Blackwater getting called out on 'straw purchases' of MGs; how timely!

[pex]

I think it's particularly convenient that Blackwater is attacked on machine guns, made public on the eve of the Heller decision.

If I didn't know better, I'd say it might be a plan to sabotage grey areas of MG-handling FFLs and potentially settings us up for reduced chances to be the first to get the MG ban struck down.

Blackwater is someone we won't like so more people will be willing to side against them, but the true battle is the rights of individuals to possess and use machineguns. It'd a good screen.

I don't think the likelihood of successful prosecution is good when Blackwater has the appropriate licenses and the sheriff says the weapons were bought for them.

http://www.newsobserver.com/917/story/1116379.html

Blackwater using cache of AK-47s
Rifles given to sheriff in deal that skirts law


Joseph Neff, Staff WriterComment on this story
The private military company Blackwater has found an unusual way to skirt federal laws that prohibit private parties from buying automatic weapons. Blackwater bought 17 Romanian AK-47s and 17 Bushmasters, gave ownership of the guns to the Camden County sheriff and keeps most of the guns at Blackwater's armory in Moyock.

Tiny Camden County -- population 9,271 -- is one of the most peaceful in North Carolina. In the last 10 years, there have been two murders, three robberies and seven rapes reported. The sheriff has just 19 deputies.

Sheriff Tony Perry said his department has never used the 17 AK-47s outside of shooting practice at Blackwater. None of his 19 deputies are qualified to use the AK-47s, Perry said, and his department's need for automatic weapons is "very minimal."

In the summer of 2005, Blackwater CEO Gary Jackson signed two agreements with Maj. Jon Worthington of the Sheriff's Office. Worthington has worked as a firearms instructor for Blackwater.

"Blackwater has financed the purchase of 17 Romanian AK-47 rifles for the Camden County Sheriff's Office for use by Sheriff's Office," the agreement says. "The Camden County Sheriff's Office will have unlimited access to these rifles for training and qualification, and state of emergency use." Worthington and Jackson also signed an agreement for the purchase of 17 Bushmaster XM15 E2S automatic rifles.

Why did Blackwater strike this deal with the Camden County sheriff?

"Because they needed guns, I imagine," Jackson said.

Jackson said Blackwater was a good corporate citizen that provided equipment and training, often free, to local law enforcement.

Did Camden County need more automatic weapons than deputies?

"They are very well equipped," Jackson said.

Perry said he can't remember who came up with the idea for the weapons deal. He said the county was trying to put together a SWAT team at the time.

Not the best choice?

The AK-47 would be a poor choice of weapon for a SWAT team, said John Gnagey, executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association, the national organization of SWAT officers.

As a combat weapon, the AK-47 is too large and powerful for SWAT teams, Gnagey said. It is rugged but relatively inaccurate.

"And there's the perception problem," Gnagey said. "Every terrorist attacking the U.S. is armed with AK-47s. "

Most SWAT teams use the H&K MP5 submachine gun or the Bushmaster M4, he said.

Under federal law, only government agencies -- military or law enforcement -- are allowed to acquire and possess automatic weapons. There is an exception for automatic weapons purchased before May 1986, when the law went into effect.

Firearms dealers are allowed, under strict conditions, to acquire an automatic weapon if they need to demonstrate the weapon to a police department or other government agency interested in buying the weapon.

Under federal law, it is illegal for a person to receive or possess an automatic weapon that is not registered to that person in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. The 34 weapons are registered to the Camden County sheriff. Seventeen AK-47s and five Bushmasters are stored and used at Blackwater. The other 12 Bushmasters are assigned to Camden County deputies, the sheriff said.

Weapons' use defended

Jackson, the Blackwater CEO, said he was not violating federal firearms law.

"I don't believe so," Jackson said. "As long as I have contracts, I can buy fully automatic weapons."

Jackson and Erik Prince, Blackwater's owner, said Blackwater used the AK-47s in training to familiarize police officers or members of the military with a foreign weapon that they might come across while making an arrest or on a battlefield.

Blackwater may also use the AK-47s to train military personnel from other countries who come to the United States for anti-terrorism training funded by the State Department, Prince and Jackson said.

"If the contract tells us to, we do it," Jackson said.

The agreement between Blackwater and the Sheriff's Office could be an illegal straw purchase, said Richard Myers, a law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A straw purchase, Myers said, is when one person fills out the federal firearms registration form to obtain a weapon for another person's use.

"I prosecuted several when I was with the U.S. attorney," Myers said. "If I were Blackwater's attorney, I would be concerned about whether this is a genuine purchase or a straw purchase."

Sheriff Perry said he did not consult a lawyer about the agreement until recently, when the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the FBI inquired about the arrangement. Last year two former Blackwater employees pleaded guilty to federal firearms violations. They were sentenced to probation on the condition that they assist federal investigators.

Perry said his department was cooperating fully.

"We're not a target," Perry said. "We may be a victim in it."

joseph.neff@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-4516

[ALS]

The guns were all accounted for and all the paperwork was in order.
The ATF, prosecutors and the Sheriff all knew the guns were in the vault.
All this is a bunch of Government grand standers acting like they are protecting America from that evil Blackwater. Don't you love when some bureaucrat blows taxpayer money on a worthless win less case ?

[ThoughtCriminal]

Maybe now blackwater will think twice about seizing lawfully owned guns from citizens, ie katrina. Glad to see it happened to them, I just wish the feds seized ALL of their weapons, than it would be true payback for the citizens of louisiana.

[shermdo]

I must have missed the news story where Blackwater contractors were running a muck in Louisiana during the Katrina disaster. Certainly there were some LEO and national guard types seizing firearms from honest citizens in New Orleans but are we possibly confusing reality with a particular episode of the TV show Jericho.

I know for a fact that Blackwater contractors are doing some real important work for our nation in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think that painting them with a broad brush is just like doing the same thing to our brave soldiers and Marines in the war zones.

Oh, by the way that "new" story included in the OP has several very serious inaccurate statements in it concerning the ownership of full automatic long guns. If anyone thinks that Blackwater rally needs 17 Bushmaster M4s they are not fully informed. Blackwater has an armory full of fully automatic weapons from MP5s to .50cal BMG M2s.

[Philadelphia]

The guns were all accounted for and all the paperwork was in order.
The ATF, prosecutors and the Sheriff all knew the guns were in the vault.
All this is a bunch of Government grand standers acting like they are protecting America from that evil Blackwater. Don't you love when some bureaucrat blows taxpayer money on a worthless win less case ?

Agreed. It makes me wonder if some of these laws really have any purpose anymore other than to persecute the otherwise law abiding. I routinely hear of how some hypertechnical interpretation of this gun law or that ensnares the unwary but otherwise innocent. When was the last time the ATF made a raid on a drug den with the PC based on soley possession of full auto weapons? Do we really need so many of these crazy laws anymore? (I don't think so). Are these laws making America a more secure place, or in reality just giving the gov't more and more power to destroy our free way of life more than any terrorist group could?

Reminds me of how critical it will be to vote (against Obama) in the upcoming presidential election.

[Brown-Bear]

Its political grandstanding thats all. These guys at blackwater have what they need to do the job, and they provide a service for the nation as well as training the local LEO's. The DA's are using the media spin machine to get the message out that they are tough on guns, but at the same time are not really doing anything about the true underlying cause which drives this type of incident.

The comman criminal. The common criminal has access to the same weapons but nothing is done to deter them from the life they have chosen. Instead they go after the groups who LOOK evil in the eyes of the general public. Makes me sick to my stomach.

Dave