Ten Houston men, including three brothers, were charged Monday in a conspiracy to ship 151 military-style weapons south of the border. It’s the region’s biggest arms-trafficking case since the Obama administration vowed to do more to stem the flow of U.S. guns to Mexican drug cartel soldiers.
Recently someone was arguing that straw purchases don't account for the bulk of guns that end up with the criminals. It sure looks like that's how they do it down in Houston.
According to an ATF affidavit, one of the men charged Monday bought 21 guns, worth nearly $28,000, over a two-month period.
What I want to know is this. In Texas they don't have that one-gun-a-month rule, which might have seriously interfered with this crime. But, if they do require background checks, how come a guy who buys so many guns so quickly isn't stopped? Is that a flaw in the system.
I have an idea. let's call it a "loophole."
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Is it a loophole because he wasn't caught?
ReplyDeleteA loophole because he wasn't breaking the law?
You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means.
Yet another Law Enforcement-did-their-job-and-caught-bad-guys-so-we-need-to-change-the-laws story.
ReplyDeleteI still don't get why you continually throw up stories of the law working as reason that we must need to fix the law. Which part is the loophole? The part where the bad guys got caught?
"I still don't get why you continually throw up stories of the law working as reason that we must need to fix the law."
ReplyDeleteThis is why I resist all gun control attempts, regardless of how modest and Common Sense® they claim to be. You can't please gun controllers.
When the law works, they want more laws. When the law doesn't work, they want more laws. They are an insatiable beast and I refuse to feed them.
MikeB: “Recently someone was arguing that straw purchases don't account for the bulk of guns that end up with the criminals. It sure looks like that's how they do it down in Houston.”
ReplyDeleteThat was me. Yes, I find it hard to believe that straw purchases would exceed theft as a source of crime guns. Does it happen? Sure, but I have to wonder what their business plan looks like (and what they have to charge on the street for a gun that cost $600 retail) to get their books in the black. Bloomberg loves to point to guns coming in from out of state (perhaps it is more about shifting blame) so you have to figure the costs associated with time and expenses. A stolen gun will allow someone to sell it for a few hundred dollars as opposed to a thousand plus which would give them a much bigger customer base among the street thugs. Both still carry the risk of going to jail. Hey, it is not like you can’t berate gun owners for having their guns stolen…
Why are you so against someone just trying to make a profit. Surely the people who bought the guns in the US were going to sell them for a profit in Mexico where the demand and price is high due to government regulation. From a republican point of view, there should be less government regulation in Mexico so guns would be cheaper and people could have the freedom to buy them.
ReplyDeleteHow come the background checks on a multiple straw purchaser don't raise the red flag?
ReplyDeleteMikeB: “How come the background checks on a multiple straw purchaser don't raise the red flag?”
ReplyDeleteIt does. Remember how we said one-a-month laws will make catching these guys harder?