Oaks Gun Show leads to numerous trafficking arrests

[Carson]

The straw men in these investigations are clearly low hanging fruit. In other words, they PROBABLY purchased the firearms to fuel an addiction etc....I won't get into the fact that drugs are bad. They aren't prosecutions that are going to get an investigator or a prosecutor gold stars. Chances are the federal prosecutors would decline prosecution. It would be ideal to have them cooperate with law enforcement to successfully prosecute the person(s) who were paying for the firearms. The people who were selling them to shooters etc... I believe it should then be the goal of the prosecution to AT A MINIMUM have the straw men plead guilty to a crime that would make them prohibited from purchasing in the future. Sadly the list of those willing to be a straw man is long.

This is not some high priced arms deal with crates of arms being smuggled in and sold. They basically have all of the players they need to prosecute and send a message. I believe the guy with the face tattoos is the brains and main guy. He gets the other non-prohibited low hanging fruit as you call them to purchase the firearms for him. He in turn sells them on the streets of Philadelphia, Norristown, etc. Those people who buy them from him are simply street level criminals who are prohibited on their own and will pay him extra for a gun they can*t purchase on their own.

They usually have a hard time sentencing a straw purchaser, a lot of times a black female, to more time than an actual shooter gets. But if they want to get serious and stop the straw purchasing, they have to stop the straw purchaser. And also the ringleader. Maybe Montco will do this. Philadelphia politicians frequently complain about guns being brought into the city, well here is a chance to take action. I guess we shall see.

[Walleye Hunter]

Maybe he should be run over by the bus.

Shifty Schiff got his gala clothing stolen and had to attend in rag-tag wear, maybe Krasner can get carjacked or worse.

[Walleye Hunter]

This is not some high priced arms deal with crates of arms being smuggled in and sold. They basically have all of the players they need to prosecute and send a message. I believe the guy with the face tattoos is the brains and main guy. He gets the other non-prohibited low hanging fruit as you call them to purchase the firearms for him. He in turn sells them on the streets of Philadelphia, Norristown, etc. Those people who buy them from him are simply street level criminals who are prohibited on their own and will pay him extra for a gun they can*t purchase on their own.

They usually have a hard time sentencing a straw purchaser, a lot of times a black female, to more time than an actual shooter gets. But if they want to get serious and stop the straw purchasing, they have to stop the straw purchaser. And also the ringleader. Maybe Montco will do this. Philadelphia politicians frequently complain about guns being brought into the city, well here is a chance to take action. I guess we shall see.

I'm all for the death penalty for each and every one of them. After all, they are all accessories to murder.

[ar15jules]

If you read Title 18 Section 6111(h), there is a provision in here for a 5 year mandatory sentence for those that violate the section twice. Multiple firearms at once would count as "second amd subsequent violations ", yet this is very rarely utilized.

[ar15jules]

This is not some high priced arms deal with crates of arms being smuggled in and sold. They basically have all of the players they need to prosecute and send a message. I believe the guy with the face tattoos is the brains and main guy. He gets the other non-prohibited low hanging fruit as you call them to purchase the firearms for him. He in turn sells them on the streets of Philadelphia, Norristown, etc. Those people who buy them from him are simply street level criminals who are prohibited on their own and will pay him extra for a gun they can*t purchase on their own.

They usually have a hard time sentencing a straw purchaser, a lot of times a black female, to more time than an actual shooter gets. But if they want to get serious and stop the straw purchasing, they have to stop the straw purchaser. And also the ringleader. Maybe Montco will do this. Philadelphia politicians frequently complain about guns being brought into the city, well here is a chance to take action. I guess we shall see.

I'm not saying I agree with the final dispositions of these straw men, but just pointing put what usually happens with them.

[JenniferG]

These arrestees were all breaking the law by buying guns and selling them to prohibited people. That means law enforcement was doing the job they were paid to do nothing more and nothing less. It's now up to the prosecutors to try them and have them sentenced accordingly by the laws we have for those crimes. It's now time for the DA to pick up the ball and do the job they are being paid to do.

As far as Philly goes the only way things will improve in Philly is when people finally get fed up with having their stores being robbed, their children murdered, their cars being stolen and carjacked and nothing being done to stop it by the DA's office and they vote for someone that will fix those problems. If that doesn't happen things will continue on the same way because even if Krasner retires or is removed by politicians the same thing will keep happening because the next DA will see that the people don't care enough about crime so the status quo will continue. The people have to get angry and change things.

[JoshIronshaft]

It's a damn good start! Kudos to those responsible for the arrests and prosecutions.

I do, however, have one question that occured to me after reading the article: How did they determine and document what constituted "exhibiting suspicious behavior"?

Was LEO monitoring the show via video cameras throughout the convention center and recording?

Perhaps I am the Pollyanna that I'm occasionally accused of being BUT, I wouldn't have expected that the show would have been under video monitoring.

Undercover officers and gun sellers making tip offs about the suspicious buyers.

Usually it is obvious when someone is making a straw purchase.

Imagine you work at Ace Hardware. You see a woman or soy infused man walk in. They look lost and nervous. Practically begging for the salvation of a store employee to ask them if they need assistance. Most likely someone has sent them there to retrieve material that is needed to finish a project. The person who sent them said "Get a tube of white exterior silicone and a 4 gang junction box". They repeat this to the employee exactly, and can offer no more information when they are asked "15 or 25 year mold warranty?" or "standard depth or extra deep junction box?".

It is that obvious when someone is buying something for someone else.

[markshere2]

These arrestees were all breaking the law by buying guns and selling them to prohibited people. That means law enforcement was doing the job they were paid to do nothing more and nothing less. It's now up to the prosecutors to try them and have them sentenced accordingly by the laws we have for those crimes. It's now time for the DA to pick up the ball and do the job they are being paid to do.

As far as Philly goes the only way things will improve in Philly is when people finally get fed up with having their stores being robbed, their children murdered, their cars being stolen and carjacked and nothing being done to stop it by the DA's office and they vote for someone that will fix those problems. If that doesn't happen things will continue on the same way because even if Krasner retires or is removed by politicians the same thing will keep happening because the next DA will see that the people don't care enough about crime so the status quo will continue. The people have to get angry and change things.

Via rigged voting machines?

Suuuuure, that's gonna work.

[bogey1]

Shifty Schiff got his gala clothing stolen and had to attend in rag-tag wear, maybe Krasner can get carjacked or worse.

I'd like to see shifts head in a bucket.

[Pag23]

Actually, that is not the case. Krasner is basically an extremely progressive Defense Attorney who has been elected to the top prosecutor spot in Philadelphia, who believes he is correcting the wrongs of the past. He is not concerned with lining the pockets of defense attorneys. He does not want to prosecute any criminal. The shenanigans he has played with the families of murder victims is insane. He is currently trying this with the family of the Temple Cop who was killed. The family is on the ball and has thwarted him at every attempt. Krasner has strung out the prosecution because he can*t figure out a loophole for the murderer. It is an almost airtight death penalty case and Krasner is trying to avoid that at all costs.

Krasner stripped the DA*s office of all experienced ADA*s when he started. He replaced them with progressives who believe in his philosophy. But since they are inexperienced, they are basically ineffective. They attempted to impeach him, but the Democrat politicians, including Shapiro, will not throw one of their own under the bus, no matter how much harm he is doing.

I'm glad you clarified this..but I also think he has his allegiances to the defense side...with the hiring of the inept ADAs