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Guns receive death sentence
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Guns receive death sentence 12 January 2002By Steve Vied Messenger-Inquirer A warning to gun lovers -- what you are about to read may be too painful to bear.Hundreds of guns confiscated last year in Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee, including fine-crafted Brownings, Remingtons, Smith & Wessons, Colts and Winchesters -- shotguns, rifles, pistols and revolvers -- will soon be reduced to molten metal.Many of the approximately 1,000 guns either purchased by undercover agents or seized in raids came from the Owensboro area. All of the guns, from the most expensive to the cheapest model, are piled in a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms vault in Bowling Green awaiting the smelter.Nearly 10 months ago, federal agents raided gun shops and homes in the three states and more than 1,000 weapons were seized. Sixteen people were charged with illegal firearms sales as a result of an 18-month investigation.Some of the weapons seized were linked to robberies in California, Illinois and Tennessee, the ATF said. Weapons seized include handguns with scratched-out serial numbers, sawed-off shotguns and machine guns.At the time, one ATF agent said the case focused on the illegal ways guns get to the streets and become available to criminals and people prohibited from possessing guns. Those people not only illegally have guns, but are actively involved in selling them.Steven S. Reed, former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, said at the time that seizing the firearms would prevent them from being used by gang members or drug dealers.Undercover agents said they purchased many of the guns at flea markets, gun shows, gun shops and residences.Readers of Friday's Messenger-Inquirer may have noticed the long list of guns in the classified advertising section. They are listed there in case any of them were stolen and need to be returned to their rightful owners, said Assistant U.S. Attorney McKay Chauvin.Chauvin acknowledged that many of the guns are expensive and well-made."The ATF recognizes the problem," Chauvin said. "But whether it's a nice gun or a cheap gun, they are just as dangerous."Chauvin said purchasers of the guns are often people who don't want to do the paperwork involved with buying a guy legally, who fear the government is keeping lists of gun ownership, or people who are prohibited from being able to buy or possess a gun, such as a convicted felon, someone under an indictment, someone with a mental problem or the subject of a domestic violence order."People who are selling (illegally) have no idea who they are selling to," Chauvin said. "It's mind-boggling the number of guns these guys put on the street."Darrel Whitaker of Whitaker's Guns in West Louisville believes it makes no sense to destroy the guns. The Colt .45 automatic pistols can fetch $500 to $1,000 retail, while a Browning shotgun might be worth $500 to $2,500, he said. A Glock 10 mm pistol is easily worth $525.Whitaker said the guns should be returned to legal status and auctioned off to dealers."It's silly, absolutely silly," to destroy them, Whitaker said. "It accomplishes nothing. The gun companies will just make more."Whitaker said some law enforcement agencies strapped for cash could use the weapons.The guns will be destroyed soon, ATF spokesman Don York said."We should have an order to destroy in a month," York said. "They usually go to a smelter when we have that many." http://www.messenger-inquirer.com/news/kentucky/3993742.htm
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Lord Lowrider the LoquaciousMember:Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.
I can't come to work today. The voices said, STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE GUNS!
R.J.H.