Cliff
Member
I think I'll be stopping by Realco-guns that day to at least buy some ammo. Anybody else?
http://www.bradycampaign.org/action/trafficking/aug28/realco.pdf
http://www.bradycampaign.org/action/trafficking/aug28/realco.pdf
Can you give me a rundown of what kind of stuff they stock? Not one member on mdshooters.com has ever been there and I'm a little unsure what to plan to purchase when I get over there.
A regional task force announced last week to address gun trafficking in the District and Maryland has focused sharply on Prince George’s County, as officials claim dozens of illegal guns are traveling through the county and ending up in the hands of criminals in the District.
District Mayor Adrian Fenty said most of the recovered guns traced by District police come from Maryland and Virginia. Of the 2,656 guns recovered by District police last year, 250 were traced to Maryland and 248 to Virginia.
A Metropolitan Police Department report showed that more recovered guns came from a gun store in District Heights, a municipality in Prince George’s, than any other dealer last year. Police reported 76 firearms were traced to Realco Guns Inc. in District Heights.
‘‘We are going to work together to make sure we eliminate ... all of the guns,” said Prince George’s County Executive Jack B. Johnson. ‘‘We have to find out who’s shipping guns to these neighborhoods and go up the chain of command.”
Johnson, Fenty and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley met in Southeast D.C. Friday morning to announce the Gun Trafficking Task Force, intended to bring together federal, Maryland and District officials to stop the flow of illegal guns across borders.
Lt. Col. Markus Summers, deputy police chief of investigative services in Prince George’s who serves on the task force, said the group has been meeting since April, but is formally launching now.
The regional task force announcement comes as law enforcement officials are already making extra efforts to crack down on gun trafficking in Prince George’s. U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein last month announced results from a new push to trap illegal gunrunners in the county. He said 15 defendants were charged over a two-day period in early July through a program called ‘‘Operation Gunrunner.”
Rosenstein told The Gazette there’s no single source for the guns in Prince George’s, but that many felons, who can’t legally possess guns, are purchasing stolen weapons off the streets in the county or using ‘‘straw purchasers,” residents who buy weapons for people who can’t legally purchase firearms themselves.
District Attorney General Linda Singer would not say how guns were being obtained from Realco Guns in District Heights, but said the statistics invited investigation.
‘‘Realco ... stands apart from all the others,” Singer said. ‘‘It’s something we’re going to be investigating.”
A representative from Realco reached by phone Friday declined to comment.
Summers said the county’s proximity to the District makes it a likely source of weapons.
‘‘That would stand to reason that they would come from the local region,” Summers said.
O’Malley said Maryland officials need to improve enforcement and prosecution of gun crimes, and praised the task force as a way to share critical information about illegal guns.
Fenty said he was also working with Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine on the issue of gun trafficking, even though Kaine did not attend Friday’s announcement and Virginia officials were not included in the task force.
The task force announced Friday is expected to link up with an already existing group that targets illegal guns in Baltimore city and Baltimore County.
Both Maryland and District of Columbia law typically carry a five-year prison sentence for illegally carrying a firearm.
E-mail Judson Berger at [email protected].
don't buy stuff it doesn't matter as much as if you show up to support our rights.
buy stuff, don't buy stuff it doesn't matter as much as if you show up to support our rights.