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‘Straw purchaser’ OK for DOJ, but…
Police: Christmas Eve firefighter shooter used ‘straw purchaser’ to acquire weapons
The 62-year-old convicted felon who gunned down two firefighters and wounded three first responders on Christmas Eve in Webster, New York used weapons his neighbor illegally purchased for him, according to state and federal authorities.
The neighbor, 24-year-old Dawn Nguyen, was arrested on Friday after police traced the serial numbers on two weapons used by William Spengler, the shooter: a Bushmaster AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun, both purchased in 2010.
While this so-called “straw purchasing” is illegal, the U.S. Department of Justice sanctioned the practice between 2006 and 2011.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowed straw purchasers to illegally purchase approximately 2,000 firearms as and transport them across the United States’ southern border as part of Operation Fast and Furious, in an apparent attempt to track the guns to high-level officials in Mexico’s drug cartels.
None of those top officials has been arrested, and the operation has led to the deaths of an estimated 300 Mexican nationals and at least one U.S. Border Patrol agent.
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Dadof3.5
December 30th, 2012
Have they arresested the judge or anyone on the parole board that let this guy walk free after killing his Mother with a hammer?
J Galt
December 30th, 2012
Boys and Girls, don’t let this lie go unchallenged:
“…Operation Fast and Furious, an apparent attempt to track the guns to high-level officials in Mexico’s drug cartels…”
There was NO mechanism to track the guns after they left the gun shop. So, the operation was NEVER about tracking.
RosalindJ
December 30th, 2012
Riiight. This is sloppy journalism.
Operation Wide Receiver under Bush ran 06-07, stopped because the tracking wasn’t working. AND they had Mexico in the loop.
F&F FUBAR was Obama all the way.
I am very surprised this is from the Daily Caller.
Moe Tom
December 30th, 2012
J Gault. Good catch,
old_oaks
December 30th, 2012
Such an unlikely alliance? Then 22 year old Asian girl and a scraggy old dude out one day to the local Gander Mountain buying guns together.
Something stinks.
yourfavoriteunkle
December 30th, 2012
I call BULLSHIT!!! This story does not pass the smell test. Furthermore…. I can’t help but wonder if legal counsel (assuming this story is real) won’t drag the F&F offenders into the mix asking why those persons were not charged but Ms. Zipperhead is…. once again, laws are for thee, not for me. Somebody stop the insanity… PLEASE!
KF
December 30th, 2012
I wonder if the old kook was bribing the 22 year old with dope or plain old cash to get a gun for him. A person has as many masters as they have vices and I’m curious as to possible vices in her background. Anyone with a room temperature IQ probably would not get that dude a gun without some odd motivation.
Tim
December 30th, 2012
When I was young and living in Mississippi, Sammy Lee would buy beer for us if we gave him a can of it.
Tim
December 30th, 2012
Course, we could buy rifles and ammo right over the counter.