona when they were faced with dubious buyers making suspicious purchases. They were ordered by the ATF to let those sales go through even though they were going to what obviously were straw purchasers.

So, Ms. Torres, you may want to reevaluate your choice of words in the future. Or better yet, cooperate with the dealers when they are asking you for permission to reject suspicious sales.

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Quote Of The Day

September 1, 2011 by

ATF Special Agent Vince Cefalu was interviewed on the DemocracyNow radio show yesterday. Mr. Cefalu has been a ardent critic of ATF management for years and has been retaliated against more than once for being a whistleblower. He is one of the founders of the website CleanUpATF.org. In his interview yesterday, he made the following comment about the guns that walked in Operation Fast and Furious.

So we allowed these guns to go, continue on, in the hopes of establishing some sort of chain, or this iron pipeline, which was so far from the truth, but we were never going to be able to follow it to fruition. … So, the only way to track those guns were to find them at the crime scenes or (on) dead bodies.

I think that about says it all.

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Preparing For The Zombie Apocalypse?

September 1, 2011 by 5 Comments

Needing a break from Project Gunwalker, the economy, and the trials and tribulations of ATF, I stumbled across this – the South African made NeoPup PAW A4 20mm infantry weapon system. If there was ever a weapon designed for the Zombie Apocalypse, it was this. One hit from its 1698 grain projectile and it will be all over for the living dead!

The NeoPup PAW 20 A4 is sort of a rifle crossed with a stand-along grenade laucher put on an off-set bullpup body. The Kitup Blog notes that the PAW 20 is:

Intended for infantry targets in open and behind cover as well as unarmored or lightly armored vehicles…Maximum range for the PAW is 1,000 meters for area targets or a group of Soldiers. Against point targets such as small vehicles or machine gun positions the maximum effective range is 500 meters.

Specifications:

Caliber – 20×42
Muzzle velocity – 1,017 ft/s
Weight – 6kg
Length (open) – 33.25 inches
Length (stowed) – 30.3 inches
Barrel – 14.76 inches
Range – 1000m
Magazine capacity – 6
Semi-auto, rotating bolt, gas operated

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About That 90% Claim

September 1, 2011 by 2 Comments

Julian Assange may be a creepy pervert but the State Department documents being released through WikiLeaks are providing some valuable insight about arms trafficking and seized firearms in Mexico.

Mike Vanderboegh has a post on Sipsey Street Irregulars about a cable from the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City to the State Department, DOJ, and many other U.S. agencies. The unclassified cable sent on October 28, 2009 has a subject heading of “MEXICO ARMS TRAFFICKING: ACCESS TO CONFISCATED WEAPONS, A NECESSARY STEP MEXICO”. After much discussion of how Mexico stores and catalogs confiscated weapons and how their court system treats the information, there is an acknowledgment that the claim that 90% of weapons found in Mexico originated in the United States is incorrect.

¶6. (SBU) Comment. Claims by Mexican and U.S. officials that upwards of 90 percent of illegal recovered weapons can be traced back to the U.S. is based on an incomplete survey of confiscated weapons. In point of fact, without wider access to the weapons seized in Mexico, we really have no way of verifying these numbers.

So given this, why do Obama Administration officials including the new Acting Director of ATF continually repeat a claim that has been proven false in more than one venue?

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Chuck Grassley On FoxNews About ATF Changes

August 31, 2011 by

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) was interviewed today about the changes at ATF and DOJ by Jenna Lee of Fox News.

While Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) was given a courtesy call by Attorney General Eric Holder about the changes, Grassley was not despite being the Ranking Minority Member on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Common courtesy never has been a strong suit of anyone in the Obama Administration it seems.

Asked about whether DOJ is still stonewalling on the request for documents, Grassley said it has improved but they are still getting many documents that are just black sheets of paper.

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Updated Report On Moves At ATF And DOJ By CBS

August 31, 2011 by

Sharyl Attkisson had an updated report on the reassignment of Kenneth Melson and the resignation of Dennis Burke. Also revealed in this report is the ATF Senior Agent John Dodson is being transferred from Arizona to South Carolina. While not mentioned in the report, it is my understanding that three out of the four ATF Special Agents who testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have been transferred out of Arizona.

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A Roundup Of Interviews From Cam And Company On DOJ Moves

August 31, 2011 by

Cam Edwards of NRA News devoted most of the show last night to the big moves at the Department of Justice. Among his guests were Representatives Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Blake Farenthold (R-TX) both of whom serve on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He also had Katie Pavlich of Townhall.com and columnist Michelle Malkin on as guests. They have done a great job of reporting on Project Gunwalker over the past months.

First, Rep. Blake Farenthold who noted that the reassignment of Newell, Voth, and McMahon to ATF HQ reminded him of a shell game on a street corner in New York City.

Second up is Rep. Paul Gosar who calls the administrative shuffle of ATF agents and Ken Melson as “bringing them home to the nest” so they can protect them.

Michelle Malkin says the moves yesterday were not a surprise coming from the “master of screwing up and moving up” Eric Holder.

Finally, Katie Pavlich says that the moves are an attempt to buy time by DOJ as they continue to stonewall the Congressional investigation into Project Gunwalker.