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Gun Reports - News

Courtesy, Gun Tests Magazine

Gun Tests Editorial: SOA, GOA, DOJ, ATF

(GunReports.com) — From the “Downrange” editorial in the January 2011 issue of Gun Tests magazine:

Surreal experience today. Took an hour for lunch, and while munching on red beans and rice, I remembered I had the season-ending episode of FX’s Sons of Anarchy on the TiVo. So I engage the box and start watching the cliffhanger. If you haven’t seen that episode yet, stop reading now. Spoiler alert:

Short version, the motorcycle gang Sons of Anarchy, aka Samcro, has gotten into business with the extraordinarily violent Galindo drug cartel, running guns to the cartel one way and muling Galindo drugs back to Charming, the town where Samcro is based. Unbeknownst to Jax Teller, the club’s VP, one of the club’s members (Juice) has been turned and is helping the feds in a big RICO sting that will net Samcro, the Mexican drug cartel, and a group of Real IRA terrorists. As the RICO task force is saddling up to scoop up all the bad guys, Romeo, the cartel’s rep, and Luis, his right-hand man, drive up to the LE muster area and tell the AUSA running the RICO operation that they are secretly working with the CIA, and that the RICO investigation is off. That is jaw-dropping enough, but then Romeo and Luis later flash their CIA creds to Jax, and tell Jax that Samcro has to keep doing the guns-and-drug runs because the government needs the money to complete an IRA gun buy! Romeo tells Jax that if he does not come through with the IRA deal, Romeo will restart the RICO deal and crush Samcro.

Later that day, I got an email from Gun Owners of America. GOA summarized some upcoming investigations into the gunrunning scandal known as Fast and Furious. Under the program, thousands of guns purchased with federal tax dollars were allowed to “walk” into Mexico, at which point they disappeared into the hands of violent drug cartels.

And now it seems the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is involved in an enormous, multi-million dollar money laundering scheme aimed, like Fast and Furious, at Mexican drug cartels. One former DEA official expressed frustration to the New York Times, noting that, “My rule was that if we are going to launder money, we better show results. Otherwise, the DEA could wind up being the largest money launderer in the business, and that money results in violence and deaths.”

This news infuriated Rep. Darrell Issa, the chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, who announced that his investigation will be expanding to include the activities of the DEA “money-running” scandal.

In a blistering letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Rep. Issa takes Holder to task for arming drug cartels with thousands of firearms, and bankrolling their operations with millions of American taxpayer dollars — perhaps, even hundreds of millions of dollars.

Does Holder have a guy like Romeo on speed dial? Wouldn’t surprise me.

Reader Comments

This is what happens when you put a bunch of Chicago thugs in charge of guarding the hen house.

Comment by: Cecil B | December 22, 2011

I have been following "Sons of Anarchy" since it hit the TV medium. Each episode of each season gets more and more interesting, and in fact, outrageous. My wife is crazy about this series, and we own the DVDs of the first three seasons and are awaiting delivery of Season Four from Amazon.com. It's great entertainment, though, and if you are a gun person, you can see a profusion of interesting pieces put to use by SAMCRO and other folks. Kurt Sutter, the writer of the series, must have taken a page from the current travesty "Fast & Furious" when he wrote in that the Galindo Cartel representatives, Romeo and Luis, were actually feds compelling the illegal sale of firearms to go through as arranged, even in the face of a change of leadership in SAMCRO. Some might say that the series "Sons of Anarchy" glorifies crime and violence, but whatever it is, it certainly qualifies as good entertainment.

Comment by: canovack | December 22, 2011

And with BATFE,DEA, and who knows what other agencies are involved, the U.S. government is currently the biggest law breaker of major crimes! And How can Holder and Obama not know anything about this?? If this had been you or I, we already would be serving life without or shot for treason!

Comment by: willy357 | December 22, 2011

Any assertion that our government officials 'know nothing' about the drug trade and things involved with it is BS. Fed involvement goes all the way back to the Kennedys at least. The only explanation ever presented for why Bush was AWOL from his duties during VietNam (other than drunk and coked up in New Orleans for over a year) was that he was flying drugs from Central America for the CIA - and that was supposed to be 'speculation'. Clinton was eye-ball deep in modified twin engine Piper Cubs that had enlarged nose storage - for smuggling drugs. It's what got the Arkansas Redevelopment funding examined so closely. If you want the scoop on everybody prior, look for 'the gemstone file' on the web.

Anyway, if it's been good enough for POTUSes and hoi-poloi for the last 40 years, why not for this one and his cronies? Why do we continue a 'war on drugs' for billions a year and mostly jail a few pot-heads? Why not seal the border and shorelines? Three words - Follow... the... money.

Comment by: david b | December 22, 2011

Had to come back and click the box for the updates.

Comment by: david b | December 22, 2011

Well guys, remember when Bush 41 was running for the presidency and someone asked him about ties to Manuel Noriega and drugs. Bush had the balls to say, like Schultz, "I know nothing. This from a guy that was head of CIA. Should tell you why we can't win a war on drugs.

Comment by: Cecil B | December 22, 2011

Actually, I think that's "don't want to win" Cecil B. There's way too much money involved for those who cooperate.

I suspect the US could win that 'war' hands down in a month or less if we wanted to do it. Certainly by now we know where all the 'management' guys drink their Tequila. How hard can it be once you know that?

Comment by: david b | December 22, 2011

Why would any decent law abiding American want to watch a tv show that tries to moralize and make drug dealing, gun running bikers look like heros??? The show, which doesn't surprise me, is written by a bunch of no good anti-American, gun hating liberals!!! Wow!! Come on America WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE!!! Quit giving in to these small brained idiots!!

Comment by: lonewolfsniper | December 22, 2011

David b. I always said, even years ago when I was a cop that we would never win the drug war. There are way too many people that make a living chasing drug dealers, way to many people making tons of $$$ from the dope and way too many judges, politicians and the like that have been bought and paid for. Look how many re hab centers would be out of business for example and what would we do with all those drug agents? Not really too hard to figure out what the real deal is.

And lonewolfsniper, you can't get much more decent and law abiding than Col. Novack. He is a true American hero, served out country honorably in the U.S.Army, chopper pilot, Nam Vet. He just likes the show. I like the bikes myself.

Comment by: Cecil B | December 23, 2011

Thanks for your comments, Cecil. I have only this to add: We like SOA, because it is an action hit that quenches the thirst for motorcycles, firearms of all types, and.....the ultimate triumph of good over evil. We regular viewers know that the outlaw bikers are evil, bad people, and the entertainment value of the series lies in the recognition that even evil, bad guys are human beings, but even though they are, they will ultimately lose.

I am reminded here of something I posted a long time ago concerning hate as a terribly destructive emotion. While serving in Vietnam, I often heard other officers express their hatred for the enemy. I couldn't and wouldn't get into that. I figured that the NVA and VC were essentially guys who were doing what they were doing for the same reasons I was doing what I was doing. We believed in what we were doing. This took hate out of the equation for me, and when that happened, my combat effectiveness very quickly improved, since my thinking was not clouded with emotion.

Comment by: canovack | December 23, 2011

I concurr. Hate does cloud judgement. I sure would have felt priviledged to have flown with you.

And for the TV show. We must remember, it is entertainment with some neat toys. But you are correct Sir. They will no doubt loose in the end. There was a similar show a couple of years back, called Jerico. I enjoyed it but it didn't last long.

Hoping you are having a great holiday season and I wish you and all the guys on this site a Very Merry Christmas. My gift this year is a new roof, which is being installed as I type. I would rather have spent the money on a TAC 50.

Respectfully,

Cecil

Comment by: Cecil B | December 23, 2011

Check this out guys! http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/2011/12/22/joe-lieberman-inserts-himself-into-operation-fast-furious/

Apparently, Sen. Lieberman is getting involved in F&F via his committee. Now, my opinion of him is that this may result in an attempt to white-wash the entire turd from the outside, instead of DOJ on the inside trying to make it smell nice. But that's just my opinion. The details are at the link I posted.

Comment by: david b | December 23, 2011

Yeah, Cecil, we'd all rather spend our money of firearms and shooting supplies and accessories, but every now and then, we need to be practical and take care of some other necessities.

Thanks for the kind greetings, and I echo those to all in this forum. We are fortunate and privileged to be Americans. That is something that we should never, ever take for granted. So, to all, I wish you the Merriest Christmas and the most Prosperous New Year.

Warmest Regards,

Conrad Novack

Comment by: canovack | December 23, 2011

You may be right, david b, but also remember that Lieberman has rejected much of what his old party cronies had tried to foist upon us.

Comment by: canovack | December 23, 2011

Lieberman's development could prove very interesting, given that he is retiring and thus need not worry about vptes, and especially since he eschewed the party of The Administration...

Merry Christmas all!

Comment by: PVB | December 24, 2011

Sen. Leiberman used to be our Democratic Senator. When he lost a primary here because of voting with the GOP on Israel and 'Fatherland defense' (against the Constitution) too often, he registered as an independent so that the republicans could see their way clear to voting for him. With a few die-hard democrats, and some heavy activity on his behalf by local GOP folk, he managed to get elected again.

Too bad for CT. Too bad for the Constitution. Too bad for America and Americans. He will betray your interest in favor of Wall St., Israel, or the neo-Nazis in D.C. at every opportunity. If you are working class - he'll screw you, if you're a Christian - he'll screw you, if you support the Constitution - - he'll screw you. He already has at every opportunity, and that is why he lost the democratic party primary when he did. It wasn't for lack of spending or funding.

I must have missed his retirement announcement. I'll drink to that.

Comment by: david b | December 24, 2011

I'm not a fan either. When I was in CT, I had to work a lot with our legislators in what was called our "Friends of the Marine Corps" program. A few of the reps visited various events I was involved with and were easy to work with. Lieberman was less than easy, as were Dodd and DeLauro.

Have you ever noticed the Iwo Jima memorial along Route 9 just south of the West Farms Mall? The Iwo survivors organization did a lot to accomplish that monument. The unveiling was on 23 Feb 95, in the 50th anniversary of the flag raising immortalized in Rosenthal's Pulitzer Prize winning photo. It was a pretty big deal, and the sculptor of the original War Memorial in Arlington was present, as were a few generals and politicians. Lieberman committed to attending, and was given a prominent role in the ceremony. February in Connecticut? You guessed it- cold and wet; freezing rain if I recall correctly. Lieberman blew off the event and sent one of his flunkies in his stead - a guy who obviously had no public speaking experience and had never heard of Iwo Jima. He took off right after he "spoke" for Lieberman. He didn't care about our servicemen or veterans then, though he pretends to now.

AG Blumenthal, by the way, was pretty stand-up and visited many different events, and even spoke at a few.

On the other hand though, maybe Lieby can actually get something done on this one. I'll try to be an optimist...

Comment by: PVB | December 24, 2011

If he can find a personal advantage in this effort, then he might get something done. But face it, in my opinion that is the only reason he would, and his record makes me think it's more likely a white-wash of F&F. I suspect his investigation will result in more 'lack of communication and working together' stuff like Bush's excuse for why 9/11 happened.

It's amazing that this dinky state got both Lieberman and Dodd (responsible for the Third Reich gun laws being implemented in the US, and the banking bills that got us the current case of economic runs that we have). How can such a small state do so much damage? And what's worse - it's mostly the west side of the state, which is full of NYC fat cats (generally liberals, unlike Mame's "Ary-ens from Dari-en", who don't like dirty air and so won't live where they steal.

Comment by: david b | December 24, 2011

BTW, re: Bloomenthal, below is his Sep. 14 response to a letter I sent him about F&F. I'm going to respond with a question about what he's done since. I'll try to remember to post it here as well, if I ever get a response.

Dear , Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about “Project Gunrunner.” I appreciate hearing from you. I understand your concerns that a law enforcement operation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) known as "Project Gunrunner" may have allowed illegal weapons to be transported into Mexico. It is particularly troubling that some of these weapons may have found their way into the hands of violent drug traffickers and human smugglers. Like you, I take allegations against a federal agency very seriously. After I received your letter, my office contacted representatives of the Department of Justice to request additional information about BATFE's operations along the southwest border of the United States in general, and to learn more about "Project Gunrunner" in particular. I am still in the process of reviewing this information, but as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has oversight over the operations of the Department of Justice and the BATFE, I want to assure you that I will do everything in my power to ensure that our firearms laws are enforced and that the trafficking of illegal weapons is eliminated. Thank you again for contacting me. Please contact me in the future with any additional questions or concerns.

Comment by: david b | December 24, 2011

Yeah, Ct. does do some wierd stuff. My last ex lives in Killingsworth, originally from Chester and I have spent some time there. And Dodd, that asshole, was knee deep in Countrywide. He was a friend of Angelo and got low interest, "special loans" before they went tits up. Lieberman is a whimp and has never done anything for the rest of the country. Glad to see them both go.

As for F&F, I will be dead and in hell, long before any of them are called before the mast.

Merry Christmas to all of you guys.

Comment by: Cecil B | December 24, 2011

Hard to imagine an AG not knowing about Gunrunner by now, huh? For the most part, in my dealings with him in the '90's he was pretty respectable. Having said that, he is a politician, and I knew him long before he exaggerated his Marin service record.

Comment by: PVB | December 27, 2011

Bush 41 claimed to NOT know Noriega was a drug dealer and he was head of CIA at one time. Called plausible denyability or in English, just bullshit.

Comment by: Cecil B | December 27, 2011