Milwaukee: straw purchaser sentenced

[Monkeyleg]

Anyone who's been following the news in Milwaukee for the last several years knows that there's been an effort by the media and politicians to blame Badger Guns for every crime involving a gun.

The problem has largely been one of straw purchases, which Badger tries to prevent, but obviously can't.

Well, the authorities finally nailed a illegal seller cold. He sold guns to a guy who told him that he was a felon, and that he needed "throwaway guns" for "his guys".

The seller could have gotten five to ten years in the federal pen for this. After all of the haranguing about Badger Guns and straw purchases, you'd think he would have, right?

Wrong. He got one month. That's it. That's how screwed up this whole thing is.

The story is here

 

[DenaliPark]

Not surprised in the least, the target is not criminals so much as manufacturing a perception with which to discredit the very existence of firearms. You'd be surprised at how many members of this so-called pro 2nd website are good with this concept...

 

[bubba15301]

not a straw purchase - he didnt buy at an ffl and then sell them to some one else - he sold guns to known felons . article didnt say where the guns came from.

 

[Magno]

May I be the first to call bullsh*t?

 

[Monkeyleg]

Sorry, I didn't pay attention to the part of the article that said they were his guns. Still a crime, though.

What part do you think is "bullsh*t"?

 

[Magno]

I didn't read the article, but my comment was directed at:

"He got one month. That's it. That's how screwed up this whole thing is."

That just struck me as being BS, and I mean that in the literal sense, not the sarcastic one. Things like this just scream stupidity to me.

 

[DMF]

What did you expect? The man was not a prohibited person himself. Meaning he had no prior felony convictions.

Sentencing in Federal court takes into account many factors, but one is the "criminal history" of the defendant. So generally people with no prior convictions get very light sentences.

Further, he was in his 70s at the time of the offense, and I wouldn't be surprised if that played a factor in the sentence being below the guideline 18 to 24 months.

 

[Monkeyleg]

What did you expect? The man was not a prohibited person himself. Meaning he had no prior felony convictions.

For over ten years, the politicians and media in Milwaukee have been trying to shut down Badger Guns because they claim it's a source for "crime guns". They're going to succeed in closing the store, too. I expect Badger will be driven out within two years.

But they've done nothing wrong.

Meanwhile, we've got a guy who knowlingly sold guns to a person he knew to be prohibited.

In 2000, there was a guy who did 26 straw purchases from Badger over the course of a year. An ATF agent tracked him for a year, then busted him. He wasn't even prosecuted.

The Milwaukee Journal has run inunmerable multiple-page stories about Badger and other gun dealers "getting away with murder", implying that the gun dealers are the cause of the crime. When law enforcement gets a real law-breaker, though, nothing happens.

What I expect is for the prosecutors and judges to either enforce the law, or for the politicians and media to shut up about legitimate gun owners and gun dealers if the real criminals are going to get token sentences.