U.S. gun dealer trial begins in Arizona

[davepc]

Jury selection began in Phoenix on Tuesday in the trial of a U.S. gun dealer charged with knowingly selling hundreds of weapons to smugglers shopping for Mexican drug cartels.

Prosecutors say George Iknadosian, 47, sold AK-47 assault rifles and other guns to third-party buyers for the cartels in Mexico, where 6,000 people were killed in drug violence last year.

Iknadosian denies the charges. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 250 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Since 2006, Mexico has sent tens of thousands of troops to fight powerful cocaine cartels locked in a bloody war for control of lucrative cross-border smuggling routes to the United States.

Gun sales are illegal in Mexico. Investigators say nine out of every 10 guns recovered from Mexican crime scenes are traced back to U.S. gun dealers, prompting Mexican authorities to urge the United States to crack down on the trade.

...

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN03493312

[Old Codger]

1. Straw sales

Against the law for sure, buying a gun for someone else...

[Redneck Socialist]

2. "...sold AK-47 assault rifles..." Really?

I find that pretty unlikely. There just aren't that many full auto weapons on the civilian market.

That's not to say that this dealer wasn't knowingly selling to straw purchasers, though.

[yay]

3. Full auto semi-auto

It doesn't say. I'll be tracking this case for sure though.

[doc03]

4. Those terrorists in Pakistan that shot all those people had AK 47s

did they come from the US? If the guy was selling illegal guns to illegal purchasers, through the book at him. Don't take law abiding citizens rights off them.

[Xela]

5. Scapegoat...poor fella.

I hope they are not using this guy as a scapegoat.

It's not his fault if we have a faulty background check system.

I got a bette idea: Get the straw man purchasers and punish THEM and/or their associates.

Xela

[enfield collector]

6. you'd think the mexicans would want to do something about

protecting the border to stop all these illegal guns.