- February 1st, 2011 11:30 am PT
A powerful United States Senator is squaring off against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives over serious allegations that an agency sting operation might be linked to the slaying of a Customs and Border Protection agent – an assertion that might raise a question about an unconnected ATF investigation and the 2009 murder of a Seattle police officer; more about that in a moment – yet to read Seattle newspapers, one gets the impression that the only gun news lately involves another rogue gun show “sting” operation by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “investigators” in Arizona.
Tuesday’s Seattle Times and on-line Seattle P-I.com made no mention of the Grassley story, which is front-page news in today's ArizonaRepublic, but the Post-Intelligencer did pick up the story about Bloomberg’s gun show sting from the Associated Press. Bloomberg's operation got quick criticism from an Arizona lawmaker:
" Let me get this straight: From New York City, they are going to send people to Arizona to look into this?" said state Sen. Ron Gould, a Republican. "They might take a look a little closer to home if they are concerned about guns getting in their state."—Associated Press
This is a complicated story, and before it gets hijacked by mainstream newspapers, credit for digging it out must go to a couple of controversial internet bloggers, David Codreaand Mike Vanderboegh. Seattle readers recognize Codrea as the National Gun Rights Examiner, whose work is occasionally cited in this column.
As the Associated Press is accurately reporting, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) yesterday and on Jan. 27 sent letters to Acting ATF Director Kenneth E. Melson, concerning an ATF operation dubbed “Project Gunrunner.” Grassley is the ranking Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee His office did not release those letters, but copies have been obtained by various news agencies including the Gun Rights Examiners, Associated Press and Gun Week, where I am senior editor.
In the first letter, Grassley advised Melson that “Members of the Judiciary Committee have received numerous allegations that the ATF sanctioned the sale of hundreds of assault weapons to suspected straw purchasers, who then allegedly transported these weapons throughout the southwestern border area and into Mexico. According to the allegations, one of these individuals purchased three assault rifles with cash in Glendale, Arizona on January 16, 2010. Two of the weapons were then allegedly used in a firefight on December 14, 2010 against Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents, killing CBP Agent Brian Terry. These extremely serious allegations were accompanied by detailed documentation which appears to lend credibility to the claim and partially corroborates them.”
The senator also observed, “There are serious concerns that the ATF may have become careless, if not negligent, in implementing the Gunrunner strategy.”
Grassley asked for a quick staff briefing, but yesterday – when the briefing had yet to be scheduled – he sent the second letter, and this one suggests that instead of cooperating, the ATF had circled its wagons, allegedly to stifle the senator’s inquiry. In the Jan. 31 letter, Sen. Grassley asserted that a ranking ATF agent in Phoenix had questioned one of his subordinates who answered Grassley’s staff questions about “Project Gunrunner.” That official, Grassley wrote, “allegedly accused the agent of misconduct related to his contacts with the Senate Judiciary Committee.”
“This is exactly the wrong sort of reaction for the ATF,” Grassley said in the letter. “Rather than focusing on retaliating against whistleblowers, the ATFs sole focus should be on finding and disclosing the truth as soon as possible.”
Grassley subsequently reminded Melson that “obstructing a Congressional investigation is a crime.” A source familiar with Grassley’s inquiry suggested that ATF’s Phoenix office may be stonewalling. That impression is reinforced by a remark from an ATF spokesman in Phoenix to the Arizona Republic:
Tom Mangan, an ATF spokesman in Phoenix, said he was "unaware of any guns allowed to go south of the border," either intentionally or inadvertently. "I am not aware of any internal investigation that's going on regarding Project Gunrunner."—Arizona Republic
According to Grassley’s letters, the firearms that allegedly were involved in Brian Terry’s slaying may have been purchased in January 2010, almost exactly 11 months prior to the fatal gun battle. Calls to ATF in Washington, D.C. for comment were not returned.
Jump about 1,900 miles north to Seattle and Puyallup, and a case involving a series of alleged illegal firearms transactions by a suspect identified as David Devenny, who was – according to court documents – unlawfully dealing firearms. The charging document says an ATF investigation began in May 2009, but that’s not the first time Devenny showed up on the ATF radar. Back in 2007, the document says, Devenny’s name came up in the investigation of a Canadian resident who had allegedly purchased several firearms from him at gun shows.
The one transaction that Devenny allegedly told undercover informants about was for a Kel Tec .223-caliber rifle that is now in police custody in Seattle. It’s the gun used in the slaying of Seattle officer Timothy Brenton on Oct. 31, 2009, five months after ATF started their investigation. This column discussed the Devenny case here in November. Devenny has not been convicted of any crime, and until he is found guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law, nobody should presume him so.
So, one might ask: If the feds thought this guy was up to no good, and had evidence, why didn’t they pop him earlier? ATF sources say it is not unusual for an investigation to take time before arrests are made or some action is taken. There are legitimate reasons, though in the aftermath of a crime, they never seem quite good enough to people grown accustomed to watching television crime solvers crack a case right before the final commercial. Suffice to say that blaming the ATF for not preventing a gun from getting into the hands of murder suspect Christopher Monfort is hardly fair.
Besides, as this column has consistently reminded readers that if someone is determined to do evil criminal harm – even if he has no prior serious criminal record – he is going to do it. If he does not get a firearm from one source, he’s going to get it from another, and no legislation, no amount of cracking down on gun shows or gun dealers is going to stop him. That's the reality. Besides, remember that some would-be terrorist planted a bomb along the Martin Luther King Day parade route in Spokane several days ago. No gun was involved. Ditto, the attempt by the so-called "Times Square" bomber to set off a big blast that didn't happen.
In the real world, before a criminal complaint can be filed, offenses must be documented, and it must be determined that the suspects are willfully and knowingly engaging in illegal activity. Evidence must be developed and provided to the U.S. Attorney's office, which files charges only after carefully reviewing the evidence. "That's why it is called an investigation," said an ATF spokesperson in Seattle. This does not all happen in the course of an hour like they do it on television. It can take weeks and maybe months to develop a solid criminal case, and in the meantime, bad things can occasionally happen to good people.
And speaking of good people – this may get me in trouble with some readers – there are some genuinely good people who work for ATF, and who want to take bad guys off the streets, and leave the good guys alone; people who can tell the difference between good guys and bad guys. Some of these folks use a website, cleanupatf.org, to talk about problems in the agency.
Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg’s gun show sting in Arizona has produced a couple of embarrassing videos. One can only suggest that the people involved in these transactions, after being audibly advised by the buyer that he “probably wouldn’t” pass a background check, are boneheads.
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Continue reading on Examiner.com: Selective Seattle coverage: Bloomy gun show sting v. alleged ATF 'negligence' - Seattle gun rights | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-seattle/selective-seattle-coverage-bloomy-gun-show-sting-v-alleged-atf-negligence?CID=examiner_alerts_article#ixzz1CqJ0P2 Fg
So why is the BATF still operating as an agency and why isn't
Bloomberg up on Federal charges. Oh yeah, I forget who is in charge of the asylum.
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