Police Seize 388 Guns From California Man

[matcom]

<snip>

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Los Angeles police seized 388 guns from one man, more than were recovered in the city all last year, a police spokeswoman said on Saturday.



Police seized 11 guns on Thursday from the car of Wayne Wright, 56, along with another he had illegally sold to an undercover officer. After his arrest, police searched his home in the nearby suburb of Simi Valley and found 376 more firearms.


"Last year there were 348 firearms seized (in Los Angeles). This year there have been 411, including the 388 that were seized from Wayne Wright," Officer Sandra Escalante said.


"There were rifles, shotguns, handguns and assault weapons" recovered from Wright's home, Escalante said.


A silencer and thousands of rounds of ammunition, including armor-piercing rounds, were also recovered from Wright's home, Escalante said. Possession of a silencer and armor-piercing bullets are felonies in California, she noted.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=573&e=3&u=/nm/20040920/od_nm/crime_guns_dc

[CO Liberal]

1. But....But...But...

They were all for his persoanl use!!!! <sarcasm off>

It sounds like he was outfitting a small army...

[MrBenchley]

2. THERE's the sort of voter we should be pandering to! (snicker)

[Romulus]

3. another gun-runner goes down

Wright is not a licensed gun dealer and may have been engaged in illegal gun trafficking, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

The only thing to do is celebrate another dirtbag off the streets . . .

[TX-RAT]

4. This is all to common.

There are a lot of gun dealers in this area that don't have FFL's. They don't sell new guns, they don't sell at gun shows, they sell out of their house or vehicle. Some people won't buy a weapon if it's traceable. Sadly there is no violation of the law, as long as the weapon is not illegal or stolen. These are the people who give legitimate gun shops a black eye.

[Romulus]

8. well, BATFE should be informed

from what I understand, anyone who deals firearms "for a profit" needs to be licensed with an FFL:

http://www.atf.gov/pub/fire-explo_pub/part178.pdf

24 CFR 178-11

Engaged in the Business . . .(c) Dealer in firearms other than a gunsmith or a pawnbroker. A
person who devotes time, attention, and labor to dealing in firearms as a
regular course of trade or business with the principal objective of
livelihood and profit through the repetitive purchase and resale of
firearms, but such a term shall not include a person who makes occasional
sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a
personal collection or for a hobby, or who sells all or part of his
personal collection of firearms;

24 CFR 178-41

(a) Each person intending to engage in business as an importer or
manufacturer of firearms or ammunition, or a dealer in firearms shall,
before commencing such business, obtain the license required by this
subpart for the business to be operated. Each person who desires to
obtain a license as a collector of curios or relics may obtain such a
license under the provisions of this subpart.



Isn't this how BATFE busts gun-runners: they aren't licensed to sell firearms? I guess they focus on interstate gun-runners?:shrug:

But I see your point about the "private sale loophole" - which needs to be closed . . .

[TX-RAT]

10. In TX gun owners can buy and sell as many guns as they want to.

Most if not all are cash deals. I think the IRS would be very interested in their business practices. Most claim to be collectors, and it's hard to prove them wrong, without a paper trail. These weapons are sold to anybody with money.

[skippythwndrdog]

5. Sounds like an underground dealer, but

there's not enough information in the article to tell for sure. Either way, if the guy had items that are illegal in CA, he's likely going to go down, and rightully so. Gotta play by the rules. I hope the legitimate dealers are as concerned about this as I am.

(Does anyone else find it interesting that stories from the wierd news are fine with some of our members if hte story promotes their agenda, but stories from the same source are considered junk if they don't support their views?)

[E. Tackleberry]

7. That's the way it is when you have an a slanted agenda to push....

(Does anyone else find it interesting that stories from the wierd news are fine with some of our members if hte story promotes their agenda, but stories from the same source are considered junk if they don't support their views?)








.........Tackleberry

[LibLabUK]

9. Hmm..

"Does anyone else find it interesting that stories from the wierd news are fine with some of our members if hte story promotes their agenda"

The story's from Reuters... which is hardly a backwater news source.

[MrBenchley]

11. Yeah, but Reuters obviously has an "agenda"

in making it seem "odd" that some dishonest fuckwit gets arrested with a private arsenal....

By the way, wonder how many guns passed through this goon's hands over the past few years?

[skippythwndrdog]

12. FYI

I think you're missing the point. Some anti's here descry stories from this section of Reuters unless thay fit their personal agenda. I figure that the editors' choice of placement for a story within their framework does not diminish the value of the report.

I've posted many stories from Reuters both here and on other fora. They have been from virtually all sections of Reuters site.

Reuters is one of the best news services IMO.

[LibLabUK]

14. Hmm..

"Some anti's here descry stories from this section of Reuters unless thay fit their personal agenda."

Never come across that situation myself, only time I've seen people dispute a news story has been when it's come from a suspect source.

[goju]

6. Bout time

Its about time we started hearing stories of law enforcement doing their job. We hear too much about incompetence or looking the other way, its nice to hear that CA tax dollars are being spent on something other than useless legislation which will never stop criminals from breaking the law.

[skippythwndrdog]

13. Too true.

This seems far better than the not-too-distant thread about the guy that got arrested for a couple of tracers that were left in surplus ammo cans. But! He had THOUSANDS of rounds of ammunition that was otherwise legal.

Hope they never search our house! Oops. They won't. Not in CA or any other overly repressive state.

[MrSandman]

15. Except for this black marketeer...

Only 23 guns seized in LA. Unless there were some really big busts, the number seems to be way down from last year. Thaqt could really skew tracing data.

[akodo1]

16. good bye!

glad to see anther criminal behind bars. Illegal sales is where I think we need to have a LOT more police hours invested and an increase in penalties.

If we are serious about keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, nutjobs, and terroritst, then it seems to me that illegal sales is the area to target. 50 years behind bars would be a good start.

[MrBenchley]

17. Wonder where he got all those guns?

Do you think he made them? Do you think the gun fairy left them under a cabbage leaf?