Illegal firearms sales alleged

By Jamie Satterfield, News-Sentinel staff writer
June 7, 2002

They are gray-haired men, from middle age to seniors.

They are unsophisticated and largely uneducated.

They are, the government alleges, East Tennessee gun traffickers, responsible for putting weapons in the hands of convicted felons, out-of-state residents and people who wanted to leave no trace of their gun purchases.

Eight men appeared in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Thursday after authorities began a roundup earlier that morning of accused gun traffickers named in secret indictments handed down by a federal grand jury.

By Thursday afternoon, 23 people identified in 20 separate indictments had been arrested. The accused hailed from East Tennessee towns like Newport, Lenoir City, Cosby, Louisville, Cleveland and Tellico Plains, with the exception of two men from western North Carolina.

The eight men who were arraigned in Knoxville were typical of the entire group: mostly older men who were high school dropouts, according to U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Special Agent in Charge James M. Cavanaugh.

"You have some persons over 60," Cavanaugh said.

The oldest of the eight defendants making a court appearance Thursday was 71. He had a fourth-grade education.

ATF agents spent one year gathering the evidence used to convince a grand jury to issue the indictments, Cavanaugh said.

In that operation ATF agents bought over 600 guns. Deals were struck at flea markets, gun shops and inside homes, Cavanaugh said.

Another 1,000 guns were seized as the agents executed 18 search warrants in Tennessee and North Carolina, he said.

Of the 23 people accused of selling guns, only four were licensed dealers. However, those four are accused of knowingly violating the laws on selling guns by failing to conduct background checks, selling to out-of-state residents or failing to properly document gun purchases.

The remaining defendants all are charged with selling guns without a license. Most of those defendants sold weapons to people they "knew or had reasonable cause to believe" were convicted felons or out-of-state residents. At least one defendant was himself unable to legally purchase a gun because he has a domestic violence conviction, but indictments allege he bought more than a dozen guns shipped to him from another state.

Cavanaugh said Tennessee is considered a "source state" for guns for criminals who live in parts of the country where weapons laws are stricter.

Last year more than 1,600 guns seized by police in Tennessee had been used in the commission of crime.

"We were led to this case by guns in crime," Cavanaugh said, explaining how ATF's trail of seized guns revealed "patterns and trends" of where and from whom the weapons were being obtained.

"The illegal trafficking of firearms is the fuel that is spreading violence," he said. "We can't make neighborhoods safe across America unless we stop the black market sale of firearms."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Winck said the penalties for the 23 alleged gun traffickers range from one to 10 years in jail and up to $250,000 in fines on each charge. Some defendants face as many as 15 charges in a single indictment.

Jamie Satterfield may be reached at 865-342-6308 or [email protected].

 

Quoted:
Since when are private transfers illegal in TN? IIRC you dont have to run a BG check on private sales.

If they were legitimate private sellers who were simply trading guns around, then ATF should be the ones to hang.

ATF doesn't have a good record in this regard.  Around 1991-ish, ATF was working with a gunshop in Virginia, and had told the gunshop to sell to anyone so that ATF could track the (known felon) buyers.  ATF didn't bother to do their followups, though, and so after a few months they went after the gunshop owners for selling to known felons.

knowingly violating the laws on selling guns by failing to conduct background checks

failing to properly document gun purchases.

Cavanaugh said Tennessee is considered a "source state" for guns for criminals who live in parts of the country where weapons laws are stricter.

Last year more than 1,600 guns seized by police in Tennessee had been used in the commission of crime.

Quoted:

Depends.  Were these guys selling guns to known criminals who were obviously intending to use the guns for more crimes?  If so, hang 'em.

If they were legitimate private sellers who were simply trading guns around, then ATF should be the ones to hang.

ATF doesn't have a good record in this regard.  Around 1991-ish, ATF was working with a gunshop in Virginia, and had told the gunshop to sell to anyone so that ATF could track the (known felon) buyers.  ATF didn't bother to do their followups, though, and so after a few months they went after the gunshop owners for selling to known felons.

Quoted:


Where? When? Who? Details man, details! Email me off board if you want. PGP or otherwise.

Quoted:
After exceeding some number of private sales per year/month/other time unit, don't you become an unlicensed dealer?

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There is no arbitrary number that determines this.  It is a true Catch-22.  We are allowed to sell an "occasional" personal firearm or firearms, even at gun shows, but if ATF decides you have crossed some invisible, to-be-determined-at-their-discretion line, then you are an "unlicensed dealer," and subject to arrest.  On the other hand, since 1994, at the serious behest of the Clinton Regime, small-time "kitchen table" dealers (low volume dealers) have been ruthlessly run out of business and strongly discouraged from existing, through the federal enforcement of local zoning laws (even if NOT enforced locally) and another "invisible" quota of "how many firearms did you obtain using your license in the past 3 years and how many firearms did you dispose of in the last three years."  If you have a license you must "make a profit" and NOT have it primarily to further your own collection.  BUT, wheel-and-deal without a license to further your collection and you are "dealing without a license."  Got it?  It is all nebulous, subjective, and not codified into law, thus making it impossible to deliberately obey, and easy to be used against us.  Good luck! [whacko]

Quoted:
After exceeding some number of private sales per year/month/other time unit, don't you become an unlicensed dealer?