On Tue, 16 May 2006 10:44:41 -0600, "c-bee1" <c-bee1@insightbb.com>
wrote:

"Captain Compassion" <daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net> wrote in message
news:stqj62l5rcocv79uv3n2ocvq2sut2ln2sg@4ax.com...

On Tue, 16 May 2006 13:59:24 GMT, Harry Hope <rivrvu@ix.netcom.com>
wrote:

From New York Newsday, 5/16/06:

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/am-gunnews0516,0,51875.story?coll

=ny-nyc-bigpix

City sues gun shops over illegal weapons

BY BRYAN VIRASAMI
NEWSDAY STAFF WRITER

Frustrated by the federal government's inability to keep illegal guns
out of New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a federal
lawsuit against 15 out-of-state gun dealers Monday, accusing them of
selling guns later traced to specific crimes in the city.

In a 78-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, the
shops are identified as breaking the law by selling guns the city said
they should have known were intended for criminals.

Sounding like a trial lawyer arguing in a courtroom, Bloomberg said he
was determined to stop the influx of illegal guns, which he said were
used in 300 murders in the city.

He said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has proven unable
to do the job and recently he's criticized Congress for failing to
pass stricter gun laws.

"These dealers have all broken federal laws and we're determined to
hold them accountable. Today we're putting gun dealers that break the
law on notice," Bloomberg said.

"This is not about ideology, this is about law enforcement."

A spokeswoman for the ATF said the agency doesn't comment on pending
lawsuits and added agents fight illegal guns every day on the streets.

Between 1994 and 2001, Bloomberg said, guns from the 15 dealers were
traced to 500 or more serious crimes in the city including "20 actual
or attempted homicides."

During the City Hall news conference, Bloomberg showed videos obtained
by undercover investigators from the James Mintz Group, a private firm
the city hired.

The investigators went to shops in pairs and targeted gun shops known
for regularly violating the law in southern states such as South
Carolina and Georgia, where illegal guns often originate.

Hidden cameras filmed clerks facilitating what is known as straw
purchases -- when a buyer uses someone else who pretends to be the
buyer to fill out the paperwork to avoid tracking the real buyer.

The law requires the gun shop to halt the sale if they suspect the
transaction to be a straw purchase.

In the videos, one person inquired about the guns while the second
intentionally showed no interest in guns until the transaction was to
become official.

"Unfortunately, such blatant straw purchases happen all too often, and
they have deadly consequences for New Yorkers," Bloomberg said.

According to the mayor's office, Woody's Pawnshop of South Carolina
sold 98 guns between 1998 and 2001 found to be used in crimes in New
York, including a 2001 shooting death of a Brooklyn man.

I wonder what standing private citizens have running sting operations
in SC on the behalf of NYC?

If they were legally hired by NYC, exactly as much as the quality of their
documentation. Sounds like they've got plenty.

I wonder if SC allows recording of conversations and such without
consent or warrant. Most states don't. The federal government doesn't
unless you're the president. A federal court would kick this kind of
evidence.

Let's see.... Federal statute of limitations is 4 years for a civil
action. So Woody's seems to be save.

The actual answer here is that the persons responsible for the murders
are the mutts that pulled the triggers. This is nothing more than a
meaningless go now where law suit to get the Mayor of NYC attention.