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Local Gun seller foils "straw purchase"

2K views 30 replies 25 participants last post by  dV8r 
#1 ·
This guy was on top of things but the woman only spent a few hours in jail because of the mess our law enforcement agencies are in. Feds vs state and local.

IF the Libs really wanted true gun safety, they would demand that the Feds put people like this repeat offender away. But, they don't because they don't really care about her...they care about keeping law abiding citizens from having guns.

Local gun store owner foils straw purchase of weapon - Journal News | News, sports, jobs, community information for Martinsburg - The Journal


In case you can't get that link to open, here's the story:


MARTINSBURG - Firearms dealer Travis Bishop knows gun laws, and is a self-proclaimed "stickler" about enforcing them in his shop, Tannerman's Weapon Systems.

It's a good thing, too, especially since Curtessa Franklin, 21, of Canton, Massachusetts, attempted to use a straw purchaser twice last month - in a single day, Dec. 10 - when she came in looking for a handgun.

Bishop quickly knew what was up, and contacted law enforcement - before also calling other local gun shops - to warn them about what had happened.
"She didn't really have a good story, and even then it kept changing until she was saying that it was for her friend but she was going to pay for it," Bishop said, adding that he'd cautioned his employees about what was happening and to go into "straw purchase mode" to slow down the identification approval process.

While both Franklin and her accomplice claimed to be knowledgeable about guns, neither knew what model they already owned, he said.

Sure enough, after hastily leaving his shop because she was upset about not being able to immediately make the purchase, Franklin visited a local pawn shop and was subsequently turned away, Bishop said.

Her insistence was a red flag, as well as the fact she'd specifically chosen to try and buy a gun here rather than in another town, he said.

But on her return visit, Franklin - who said she needed to purchase a gun quickly because she was going to Miami, Florida, for a vacation - even approached another customer in his store, he said.


Thanks to Bishop's earlier calls, time was on his side because West Virginia State Police were already staged outside his shop and ready to apprehend Franklin when she returned with yet another person willing to be her straw purchaser, he said.

"During her arrest, troopers found marijuana as well as stolen credit cards with money on them and a fair amount of cash was also recovered as well, so there was a lot of criminal activity going on with this person," Bishop said.

Although Franklin was taken into custody at the Eastern Regional Jail on the marijuana possession, her incarceration didn't last long, he said.

"That's because in West Virginia, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is the only agency allowed to prosecute these kinds of cases right now," Bishop said, adding that ATF agents had subsequently visited his shop as part of this investigation.

Still, it was difficult to know that Franklin - who is no stranger to law enforcement in the Boston area - spent such a little amount of time in jail, and was soon free to continue on her way, he said.

Experience is the best teacher, he said with a sigh.

"So what did we teach her? That she can pretty much do what she wants, and then be on her way because that's pretty much what happened," Bishop said.

"And because of the time that it takes to coordinate between the state and federal government, a criminal like this woman is free to go ahead with a life of crime. And that is exactly what seems to have happened in this case. Maybe instead of worrying about new gun laws, we better look at more effectively being able to work with what's already on the books," he said.
Staff writer Jenni Vincent can be reached at 304-263-8931, ext. 131, or www.twitter.com/jennivincentwv.
 
#2 ·
The flag or pop-up won't allow me to read the article unless I join or subscribe.
 
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#3 ·
"That's because in West Virginia, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is the only agency allowed to prosecute these kinds of cases right now," Bishop said, adding that ATF agents had subsequently visited his shop as part of this investigation.

Still, it was difficult to know that Franklin - who is no stranger to law enforcement in the Boston area - spent such a little amount of time in jail, and was soon free to continue on her way, he said.....


........Experience is the best teacher, he said with a sigh.

"So what did we teach her? That she can pretty much do what she wants, and then be on her way because that's pretty much what happened," Bishop said.

"And because of the time that it takes to coordinate between the state and federal government, a criminal like this woman is free to go ahead with a life of crime. And that is exactly what seems to have happened in this case. Maybe instead of worrying about new gun laws, we better look at more effectively being able to work with what's already on the books," he said.
So if the BATFE lets a bunch of guns walk over the border directly into the hands of bad men and left to be forgotten about, and they aren't pursuing or locking-up straw purchasers and known felons attempting to get firearms, why do they exist? What is their purpose?? To be the Local Gun Store clerical and bookeeping police?

More laws and "executive orders" to broaden the reach of current laws, and they trip all over themselves and fall apart trying to enforce what's on the books RIGHT NOW.

I imagine this is what watching a monkey trying to hump a football would be like.

If Barney Fife were a government agency, he'd be the BATFE. They're the Law Enforcement equivalent of the Cleveland Browns.
 
#4 ·
If it were up to me, straw purchases would not be illegal. I wont lose any sleep over this, especially because as the post below says, nobody is being prosecuted for the F&F scandal.




Their job is to make things more difficult for us. Plain and simple.
 
#7 ·
Those that are inclined to be honest will follow all laws. Those that are inclined to be dishonest will ignore the laws. No amount of new laws is going to change that. And failure to prosecute and penalize the law breakers only enables them to continue as they please.
 
#8 ·
Hm. Stolen credit cards, drugs, two documented attempts at 'straw' purchasing ... And they let her out.

Okay.

And folks wonder why we're all up-in-arms about the turnstile approach to "crime control." Yeah.
 
#9 ·
I think laws are only effective if they are consistently enforced. Anyone who raised a child knows that. Unenforced laws lead to anarchy. Our masters routinely exempt themselves from laws and that attitude leeches down into the rest of the population.
 
#10 ·
This guy was on top of things but the woman only spent a few hours in jail because of the mess our law enforcement agencies are in. Feds vs state and local.

IF the Libs really wanted true gun safety, they would demand that the Feds put people like this repeat offender away. But, they don't because they don't really care about her...they care about keeping law abiding citizens from having guns.

Local gun store owner foils straw purchase of weapon - Journal News | News, sports, jobs, community information for Martinsburg - The Journal


In case you can't get that link to open, here's the story:

Staff writer Jenni Vincent can be reached at 304-263-8931, ext. 131, or www.twitter.com/jennivincentwv.
I'm sorry but since the full article isn't freely available I cannot confirm your quote is accurate and thus will not read your OP or the article at all.

Please only use freely accessible sources in the future :smile:
 
#11 ·
Well...now that's "interesting." This word, "interesting" implies that this is something deserving of further study. Because situations like this never headlines the political debates, or gets mentioned in the Town Hall meetings, and is never talked about in the State of the Union addresses. This is a "primo" situation where the "current" system has met with failure, and only demonstrates the hot air and smoke and mirrors of the current Administration.
 
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#12 ·
Yet more proof that the government is not interested in removing guns for crime prevention.....

Last night we heard that the democrats want to take control of the education system, take control of our health care, regulate and prosecute other industries when people are successful, and take our guns.... ie the govt wants to have total control over our lives.
 
#13 ·
Yup.

It's not about crime control.

It's only marginally about gun control.

It's about control. Control of the citizenry and the citizens' lives. Control.
 
#18 ·
OK, I'll say it. ATF/DOJ won't pursue straw purchase charges, or only pursues them lightly, against people of color.

In the last year we've seen several blatant cases where the perp got off lightly, or no charges. But a white guy, buying a gun for another perfectly legal person, transferred through FFL, got a 3 year sentence?
 
#20 ·
It sad that evil and bad people can continue on and learn to skirt the law. I wonder how many LGS she finds to accommodate her illegal acts.
 
#21 ·
I wish a candidate, during a debate, would tell this story. Then look the camera right in the lens and ask why they want to make new laws when the ones on the books already are not being enforced. I'm sure there are thousands and thousands of cases like this that the general public doesn't know about. They should.
 
#24 ·
In my personal experience with the BATFE it was hard to get them to make arrests. Which is okay at times. During the Clinton ban they wouldn't enforce the "assault weapon" Mickey Mouse rules on parts, etc. They really try to push felon in possession cases to the state level.

A lot depends on the U.S. Attorney they work with as this attorney sets the tone what types of cases get priority. If the US Att wants only "high quality" cases gift wrapped to slam-dunk in court then a borderline incident probably won't get a report. Plus they have about 3-5 layers of bureaucracy to run their cases through before it hits the US Att desk, who can kick it back for more work or flush it. It will literally take months for a case to track through the layers. How the Fed Govt gets anything done always amazed me.

Its not well known but BATFE spends more time on arson than guns or booze combined. One agent showed me his logbook, it'd been 21 years since he'd visited a gunshow. They have better things to do on their weekends.

Without more details its impossible to say what's going on and why because the last 7 years has really muddled up LE efforts from top to bottom.
 
#26 ·
Mr. Obama was pressed on this issue of enforcement during that "dog and pony" town meeting show on gun control.

He of course and true to his nature blamed it on congress for cutting the budget. LOL

What I find most interesting in this thread is that we all agree it is a question of enforcement of current law.
So rather than enforce the multitude of laws we have now, the left prefers to make MORE laws; obvious to all
in this thread for one reason; get the guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens..thereby gaining the final control.

..and what is most disconcerting, is the percentage of the citizenry that will allow it to happen.

W/o scientific proof or a accurate poll; and based only on my day to day interactions with people or reading the news,

I am willing to go out on a limb and state my belief that 90% of voting age citizens fall well into the category of sheep with
apathy ruling the day.

If my 90% is incorrect, I await proof to the contrary.
 
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#27 ·
This is exactly why we need more gun control laws. The ones we have are not worthy of enforcement, so why not add more? Someday, something will work (sarcasm off).

We don't enforce law against Holder.
We don't enforce law against Hillary.
We don't enforce law against straw purchasers.
...but we get speeding tickets...
 
#31 ·
This guy was on top of things but the woman only spent a few hours in jail because of the mess our law enforcement agencies are in. Feds vs state and local.

IF the Libs really wanted true gun safety, they would demand that the Feds put people like this repeat offender away. But, they don't because they don't really care about her...they care about keeping law abiding citizens from having guns.

Local gun store owner foils straw purchase of weapon - Journal News | News, sports, jobs, community information for Martinsburg - The Journal


In case you can't get that link to open, here's the story:

Staff writer Jenni Vincent can be reached at 304-263-8931, ext. 131, or www.twitter.com/jennivincentwv.
Yep, we have a big hill to climb getting out of this 'mess' that our 'back stabbing' elected officials have led us into.
Kinda remands one of the Goat leading the Sheep story, eh?
 
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