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Bartholomew Roberts · June 28, 2011, 08:39 AM

The Washington Post again shows their willingness to be the Administration's Gunwalker character assassin in an unsigned editorial today. You know whose fault Gunwalker is? The NRA, that's who.

And of course, the only way the NRA can atone for its sins in Gunwalker is to completely cave in and agree to a whole host of gun control laws, many of which have not enjoyed any support in Congress or the state legislatures for over ten years now.

The funniest part of the whole editorial is the WaPo thinks one of the answers to straw purchasing problems is "stronger penalties for straw purchase." Apparently they didn't read the transcript from Rep. Darrel Issa's hearing where on Page 21 Agent Forcelli testified that dozens of firearms traffickers were given a pass by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona. He cites a case where the U. S. Attorney declined to prosecute Victor Varela, a known straw purchaser who trafficked .50 BMG rifles, one of which was used to kill a Mexican military commander. This is a crime that can carry a sentence of 10 years in federal prison under U.S. law. The case was declined for prisecution by AUSA Emory Hurley because of perceived legal issues - however the Arizona AG took up the case and successfully convicted Varela, though he was released from prison in July 2010 because of the lesser sentencing guidelines in state court.

In another case, Hurley declined to prosecute a corrupt FFL who admitted post-arrest that he had trafficked around 1,000 firearms to Mexico. Over a half dozen firearms from his shop were found around the body of the head of the Beltran Leyva cartel after he was killed in a gun battle with Mexican authorities.

Once again, the Post misses that the problem isn't a lack of laws; but an uneven enforcement of those laws and an unwillingness to apply them to the people who regularly violate them. The sentence for straw purchasing already goes up to 10 years in a federal prison; but few people are even charged and almost nobody gets the maximum sentence. Increasing the sentence even more is meaningless - much like most of the other steps the WaPo proposes.

June 28, 2011, 08:39 AM	#427
Bartholomew Roberts member Join Date: June 12, 2000 Location: Texas and Oklahoma area Posts: 8,462	The Washington Post again shows their willingness to be the Administration's Gunwalker character assassin in an unsigned editorial today. You know whose fault Gunwalker is? The NRA, that's who. And of course, the only way the NRA can atone for its sins in Gunwalker is to completely cave in and agree to a whole host of gun control laws, many of which have not enjoyed any support in Congress or the state legislatures for over ten years now. The funniest part of the whole editorial is the WaPo thinks one of the answers to straw purchasing problems is "stronger penalties for straw purchase." Apparently they didn't read the transcript from Rep. Darrel Issa's hearing where on Page 21 Agent Forcelli testified that dozens of firearms traffickers were given a pass by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona. He cites a case where the U. S. Attorney declined to prosecute Victor Varela, a known straw purchaser who trafficked .50 BMG rifles, one of which was used to kill a Mexican military commander. This is a crime that can carry a sentence of 10 years in federal prison under U.S. law. The case was declined for prisecution by AUSA Emory Hurley because of perceived legal issues - however the Arizona AG took up the case and successfully convicted Varela, though he was released from prison in July 2010 because of the lesser sentencing guidelines in state court. In another case, Hurley declined to prosecute a corrupt FFL who admitted post-arrest that he had trafficked around 1,000 firearms to Mexico. Over a half dozen firearms from his shop were found around the body of the head of the Beltran Leyva cartel after he was killed in a gun battle with Mexican authorities. Once again, the Post misses that the problem isn't a lack of laws; but an uneven enforcement of those laws and an unwillingness to apply them to the people who regularly violate them. The sentence for straw purchasing already goes up to 10 years in a federal prison; but few people are even charged and almost nobody gets the maximum sentence. Increasing the sentence even more is meaningless - much like most of the other steps the WaPo proposes.