Gangs and Guns in Columbia, SC

[Sportcat]

http://wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5172938

Be sure to watch the attached video

Gang members toting high-powered weapons on Columbia's streets

(Lexington) July 19, 2006 - Gang violence in the Midlands has some people on edge.

On Saturday, 19-year-old Denise Boykin was shot and killed at the Barnyard Flea Market in Lexington County. Authorities think gunmen were trying to target the woman's boyfriend. Six people have been arrested. A semi-automatic weapon was used in the shooting.

A SLED agent shows us the power of an AK-47, capable of shooting nine bullets at one time going 2,400 feet per second. It's the type of gun used in combat.

But one of them was found on the streets of Columbia. It's one of many high-powered weapons that make up SLED's collection of guns stripped from criminals and gang members.

While semi-automatic pistols continue to be the standard weapon of gangs, officers say there's been a rise in the use of what you could call "bigger and badder" firearms.

One of the reasons is that the guns are easy to get. Cpt. Stan Smith says, "I've worked a number of cases recently where guns were lawfully purchased by the individuals who used them in the crime."

In South Carolina if you're over 21, you can buy an AK-47 model at a gun shop for as little as $130.

Officers say juveniles get adults to buy the guns, or they steal them.

That is frightening to officials like Lt. Ricky Ezzell, "These rounds have the capability of going through our body armor, so it's pretty scary."

Lt. Ezzell shoots an AR15. It's the civilian version of the military's M-16. The bullets left behind are similar to what's been found in gang warfare in Richland County.

Lt. Ezzell talks about some of the weapons they've found, "On some of the rounds we've gotten off them you could line three to four people in a row and if you shoot the first one it will go through all of them."

And even someone like WIS' Angie Goff, who is inexperienced at the shooting range, can hit a target 20 feet away with the weapon.

Gangs are using guns more than ever. Smith says weekly disputes are ending with gunfire. Cpt. Smith is concerned it will get worse, "Until some of the, perhaps, legislation is changed regarding how guns are obtained, we're going to see probably increase in weapons and firearms used in these incidents."

But Smith admits, no matter what the law, gangs who want guns will find a way to get them

 

[El Tejon]

I say, I say, 9 bullets at one time, I say. Is that there a nine barreled Ak-47?

Have to be 21 in Souf Cackalacky to buy a carbine? Gee, you only have to be 18 here?

AK rounds can go through body armour, Chief Wiggum. But so can a "thutty-thutty" which can be purchased for $100 at a pawn shoppe. BTW, so can just about any carbine or rifle round including the ARs you use. Oh, a lot of pistol rounds can penetrate police body armour as well.

Shooting through 3 or 4 people? Really, you can do that with a 9mm FMJ pistol round. Maybe police shouldn't have pistols so people cannot grab them and shoot through them. Better turn in your AR too.

Wow, a hot info babe can hit a target at 20 feet. However, I can spit a watermelon seed that far. What exactly does this prove???

What a wildly inaccurate piece. Why should I expect anything different?

 

[Taurus 66]

There's real easy fix to the problem. Just ban automatic assault weapons. There, no more gang violence.

 

[Sportcat]

And she wasn't wearing eye protection either.

 

[ID_shooting]

I just want to know where these $130.00 AKs are

 

[ilbob]

I just want to know where these $130.00 AKs are

me too. I'd like to get about half a dozen of them.

 

[Henry Bowman]

But one of them was found on the streets of Columbia.

Makes it sound like they found it when emptying out the bin in the street sweeper.

 

[Amish_Bill]

just sent a note....

I just found your article on gang members using more and more powerful weapons. The portion of your story that made my ears perk up was the mention of AK-47s for $130. Do you recall what shops you found that pricing at? Considering the average price here for a beater AK starts at $300, a drive to that shop to buy a few is entirely within reason.

Thanks,
AB

 

[ID_shooting]

AB,

Let us knw if she replies, tell her you know somone who will help get those evil rifles out of South Carolina and into Idaho where they will cause much less harm to her and her fellow citizens. That should make her happy right?

 

[Chipperman]

They were probably beater SKS that were going for that.

AK-47s go for about $12,000. I'd buy all they had for $130.

 

[Sportcat]

I'm local and ready to take orders!!!

 

[Lupinus]

idiots :banghead:

A SLED agent shows us the power of an AK-47, capable of shooting nine bullets at one time going 2,400 feet per second. It's the type of gun used in combat.

I wanna know where the nine barreled AK's are cause I want one, should be legal no? One pull of the trigger isn't causing any repeat fire . And combat? Yeah, so are slightly modified hunting rifles for sniper work, what's your point? That combat gun isn't the type used in combat at all, it is modified from the one used in combat. It is also the type of gun used by many thousands of recreational shooters everyday safely and lawfully.

That is frightening to officials like Lt. Ricky Ezzell, "These rounds have the capability of going through our body armor, so it's pretty scary."

So can my 30-30 Winchester, actually so can just about any hunting rifle. Come to think of it many hunting rifles are more powerful and more capable of going through a vest then the round from an AK 47.

One of the reasons is that the guns are easy to get. Cpt. Stan Smith says, "I've worked a number of cases recently where guns were lawfully purchased by the individuals who used them in the crime."

You mean a private sale? Like you said something totally legal, what does that have to do in any way shape or form with what the guy does with it afterwards? And for hindsight how many are bought legally and used legally in comparison to those bought legally and used illegally?

In South Carolina if you're over 21, you can buy an AK-47 model at a gun shop for as little as $130.

18, 21 is for handguns. I'd also like the address of the shop selling AK's in that condition for 130 bucks, I will gladly help remove some from the shelves so they don't fall into the wrong hands, you don't have to thank me, it's my civic duty.

Lt. Ezzell talks about some of the weapons they've found, "On some of the rounds we've gotten off them you could line three to four people in a row and if you shoot the first one it will go through all of them."

Do they also mention the round that he says will pass through three or four people is the same caliber as a .22 and is most popularly used for hunting large varmints and a few coyotes? Or the fact they are likely to break up in a target and not stay solid?

And even someone like WIS' Angie Goff, who is inexperienced at the shooting range, can hit a target 20 feet away with the weapon.

And I bet she could stand on the pitchers mound of Yankee stadium and get the ball over home plate, that doesn't mean she is ready to pitch in the world series. I bet she could throw a rock 20 feet to and if throw hard enough a rock to the head can kill, should we report those evil rock throwers too?

"Until some of the, perhaps, legislation is changed regarding how guns are obtained, we're going to see probably increase in weapons and firearms used in these incidents."

Or you could arrest them all instead of playing mister PC and throw their gang banger asses in jail for the rest of eternity, and work to get rid of the culture that breeds criminals so these morons learn to go out and get a job.

 

[ilbob]

My email to the reporterette

No doubt you will receive a fair number of critiques on this story pointing out the misconceptions and just plain bad information you presented. I will just deal with a couple of the more annoying ones.

http://wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5172938

A SLED agent shows us the power of an AK-47, capable of shooting nine bullets at one time going 2,400 feet per second. It's the type of gun used in combat.

No firearm with one barrel can shoot nine "bullets" at one time. It just cannot happen. It may be that the firearm had a magazine that was capable of holding nine (or more) rounds, but it never fired them simultaneously.

In South Carolina if you're over 21, you can buy an AK-47 model at a gun shop for as little as $130.

I think if you look closely you may find that the real age for purchasing long guns is 18, not 21. But perhaps SC is more restrictive than the rest of the country. However, I would like to know what gun shop has AK47s for sale at $130 each so I can arrange to purchase some. They are not available for that price anywhere I am aware of, even at the wholesale level in substantial quantities.

That is frightening to officials like Lt. Ricky Ezzell, "These rounds have the capability of going through our body armor, so it's pretty scary."

This is true but misleading. Just about any rifle bullet, including all the common hunting rifle bullets will go through common body armor.

Lt. Ezzell talks about some of the weapons they've found, "On some of the rounds we've gotten off them you could line three to four people in a row and if you shoot the first one it will go through all of them."

Also potentially true (but improbable), but again very misleading. Just about any hunting rifle round will have similar or better ballistics to the round fired by an AK47, but the chance of a bullet from any common firearm passing through 4 bodies is remote.

 

[Sportcat]

Please, please, please let us know if she responds to any of these e-mails.

 

[damyankee]

Just watched the vid.... yeah....... you would literally have to TRY to miss the silhouette at that distance

 

[Amish_Bill]

Her reply...

Dear Bill,
Thanks for watching and writing. I was surprised to learn that some people can buy these kinds of guns for *as little* as $130 too. My story is attributed to SLED and other law enforcement agencies I interviewed. I reported what they see... and what they have found on the streets. It was very surprising. SLED says the criminals are getting them at gun shows, gun shops and even flea markets... I didn't report all that.

My story has no intention of targeting law abiding gun owners. The essence of the story was that law enforcement is starting to see a rise in the use of high powered guns in gang violence. It is the opinion of the officers we interviewed not WIS that laws make it a challenge for them to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.

Bill, Thanks again for taking the time to write. You're thoughts will be considered in my future reporting on gun-related stories.

Rather quick turnaround too.

 

[Amish_Bill]

Ok... my last reply....

Ahhh.... That could explain it. I can see where a stolen or otherwise
illegally obtained AK could go for such a low price.

As to the politics of laws attempting to constrain the lawless, well,
that's another issue for another time and place.

and her reply

Bill,
The *Law* issue is a bigger story. One that could be done in great depth. The end of the story pointed out law enf admits whatever the laws... criminals who want to get guns will find a way to get them.
Thanks,
Angie Goff

Think I should invite her in?

She seems to have had some suspect "facts" provided to her, but it sounds like she might just be open to another viewpoint.

 

[ID_shooting]

Finally had a chance to watch the vid, wow, I am impressed with the display of marksmanship by everyone there.

At least they could have driven to the other side of town to Ft Jackson (B 2-26 summer of 87 ). I bet there are at least 1000 young privates there who could show them what real marksmanship is.

 

[ilbob]

I got the same response. I bet we are not the only ones emailing and pointing out such errors.

Do you think she is going to be just a little annoyed at SLED for misleading her so much?

 

[Amish_Bill]

I suspected the first one was, at best, a lightly customized canned blurb. The second sounded more on-topic.

How close were your replies?

 

[Lupinus]

My email to her-

Ms. Goff,

I just finished reading you article titled "Gang members toting high-powered weapons on Columbia's streets" and would like to take a few moments to pass along some comments as well as try to clear up a few or your errors and misconceptions regarding the AK-47 and guns in general as mentioned in your report.

I'd like to start off by commenting on the statement "capable of shooting nine bullets at one time." And asking how you came about such a conclusion? An AK-47 has one barrel and therefor fires one projectile at a time, in the case of most civilian owned AK-47's that also includes one projectile per pull of the trigger as they are semi-automatic. As for saying it is the type of gun used in combat I beg to differ. While it is indeed closely related to the type of AK-47 used in combat it is only related. AK-47's used in combat have the option of being fired in semi-automatic or fully automatic and the one used in the crime if purchased legally was almost certainly semi-automatic unless the buyer waited months for approval and paid 200 dollars extra for the needed tax stamp. And as for combat I believe it is worth saying that many hunting rifles are slightly modified and used by our armed forces as sniper rifles. Simply because something may or may not be used in combat doesn't add to its legality or use by civilians.

I'd also like to know what relevance the gun being purchased legally has? I am sure if you looked at the numbers of legally purchased AK-47's used legally everyday for target shooting it would far outweigh the numbers used for crime whether it is bought in a gun shop (which for a criminal I find unlikely) or through a private party purchase outside of a gun shop. I'd also like to correct a factual error, in SC it is legal to own an AK-47 at the age of 18 and I would also like to know the shop you found AK-47's on sale for $130 dollars, I'd like to stop in to buy a few since they normally go for around 300 at a low price for rather beat up examples.

Also the statement from Lt. Ezzell "These rounds have the capability of going through our body armor, so it's pretty scary." Is terribly misleading. I wonder if he mentioned the fact that most hunting rounds can also do this? And in many cases easier? The round fired from the AK-47 is a medium strength round, while the rounds used by the rifles of thousands of SC hunters are much more powerful. The numbers of hunting rifles in SC which use much more powerful rounds far outweigh the numbers of AK-47's in SC last time I checked. I would also like to mention these same hunting rifles can go through the vest much more accurately from much further away then even high quality AK-47's, criminals tend to use the cheaper examples so that opens the gap even more.

To Lt. Ezzell's claim that with the round fired by an AR-15 (.223 Remington btw) could pass through three or four people if you lined them up, I would like to point out .223 is a common varmint hunting round. Varmints can be defined as such things as raccoons, possums, woodchucks, and upwards of a coyote. These bullets are also known for breaking up on impact and fragmenting, meaning their penetration abilities diminish. In a man sized target such a thing as Lt. Ezzell claims would be very hard to do with most types of .223 ammo. As for hitting a target 20 feet away your first time at the range I would like to know what bearing that has? That is a little over six yards, handgun practice is normally further then that.

In short, gang violence is due to the actions of criminals. A gun is an inanimate object no more prone to doing something without a human controlling it then a knife or a car. You article while well written was full of misconceptions about firearms, the specific guns mentioned, and their capabilities in general were either misconstrued or blown out of proportion. Perhaps instead of going after the gun, why do you not try going after the criminal element which is at the heart of the problem? Guns are not the problem, there have always been violent humans and they were there long before guns or gunpowder was even dreamed of. Gun laws do not affect the lawless, they break crime as it already and more often then not there are already laws in place which restrict them from having the firearms they have. They are criminals, they do not follow the law if they did there would be no problem in the first place. It would be nice for once to see a news article not beefing up the power or deadliness of a firearm, and placing blame where it belongs, on the criminal, not the inanimate tool he happened to use.

Sincerely,
Daniel XXXXXXX

 

[The_Shootist]

Can I Get...

...the phone number of the gunshop that sells AK's for $ 130???????

DAMN! I KNEW SC was a fine state but....

 

[Lupinus]

Dear Daniel,
Thanks for watching and writing. My story is attributed to SLED and other law enforcement agencies I interviewed. I reported what they see... and what they have found on the streets. It was very surprising. SLED says the criminals are getting them at gun shows, gun shops and even flea markets... I didn't report all that. They did say some of these guns they collected were purchased for *as little as* $130 dollars.

My story has no intention of targeting law abiding gun owners. The essence of the story was that law enforcement is starting to see a rise in the use of high powered guns in gang violence. It is the opinion of the officers we interviewed not WIS that laws make it a challenge for them to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. The story ends with law enforcement admitting that whatever the laws... criminals who want guns will find a way to get them.

Thanks again for taking the time to write. Laws and guns are a much bigger story...and can be done in great depth. We value your thoughts about the stories we report here at WIS...and will take them into consideration in our future reporting on this matter.

Respectfully,
Angie Goff

 

[Taurus 66]

The FBI and anti-gun media should lay off the ARs and AK style weapons and go after the really big and bad assault weaponry - AKA tactical wheelbarrows. I'd like to see the reporter handle one of those bad boyz!

Sorry, I know the GK horse has been beat, bloodied, bruised, shot dead, burned, buried, exhumed, shot again, but what's just one more for old times sake?

 

[ID_shooting]

I am beginning to see a pattern in her responses. Granted she is probably wondering why her inbox is filling up so reapidly, but sheesh, she could at least change a think or two in her canned response.

When I get canned letters like that, I feel insulted and I believe they did not even read my letter.