A second high five to Microdot for posting this on his blog the brain police.
As a Minnesotan who has lived in her district, I can aver that she makes more sense HERE than she does in her real speaking events -- and it's a lot funnier.
Encore, merci Microdot! C'est deux aujourd'hui.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Where do the guns come from?
In this case, North Carolina.
A former US Marine, Steven Greenoe, bought weapons from American gun shops and hid the parts in his luggage and smuggled them to the UK. The prosecuting barrister, Neil Flewitt QC, said the undercover officers paid about £3,600 per gun. He said: "By way of comparison, Steven Greenoe paid approximately £300 for each gun...It follows, therefore, that smuggling guns out of the US to sell to criminals in the UK is an extremely profitable trade."
Mr Flewitt said guns forensically linked to Greenoe were discovered as part of Operation Newhaven on 25 February 2010, when covert police officers in Liverpool paid £10,800 for three Glock handguns. British police said the guns exchanged hands on the UK black market for as much as £5,000 each. Additionally, Greenoe attracted the attention of US authorities.
US prosecutors say Greenoe legally purchased firearms in the US, then illegally transported to the UK, an arsenal of weapons: dozens of Glock 9mm pistols, dozens of Ruger pistols and pistols of other makes. Federal Transportation Security Agents arrested him in July at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, in North Carolina, after finding ammunition and disassembled pistols in his luggage as he was about to board a flight to New York. Documents posted in US courts have revealed that US officials had questioned Greenoe on another occasion about dismantled guns in his luggage on a flight to Atlanta, but he talked his way on to the flight, before travelling on to Manchester.
He said that the he was a firearms salesman and that the guns were not in working order and that the disassembled and disguised firearm components in his luggage were in fact "inert and non-working" engineering samples.
US authorities carried out undercover surveillance of Greenoe and identified 15 separate dates on which 81 firearms were purchased by him or on his behalf. Officers witnessed him dumping the boxes that held the guns and test-fired rounds which come with each weapon. These rounds were forensically matched to firearms used by UK criminals.
The arrest of Steven Greenoe for allegedly shipping handguns into the UK illegally received little press in America. After all, weapons sold in the US frequently find their way on to the black market. And the number of weapons, including assault rifles, that cross the border into Mexico each year are thought to number in the many tens of thousands. A few dozen handguns disappearing into the UK's underworld look paltry by comparison.
Detective Chief Superintendent (DCS) Simon Leach, of Lancashire Police, said his force was leading a criminal investigation into the activities of Mr Greenoe, in conjunction with the one under way in the US. "It is essential that as part of this ongoing investigation that we continue to trace all the weapons that have not yet been recovered and therefore we would appeal to anyone who may have any information that could assist the investigation to come forward and contact police in confidence," he said.
Counter-terrorism officials were also amazed and concerned by the security breach at a time when they have warned that terrorist cells in the UK could be trying to buy guns. Former Scotland Yard counter-terrorism chief Andy Hayman said details of the case were "genuinely shocking". Writing in The Times, he said: "This makes a mockery of the stringent checks we all endure at US airports, such as removing our shoes and belts, having our toothpaste confiscated and all the other irritants...Steven Greenoe's guns could just have easily been bombs."
The real issue is that there is a lot of money to be made selling guns on the black market. This case demonstrates that at least a 10x profit can be made on firearms smuggled to the UK. Of course, the risk is also significant when one is caught. Greenoe has yet to be sentenced in the US but faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1m (£610,000) fine. Does the profit outweigh the risk?
Greenoe thought it was.
See also:
Liverpool gun gang get 57 years jail after Uzi and Glocks seized
A former US Marine, Steven Greenoe, bought weapons from American gun shops and hid the parts in his luggage and smuggled them to the UK. The prosecuting barrister, Neil Flewitt QC, said the undercover officers paid about £3,600 per gun. He said: "By way of comparison, Steven Greenoe paid approximately £300 for each gun...It follows, therefore, that smuggling guns out of the US to sell to criminals in the UK is an extremely profitable trade."
Mr Flewitt said guns forensically linked to Greenoe were discovered as part of Operation Newhaven on 25 February 2010, when covert police officers in Liverpool paid £10,800 for three Glock handguns. British police said the guns exchanged hands on the UK black market for as much as £5,000 each. Additionally, Greenoe attracted the attention of US authorities.
US prosecutors say Greenoe legally purchased firearms in the US, then illegally transported to the UK, an arsenal of weapons: dozens of Glock 9mm pistols, dozens of Ruger pistols and pistols of other makes. Federal Transportation Security Agents arrested him in July at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, in North Carolina, after finding ammunition and disassembled pistols in his luggage as he was about to board a flight to New York. Documents posted in US courts have revealed that US officials had questioned Greenoe on another occasion about dismantled guns in his luggage on a flight to Atlanta, but he talked his way on to the flight, before travelling on to Manchester.
He said that the he was a firearms salesman and that the guns were not in working order and that the disassembled and disguised firearm components in his luggage were in fact "inert and non-working" engineering samples.
US authorities carried out undercover surveillance of Greenoe and identified 15 separate dates on which 81 firearms were purchased by him or on his behalf. Officers witnessed him dumping the boxes that held the guns and test-fired rounds which come with each weapon. These rounds were forensically matched to firearms used by UK criminals.
The arrest of Steven Greenoe for allegedly shipping handguns into the UK illegally received little press in America. After all, weapons sold in the US frequently find their way on to the black market. And the number of weapons, including assault rifles, that cross the border into Mexico each year are thought to number in the many tens of thousands. A few dozen handguns disappearing into the UK's underworld look paltry by comparison.
Detective Chief Superintendent (DCS) Simon Leach, of Lancashire Police, said his force was leading a criminal investigation into the activities of Mr Greenoe, in conjunction with the one under way in the US. "It is essential that as part of this ongoing investigation that we continue to trace all the weapons that have not yet been recovered and therefore we would appeal to anyone who may have any information that could assist the investigation to come forward and contact police in confidence," he said.
Counter-terrorism officials were also amazed and concerned by the security breach at a time when they have warned that terrorist cells in the UK could be trying to buy guns. Former Scotland Yard counter-terrorism chief Andy Hayman said details of the case were "genuinely shocking". Writing in The Times, he said: "This makes a mockery of the stringent checks we all endure at US airports, such as removing our shoes and belts, having our toothpaste confiscated and all the other irritants...Steven Greenoe's guns could just have easily been bombs."
The real issue is that there is a lot of money to be made selling guns on the black market. This case demonstrates that at least a 10x profit can be made on firearms smuggled to the UK. Of course, the risk is also significant when one is caught. Greenoe has yet to be sentenced in the US but faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1m (£610,000) fine. Does the profit outweigh the risk?
Greenoe thought it was.
See also:
Liverpool gun gang get 57 years jail after Uzi and Glocks seized
How Fitting, But(t) Not For Sitting - Butt Shot!
cross posted from the wonderful Microdot's blog the Brain Police:
Barber Shot In Butt In Ohio Bar
Ohio’s new law allowing concealed guns into bars took effect last week. Bar and restaurant owners naturally view the law as a pain in the butt, and given a recent mishap, they have good reason to. The Columbus Dispatch reports that Ohio barber Kurt Voelkel got a bullet in his butt after his customer’s “9 mm handgun fell from his holster, struck the ground and went off.” The bullet “passed through the chair where Voelkel was sitting and also went through his wallet before coming to rest deep in his buttocks.” He spent more than two hours at the hospital, where doctors opted to leave the bullet where it is. The customer was just “adjusting his clothing and sitting down” when the gun fell; presumably alcohol was not involved. It’s hard to see how adding it into the mix will prevent this or worse situations from occurring. Ohio, the place I'm definitely not planning to visit in the near future for my next vacation.....
Another Upstanding Gun Owner Goes Bad
Since there was no mention of charging her with illegal possession of the gun or for carrrying a concealed gun, are we to understand that she had a CCW license?A Chesterfield County mother who a judge earlier this year called a “danger to society” lost her appeal today of convictions of brandishing a gun in front of students at her daughter’s school bus stop in May.
After a two-hour trial in Chesterfield Circuit Court, Judge Harold W. Burgess Jr. convicted Shiquita D. Reed, 33, of two counts of brandishing a gun in front of two students while shouting profanity.
The judge then sentenced Reed, who authorities said had a history of disturbing, anti-social behavior, to two years in jail but suspended one year. He also confiscated her .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol, banned her from possessing a gun for five years and ordered her to be evaluated for mental health treatment.
We've been told before that criminals don't use holsters, so I guess this is another case of a concealed carry person going bad, or I guess we could say this is a case of a bad character who was allowed to own a gun and carry it legally.The students testified that after one of the students said, “Oh my gosh, she’s got a gun,” Reed immediately launched into a profanity-laden tirade, saying she had the right to carry the gun and threatened to beat up the girl who spoke out about the weapon. They said Reed slightly pulled up the gun but didn’t remove it from the holster.
What's your opinion?
What do you think about that five-year loss of gun rights? After multiple violent offenses and now a gun charge to boot, should this person ever be allowed to own a gun? You know my answer. She should have lost her Constitutional, god-given, natural human gun rights immediately after the first assault and battery conviction.
Please leave a comment.
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