“On May 30, [Michael J.] Henry, allegedly acting as a ‘straw purchaser,’ went to a Jeffersonville gun shop and bought a .9mm Beretta – the weapon that authorities said [Andrew C.] Thomas used five months later to kill Plymouth Township K-9 Officer Bradley Fox [above].” philly.com reports that Henry told investigators that he bought nine firearms for Thomas. Needless to say, the the PA po-po’s presser named names, putting In Site Firearms and French Creek Outfitters in the frame. They somehow forgot to mention that one of their own was at the helm of the store that sold the murder weapon. “In Site Firearms in the Burnridge Shopping Center is owned and operated by retired West Norriton Police Officer Luke J. Kelly (not pictured above).” Question: why does it make any difference where the gun came from anyway? [h/t JR]
I frequent both these shops and both are great, friendly, helpful places. It’s a shame that they have to be associated with the assassination of a police officer, but if it was a straw purchase, what could they do? It isn’t as if they sold it knowingly to this sick individual, but that’s why the straw purchaser is facing 60+ years…sad all around. Except the .9mm part. C’mon now.
I also shop at In site, and have always found them to be a helpful and careful FFL. Laws don’t stop those who want to break a law–which is the crux of so many issues in this country now.
I too am a customer at In Site Firearms. It is unfortunate that some of the straw purchases were made at their store but this could have occurred at any FFL.
Another satisfied customer of both shops. Straw purchasing is impossible to stop, and both places do their best to engage buyers in conversation before they make a sale. As long as people with clean records are willing to break the law for criminals, nothing can be done to stop this from happening.
Wrong.
http://mikeb302000.blogspot.it/2010/10/straw-purchasing-solution.html
While this is a solution, it is one that would violate the right to bear arms, and would be declared un-Constitutional.
Yet more evidence the Brady Background Check system is a marketing exercise with no practical effect on crime prevention.
If a bad guy for some reason wants to buy a gun from an FFL, he’ll send his GF/Wife/brother/sister in to complete the paperwork. Lying on a Federal form isn’t a big deal to a Latin King. In Chicago a story recently ran on how a pistol found at a gang shooting was traced to a guy who had a side job selling guns he bought legally to crooks.
While bad guys’ relatives are buying guns illegally at the gun counter, good American men and women are being delayed and denied because their names are similar to crooks’ on the computer screen at NICS.
Something to think about next time you’re waiting for Uncle Sam to clear your next gun purchase.
It may not prevent crime, but in this case it helped deliver justice.
That ole debbil .9mm will kill you every time! It’s so deadly!
Point 9mm? You’d have to load the magazine with tweezers and a magnifying glass!
True, but the bullets are hypersonic out to 300 meters.
Yeah, I have heard that some arrive before the trigger is pulled! Apparently, it is some kind of quantum thing. (See Terry Pratchett’s discussions of quantum effects.)
Anything is possible. If it is energetically favorable, it becomes a certainty.
First, it’s tragic that a man had to die. Second the people involved have been found so let’s hope they never see free air again.
And 3rd, if you’re retarded enough to buy a gun in your own name and then supply it ti criminals you need to spend a long time behind bars. Who’s that stupid? You’re going to buy a gun for your meth head family member with a long history of crime and expect that it’ll all work out well?
Guns should not be regulated. Stupid should be regulated. Stupid should hurt. A lot.
Because why would we condemn the straw purchaser when we can use our power as a media outlet to slam a gun store.
Pound for pound our media does more damage to this nation than our enemies.
“Question: why does it make any difference where the gun came from anyway?”
Robert Farago – so you’ll be backing off your Fast & Furious pogrom now, eh?
That would be a great comment if the F&F controversy involved the actual stores that sold the F&F weapons. It doesn’t.
Can’t decide if they are talking about a human being shot or a K-9. The local PD (KCPD) refers to the dog as an officer. If this guy shot a human, he deserves whatever happened to him.
Both Officer Fox and his K-9 partner were shot; Officer Fox sustained a fatal wound to the head and his K-9 partner survived.
Damn. My condolences to the officer’s family.
I care as much about the PDs dog as they do about mine.
The control freaks want to trace the path of every gun so they can file lawsuits, press for charges to be filed, and generally agitate until all gun stores are closed. The stupider the law or the policy, the more data required to put it into action, all too often.
I never realized that a .9mm was that powerful. I’m going to trade in my 40mm assault pistol for one of those .9mm automatic weapons just as soon as I can.
So once again the gun and the store are to blame for what someone did with the firearm. Nice logic there, it leads to a disarmed and humiliated society.
“Question: why does it make any difference where the gun came from anyway?”
Are you kidding. Isn’t the whole gun control question interested in the point at which a lawfully owned gun passes into criminal hands?
One of the problems is we don’t zero in properly on that point. Straw purchasing, which is easily eradicated, is one of the major ways.