mercurynews.com reports that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (and Really Big Fires) is investigating California cops who are reselling weapons banned for civilian sale. Yup, you heard right: Golden State po-po can buy any “off-list” handgun or long gun just by flashing their badge. And they don’t have to wait seven days to take it/them home or submit to an instant FBI background check . . .
Officers need only show their law enforcement credentials to buy ammunition clips that exceed the usual 10-round limit and handguns that are not available to others. Their police chief or sheriff can give them permission to buy an assault weapon or avoid the standard 10-day waiting period for buying a gun and undergoing a background check.
There is no statewide data available to show the extent of the practice, what weapons officers are buying or why they need them. Further, policies on applying the law vary widely among law enforcement agencies . . .
Federal agents served search warrants, but no one has been arrested or charged. Authorities have not disclosed what weapons were being sold or to whom, but officers and deputies have access to plenty of weapons that are prohibited to others.
The double standard realized by this practice—cops purchasing weapons for personal use that are denied law abiding citizens—is stunning. The revelation that “some” CA police are re-selling the weapons illegally is not the worst part. It’s the fact that some of them are reselling the weapons legally that really sticks in my craw.
And it’s not just a left coast phenom. Over in Massachusetts, civilians can’t buy any Glock semi-automatic pistol or Glock ammunition magazine manufactured past Gen II. But they can buy next gen ex-police Glocks. You might think it’s a loophole designed to pad the pockets of police officers but I couldn’t possibly comment.
In any case, here’s the 411 on the CA scam, complete with cod justification.
Sacramento sheriff’s spokesman Jason Ramos said his department has an informal practice of letting deputies buy one assault rifle during their career, with the approval of the sheriff and the captain in charge of weapons and training.
“A guy can’t be in the habit of every year or two buying another one,” Ramos said. “You can’t just be out buying these cool weapons.”
On the other hand, the department provides its own assault weapons for qualified deputies, so Ramos said the department’s 1,245 deputies have no need to buy the guns for official reasons.
“It’s more really for personal interest,” Ramos said.
The department has permitted 25 to 30 assault weapon purchases so far this year.
Roseville Police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther said her department gets two or three such requests each year. Every Roseville officer is also issued a semiautomatic assault-style rifle for use on duty, and Gunther said her 121-officer department doesn’t track why officers need to own assault weapons beyond those provided by the department.
Sacramento Police spokeswoman Officer Laura Peck said her department has no policy on waivers to purchase assault weapons or off-list handguns by its 678 officers. She would not say how many such requests the department’s chief receives or whether it tracks why officers want the nonstandard firearms.
Gun control. One rule for them, a hypocristy of bogus rules for us. As for the CA scam, expect nothing in the way of prosecution here—unless a spree killer uses a police-sourced modern home defense sporting black rifle. And probably not even then.
[Click here for CA’s list of “de-certified” handguns, including the above Smith & Wesson 342.]
“these really cool weapons” is that how they think of them? Hypocrisy is a bitch
By the way those larry potterfield ccw videos are nonsense in my opinion. They give extra points for .357 over .38 but when they test the .357 in the other categories they use .38 target loads. and they even tested a couple different shotguns to see how they rated as defensive handguns. Im not joking either
Well, a Serbu might as well be a pistol; it’s got an OAL something like 16 inches…
This smacks of a violating the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment…
In all honesty, that same argument may well be the best way to overturn the Hughes ban….
We all know cops are superior citizens so just submit to the will of the legislature, OK?
Moving vans and companies are doing a brisk business in CA, good thing there is no wall or checkpoint on the state line.
Agreed. I’d hate to see people tunneling out of the state.
Some of the articles I’ve read have made it sound like parts of Kalifornia were on their way to joing Detroit in becoming Ghost Towns.
Believe me if my wife and I could we would be headed to Texas, or Arizona, Maybe Colorado without hesitation.
Anywhere but here. Don’t get me wrong I love California, but I hate to see what it has become.
IT jobs are hard to come by that pay well out of state.
while this is disturbing, i’m not surprised, this is CA we are talking about.
Wouldn’t be surprised if some of these weapons end up in the hands of local gangbangers.
(CA waiting period is 10 days–really 240 consecutive hours–not 7.)
Yup – and I am not certain the waiting period IS waived even for LEO’s, but I could be wrong.
Those Cali cops are amateurs. In New York, the po-po steals the guns, then resells them. It’s amazing how high profit margins can be when the cost of goods sold is zero.
Yup steal by the truck load directly from the evidence locker and sell to thugs on the street corner, gotta love it…
There is no such thing as a “off-list rifle,” when it comes to rifles it’s either an assault weapon or it’s not an assault weapon. When an officer is buying an “assault weapon” he can’t just flash his badge and walk out of the store, any time an officer is buying an “assault weapon” as a duty gun, he/she has to have a letter from their respective department stating why they need the gun.
No news article has yet highlighted the fact that off-list handguns are completely legal for civilians to buy, sell, and own, as long as they are not bought new. They have also not mentioned the fact that police transferring them to civilians is also completely legal. The line is when police officers are selling the guns for personal profit.
Please double check the laws next time, and if you guys ever have a question about CA law, you have my email.
The laws here are so stupid it’s hard for me to fault the cops on this one. Most of the “profit” I’ve seen them make on private party transfers is just covering fees and such. And don’t off list handguns need to be private party transfers, not just new? My dealer has shot me down on “j” frames before, even with a single action conversion because they don’t meet the minimum length requirement or some such b.s.
You are correct about the fact that off-list guns must be PPT, but only if it is already in the state. You can get them out of state through a single shot exemption, or a single action conversion like you said. After doing a a single shot exemption or a single action conversion, you can convert the gun back to factory specs. The profit for these officers comes from selling the gun $100-$200 more then they paid for it. It sounds like these cops bought the guns with the intent of flipping them.
Also, for a single action conversion requires a 3 inch barrel with an over all length of 7.5 inches. This may be why your FFL wouldn’t do it.
Geez – do we see have freaking hard it is to just buy a damn gun in this damn state? You have to damn near be a lawyer (or accept the FFL’s word) on half the crappy laws… End Vent
Yeah but I can’t see where flipping one or two guns a month could be considered a business. It just isn’t a profit anyone could say was a business. If they were making enough to pay off mortgages or buy fancy cars, then maybe, but otherwise it is reaching to be sure…
There are “off list” rifles in California – it’s just a different list.
The Bushmaster XM-E2 is banned by name in California. The STAG-15 is not when put in the right configuration.
-Gene
Hi, ich hätte gern eine .22 oder 9 Milimeter gekauft. Bibts da eine Möglichkeit über diesen Polizei-Board? Lieferadresse Frankreich oder Deutschland.
You beat me to this post. I sent in something similar yesterday LOL
I was flabbergasted when I read this in the news.
As far as I am concerned the deputies in question did nothing wrong. In fact the charges that I read are such.
One is charged with selling a normal capacity magazine to an under cover agent. Not sure what the law is on that.
Second they said that these two are doing this as a business with out an FFL license. This drives me insane! Of course anyone who is a collector has a right to make a profit on the arms they sell. Usually you role that over into the next biggest purchase. So I fail to see where they did anything wrong at all, minus the magazine sale if that is illegal. This whole hypocrisy is nuts.
It is like taking down the head of the mafia for tax evasion not the actual crimes they committed.
I live here in CA and very close to Sacramento. Yes it is sad these wound up in the hands of criminals. But was the law broken in doing so? I think not.
At this point I am just waiting for California to go bankrupt. Once that happens you will want to be an FFL dealer in CA, because they won’t be able to keep guns on the shelves. Even my wife who is decidedly or has been anti gun now wants one in a gun vault by the bed. So now I need to get her something she can shoot, as a full frame 45 is a bit much for her. We will also be teaching our eldest son to shoot as well. He is planning on going to the Marines here in a year so might as well give him a head start. Both myself, wife and eldest son will have biometric access to the vaults.
From what I have read, the majority of law enforcement doesn’t support the microstamp law or many of the gun control laws or bills pushed by the moron liberal law makers as they do not work. This article makes it sound as though law enforcement are the ones who don’t want us to have these guns, and I’m talking regular hand guns. Give them a break. It’s the liberal politicians liberals elect pushing this crap.