Mission statement:

Armed and Safe is a gun rights advocacy blog, with the mission of debunking the "logic" of the enemies of the Constitutionally guaranteed, fundamental human right of the individual to keep and bear arms.

I can be reached at 45superman@gmail.com.You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/45superman.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Lies from the BATFE? Say it ain't so

I haven't covered the murder of Philadelphia Police Sergeant Stephen Liczbinski, committed by a career violent criminal (whom the "justice" system had unleashed on society), because there has been plenty of good coverage available elsewhere. Something in this article, however, caught my eye, and I can't let it go.

BATFE Assistant Special Agent in Charge Tony Robbins (presumably not that Tony Robbins) had something to say about the rifle used in Liczbinski's murder.

"They are very cheap, selling for $100 to $300," said Tony Robbins, assistant special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives here. "There's a ton of them out there.
It's hardly surprising that a rifle made in the millions, sixty years ago, can be had not very expensively, but now the fact that "they are very cheap" is apparently intended to convey an additional degree of menace.
They can lay some heavy firepower. We see them periodically being used by street gangs and drug organizations. It's a pretty menacing gun."
And we also see them used by hunters, collectors, homeowners, and huge numbers of other folks who have no inclination to use them to cause carnage on the streets. By the way, the "heavy firepower" was five rounds (before the gun jammed) of 7.62 x39mm--a round less powerful than what many deer hunters typically use.

But it's what Robbins says next that I find particularly interesting.
What's more, Robbins noted that the ATF was able to trace the SKS rifle used to gun down Liczbinski to a gun show in Fayettville, N.C. He said that because it had been bought at a gun show, the owner did not have to undergo a background check - another proposal that's been blocked by the gun lobby.

"In Southern states, you can buy and sell guns like a table lamp if you go to a gun show," Robbins added. "I don't think this gun was sold illegally. It was passed down and sold many times."
Now wait a second here--if there had been no background check at the point of purchase (the gun show), how did the BATFE trace the sale to said gun show? Unless I'm missing something, they could not have, and there must have been a background check and a Form 4473 filled out. What those who call for closure of the mythical "gun show loophole" would like folks to forget is that background checks are required at gun shows when the sale is conducted by a dealer--the only sales that do not require the checks are those conducted by private collectors disposing of parts of their collections. I can only conclude that this sale must have been conducted by a dealer, with the all the attendant paperwork. What this has to do with "Southern states" is another mystery.

Still, far be it from the BATFE to let the truth get in the way.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ahab,

I would bet that they traced it from the manufacturer through the chain of transfers. Manufacturer, distributor, gun store, 1st owner, etc.
Thus, they found out it was sold at a gun show by the last legally registered owner. Maybe there were another owner or two in there before the criminal who used it bought it, who knows.

Anonymous said...

45superman,


Oops. Apparently, I really need new glasses.
Sorry about that Sir.

Anonymous said...

Still, when the NICS checkes are supposed to be destroyed within 24 hours, and dealer records remain with the dealer until a certain period of time has passed, it seems like gun registration is in full swing.

Laughingdog said...

That claim also ignores the fact that it would be illegal under federal law for anyone, not just a gun dealer, at a gun show in NC to sell a firearm to someone who is not a resident of that state. That is actually one of the few parts of the federal firearms code that applies to everyone, and not just licensed dealers and collectors.

Anonymous said...

laughingdog: I believe that's just handguns that cannot be sold to people from out of state. Rifles and shotguns can be.