The L.A. Times reported today that Attorney General (Calif.) Bill Lockyer's DOJ had made their arrests in the alleged sale of "illegal guns" to undercover agents at the Great Western Show in Pomona earlier this month. The article said also that the agents did not make arrests at the show itself because "there were so many powerful weapons around." The inference gathered by the reader, of course, being that, had arrests been made at the show, the agents may have been pounced upon by heavily armed vendors (5,300) and attendees (50,000).
I wrote a letter to The Times this morning on this and the matter of government gun suits as follows:
Editor:
Amidst the strident hysterical hyperbole of the anti-gun crowd comes the L.A. County Board of Supervisors jumping on the bandwagon to sue firearms manufacturers and doing whatever they can to eventually shut down gun shows ("County to Sue Gun Firms, Crack Down on Show," Wednesday, May 26th). Nicholas Riccardi's piece on these subjects is thoroughly consistent with the barrage of lies and misinformation foisted upon a gullible public. In his article he notes that California Department of Justice undercover officers didn't want to arrest the individuals who allegedly sold them illegal weapons while at the show because "there were so many powerful weapons around." What is the inference we are to make here? That if arrests took place at the show the officers would be set upon by armed hordes from among the 5,300 vendors and 50,000 attendees? I have been attending gun shows in southern California since the age of 12 and have never seen an act of violence much less a single shot fired. This is paranoia beyond belief.
And what of the Supervisors' actions. Can't shut 'em down (yet) so we're gonna make all sellers wear identification. By their statements one is left with the impression that gun shows are the bazaar of choice to arm criminals. Hogwash! Gun show vendors and individual sellers and buyers are required by California law to use transfer dealers located at the show whereby prospective buyers must undergo a background check and 10 day wait prior to taking possession of any firearm. While DOJ undercover cops may be circumspect in making immediate arrests of those conducting unlawful sales, apparently other law enforcement agencies are not. On very rare occasions I have witnessed uniformed officers make arrests for such violations of law. The fact is buying a gun at a gun show is no different in the state of California than buying it from a gun store. Many commercial gun store operators attend the shows as vendors.
Perry Kneisel
Redondo Beach
I wrote a letter to The Times this morning on this and the matter of government gun suits as follows:
Editor:
Amidst the strident hysterical hyperbole of the anti-gun crowd comes the L.A. County Board of Supervisors jumping on the bandwagon to sue firearms manufacturers and doing whatever they can to eventually shut down gun shows ("County to Sue Gun Firms, Crack Down on Show," Wednesday, May 26th). Nicholas Riccardi's piece on these subjects is thoroughly consistent with the barrage of lies and misinformation foisted upon a gullible public. In his article he notes that California Department of Justice undercover officers didn't want to arrest the individuals who allegedly sold them illegal weapons while at the show because "there were so many powerful weapons around." What is the inference we are to make here? That if arrests took place at the show the officers would be set upon by armed hordes from among the 5,300 vendors and 50,000 attendees? I have been attending gun shows in southern California since the age of 12 and have never seen an act of violence much less a single shot fired. This is paranoia beyond belief.
And what of the Supervisors' actions. Can't shut 'em down (yet) so we're gonna make all sellers wear identification. By their statements one is left with the impression that gun shows are the bazaar of choice to arm criminals. Hogwash! Gun show vendors and individual sellers and buyers are required by California law to use transfer dealers located at the show whereby prospective buyers must undergo a background check and 10 day wait prior to taking possession of any firearm. While DOJ undercover cops may be circumspect in making immediate arrests of those conducting unlawful sales, apparently other law enforcement agencies are not. On very rare occasions I have witnessed uniformed officers make arrests for such violations of law. The fact is buying a gun at a gun show is no different in the state of California than buying it from a gun store. Many commercial gun store operators attend the shows as vendors.
Perry Kneisel
Redondo Beach
)...its his job to know whats what