In October of 2017, a group of thieves stole 654 Beretta guns and other merchandise from a UPS terminal in Springfield, Missouri. The shipment was on its way to Bass Pro Shop and UPS had taken steps to make it difficult to get at the cargo.
The trailers with the guns had been parked back-to-back with the roll-up doors facing each other. Two longer trailers were then parked along those trailers to prevent anyone from backing a tractor up to the trailers and pulling them away.
Someone had hot-wired two tractor-trailers in the lot, investigators said, then used them to push and pull trailers around the lot until thieves could access the guns.
All of which took considerable time and effort. There’s apparently not a lot of overnight security in the UPS Springfield terminal.
The next day, a local moving company discovered that one of its trucks had been stolen. That was apparently the vehicle the UPS robbers used to haul away their loot. The truck was later found in Texas.
That led to a what sounds like some impressive detective work (read the details here) that resulted in the arrest of six men including Frank McChriston, who plead guilty to participating in the robbery last week.
One of the stolen guns was found when one of the crew members was arrested. As for the rest . . .
Authorities are apparently still searching for the guns.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney of the Western District of Missouri declined to comment on the stolen guns Wednesday.
Court documents say one of the guns has been recovered — the handgun allegedly found Derrick White’s car.
It’s unclear where the other 653 are.
That’s 653 guns on the streets in the hands of criminals. Clearly, the solution to incidents like this is more and stricter gun control laws.
We need to raise the age for buying guns to 21. We need those who want to buy guns to wait ten days before taking possession of their purchases. We need to regulate private sales and make sure everyone who buys a gun from a private seller undergoes a background check. And we need to mandate that law-abiding gun owners keep their firearms unloaded and locked in a safe or they go to jail.
While we’re at it, let’s elect more astute, knowledgable legislators to tackle these tough issues.
Fair question. Rifles. They’re more powerful and cause more carnage when used with a pistol-grip. See @ScottPelley @60Minutes piece. To reduce semi-auto pistol deaths I’d have universal background checks and mandatory reporting on mental health.
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) November 16, 2018
Surely common-sense measures like these will do something about the epidemic of violent crime in this country.
Just get to the source and steal massive amounts…seemed like a good idea at the time.
spending a little money on security would seem to be a good idea…I’ve worked trucking terminals…you’d be amazed at what security…watching cameras…can deter…
Pistol grips cause more carnage? Where do they find these people? By the same “logic,” they should ban all semiauto pistols because, last time I checked, they all have pistol grips, so they must cause more carnage than revolvers, right? Revolvers don’t have pistol grips, they have revolver grips!
Don’t give these people any ideas. They have far too much power and far too little I.Q. already.
I agree . ROCKETMAN.
ROCKETMAN , good point !
This is the same guy who wants to nuke you for not turning in your Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot, range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time.
AHEM clearly you are wrong, sir, perhaps you have not watched the segment on 60 Minutes?? gEt eduCated.
Huh??? Make it 100 days and why not 25 years old.
And While you are at it Dan.
Let’s make sure only the military can have hand guns. So only they can shoot your behind……
Behind even.
I believe that if those morons had a single brain cell among them they could have pulled it off.
Had to have someone on the inside. And apparently you can have a block party in the UPS lot and they’ll never know. Or was lot security in on the job also?
My thinking as well. They HAD to know; the shipment was there, what trucks they were in; and when security wont be around.
possibly…wouldn’t be the first time….
Oh look, a bunch of Makandans. Nice contribution to society fellas.
Swell idea’s Swalwell. You are a truly amazing idiot. But you do have nukes right !!! Where do you keep your nukes , in your small well , under lock & key ? Btw are you over 21 yrs of age , you certainly don’t sound like it !!
All that trouble to maneuver trucks everywhere and they couldn’t hire a monkey to stand there with a flashlight and cell phone to call 911?
Firearms and drug thefts from UPS are nothing new. 99% are inside jobs of which UPS is fully aware of. When the thefts occur “in shipment” UPS rarely files a report with the local law enforcement entity because doing so would direct attention to the host of thefts at that facility. Instead UPS has the customers file claims as part of the insurance claim procedure and if the customer wishes then they can file the police report. Shipping FFL’s also end up filing locally, those reports make it seem as if the shipping local is responsible for the investigation when in reality it usually is another location.
Firearms and drug shippers have few economical options besides UPS and for UPS there is insurance to cover the thefts. For the thieves there’s very little chance of apprehension or loss of employment. So it’s a win for everyone but the victims and the investigators trying to solve the thefts. *Comments are based solely on personal experience. *
and where is ATF while all this is happening?….
Selling guns to the cartel…
If not for PC BS the USPS could again be the preferred shipper for firearms. One of the few things they do well is investigations of postal theft. And Federal penalties attached. Could be a huge cashcow for them
Hey, it’s that representative that said he’d murder us all with nuclear hellfire for our firearms!
Only condoms could have prevented this robbery. Well and maybe some security at the UPS facility
Those firearms could be in 353 different places by now. Boiled down, without the hype, it’s basically a smash ‘n grab in slow motion. Gives the MSM more publicity to promote their new prime time TV show, “Faces and Fame for Felons”. Any questions out there. No. Good, now go out and get some. Making these, “…………s”, famous makes me wanna’ puke. -30-.
Likely most of them went to Mexico, the cartels have a real appetite for guns, and they aren’t exactly particular about their history or if they were stolen.
As for Mr. Swalwell, he does far more damage to the anti-gun Left than you might think, simply because he is saying what they want, when they won’t. The old WWII saying that “loose lips sink ships” applies here.
Pale in comparison to the number of guns lost by the authorities each year.
guns AND badges….
We don’t need no stinking badges.
The first two perps arrested were driving a truck full of tires stolen back in 2016. The guns might be sitting in a mini-storage warehouse waiting to be retailed to the hood. I wouldn’t be surprised if the gang is a hood version of Sam Walton. Put a torch to their nads and they will tell where the merchandise is or who bought it.
Might work better if firearms were shipped without the bolt or barrel and those parts sent in a separate non-gun shipment by Fedex.
“Put a torch to their nads and they will tell where the merchandise is or who bought it.”
This scene comes to mind
https://youtu.be/pTpg7lBl7_M
I’m sort of curious as how they knew that 654 guns were on these two trucks! Unless they worked for UPS and also had access to the X-Rayed Packages being shipped…
Anyone wanna buy some Berettas? The price is a real steal. Cash only and no questions asked! As is.
Thank you Dan for saying “plead” instead of pleaded.
We aim to please. Thanks for reading.
“We need to regulate private sales and make sure everyone who buys a gun from a private seller undergoes a background check.”
Obviously this was part of a whole paragraph of sarcasm. Still, you’re giving credence to the phony notion that universal background checks for private sales is or ever could be a thing. It isn’t and can’t ever be.
Federal background checks go through the FBI’s NICS system. The only non-government people with access to that are federal firearms license (FFL) holders. The idea of universal background checks might sound appealing, but in real life what that really means is banning all private sales of guns and forcing all gun sales to through FFLs.
The proof? Allowing private citizen, non-FFLs to have access to the NICS system was proposed back in 1993 during the Brady Bill debates and again in 2013 post-Sandy Hook. The Democrats blocked it both times. You see, they don’t really care about universal background checks, at all. They just want to ban private sales by imposing background checks, which private sellers cannot access.
The point? The government can control the FFLs because they control who gets the licenses and what regulations holders must endure and what expenses they must incur. In short, they can ban orivate sales by requiring background checks, then they can throttle FFLs out of existence by manipulating licensing requirements. The goal is to shut off the supply and resale of firearms so that owners dwindle out of existence over time.
“Allowing private citizen, non-FFLs to have access to the NICS system was proposed back in 1993 during the Brady Bill debates and again in 2013 post-Sandy Hook. The Democrats blocked it both times. You see, they don’t really care about universal background checks, at all. They just want to ban private sales by imposing background checks, which private sellers cannot access.”
It’s all about the 4473. The G can force FFLs to create and maintain the 4473s under threat of losing their licenses, but the ATF has no leverage against private parties.
In order to assure that private sellers can never access the NICS system even if the law was to change, the whole business is being completely automated. No more phone calls. So unless a private seller were to spring for a dedicated line and proprietary software, performing a NICS check will be impossible.
Gun control laws? What does Gun Control laws have to do with a hijacking? Is the criminal class going to follow ANY LAWS? I think that is how they became criminals, pretty sure. If they don’t follow laws, only ‘Stop and Frisk’ and door to door searches will remove guns from Criminals… I don’t see any pushing Stop and Frisk as a needed ‘Gun Control law’ so criminals will not be affected by new ‘Gun control laws’. 50% of shootings in California are done by gangs and illegals… just what does new ‘Gun Control Laws’ have that will change that?
‘New ‘Gun Control Laws’ removes access for honest people and specifically because politicians are cowards and unwilling to deal with the criminal element that do not follow any politicians laws.
Parking some trailers to block other trailers is not real ironclad security. A shipment of 654 firearms seems like it would be a candidate for controlled access facility. Park the trailer in a warehouse. It takes only a little effort to secure the shipment.
And as others have posted…. this was obviously a job that required inside help.
Significant deference in “security” at local UPS terminal compared to FEDEX Ground. FEDEX has chainlink fence w/turnstile gate. Have to buzz and talk to a clerk and admitted. Then admit into the warehouse. UPS just a open warehouse.
Do Buyers have to pay for a background check?