More California taxpayer-funded totalitarian assfuckery on display here. Entire squads of agents searching for California license plates at cross-state border gun stores and gun shows and apprehending drivers if they cross back into state lines with prohibited "assault weapons" or "high capacity magazines" as well as loaded ammunition, which requires ID to purchase under Gov. Newsom's most recent anti-gun package of bills.
I guess the crime situation in California has been finally settled for good, now that so many DOJ agents can be put into running stings on gun owners. I bet people feel so safe now knowing that a 30 round P-MAG has been taken from somebody's vehicle...
www.latimes.com
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SACRAMENTO — Ten special agents from the California Department of Justice were watching as a man walked out of the Big Reno Show and placed his purchases in his car.
The black Isuzu with California plates headed west on Interstate 80 into the Sierra Nevada, eventually crossing the Nevada state line. That’s when the California Highway Patrol pulled Vincent Huey over. Inside the vehicle, state Justice Department agents found 18 high-capacity magazines, some capable of holding 30 rounds, according to court records.
In recent years, California has enacted increasingly strict gun control laws. Assault rifles and ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds are illegal to buy or import in California, but stopping their flow over the border has been a struggle. In 2018, according to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, 3,920 guns originally purchased in Nevada and Arizona were recovered by California law enforcement officers from crime scenes, confiscated from criminals or found unclaimed.
The problem was made clear in July, when a shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival killed three people and wounded 17. The 19-year-old gunman used what authorities say was a military-style AK-47 assault weapon purchased legally at a Nevada gun store.
“The importation of those assault-style weapons is against California law,” state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra told reporters after the Gilroy attack. “We may have progressive gun laws, but if other states don’t match us, we have to rely on catching these individuals.”
State agents for years have conducted undercover operations and arrested dozens of Californians for bringing illegal guns and ammunition magazines into the state. But some agents have been redeployed to a program that seizes firearms from Californians prohibited from owning them because of felony convictions or mental illness.
“If you have surrounding states that have less restrictive gun laws, you are going to have importation,” said Steve Lindley, the former chief of the Justice Department’s Bureau of Firearms who is now a program manager for the gun control group Brady United. “If there is no enforcement going on, they can just come right across the border.”
In Northern California, Nevada County Dist. Atty. Clifford Newell has prosecuted dozens of people for bringing illegal guns into the state.
“The real crux of the problem is that California has a 608-mile border with Nevada, shared with 12 California counties, and Nevada’s gun regulations are less stringent,” Newell said. “People with sinister and nefarious intent will find a way into California with these weapons and accessories.”
While the state Justice Department has tools to stem the flow of illegal guns — including two new laws that help track out-of-state gun and ammunition purchases — the agency is facing competing priorities, according to spokeswoman Bethany Lesser.
Some agents previously assigned to surveillance operations at gun shows have been shifted in the last few years to efforts to reduce a large backlog in the Armed Prohibited Persons System, a list of California residents who bought guns before they were convicted of felonies or found to be severely mentally ill. The Justice Department reported in March that there were 23,222 people in the database who are prohibited from owning firearms.
Though the state makes little information available about undercover operations in neighboring states, records indicate that weapons purchases are still being watched despite the redeployment of agents.
“DOJ continues to investigate information provided regarding the unlawful importation of illegal firearms into California,” including with undercover investigations, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Lindley said he attended this year’s Reno show as an observer for Brady United. Up to half of the cars in the parking lot, he said, had California plates, adding that undercover law enforcement was also on hand.
“We cannot comment, even to confirm or deny, potential or ongoing investigations or operations,” said a statement from Becerra’s office.
Scott Tarbell, the organizer of the Reno event, said he welcomed the presence of California Justice Department agents and wasn’t concerned about them scaring away potential customers.
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Scott Tarbell, the organizer of the Reno event, said he welcomed the presence of California Justice Department agents and wasn’t concerned about them scaring away potential customers.
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Aww how cute...
I guess the crime situation in California has been finally settled for good, now that so many DOJ agents can be put into running stings on gun owners. I bet people feel so safe now knowing that a 30 round P-MAG has been taken from somebody's vehicle...
California struggles to keep illegal guns and ammunition from crossing state lines
Undercover operations at gun shows are critical to California's efforts to keep weapons out of the wrong hands, proponents say.
www.latimes.com ----------
SACRAMENTO — Ten special agents from the California Department of Justice were watching as a man walked out of the Big Reno Show and placed his purchases in his car.
The black Isuzu with California plates headed west on Interstate 80 into the Sierra Nevada, eventually crossing the Nevada state line. That’s when the California Highway Patrol pulled Vincent Huey over. Inside the vehicle, state Justice Department agents found 18 high-capacity magazines, some capable of holding 30 rounds, according to court records.
In recent years, California has enacted increasingly strict gun control laws. Assault rifles and ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds are illegal to buy or import in California, but stopping their flow over the border has been a struggle. In 2018, according to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, 3,920 guns originally purchased in Nevada and Arizona were recovered by California law enforcement officers from crime scenes, confiscated from criminals or found unclaimed.
The problem was made clear in July, when a shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival killed three people and wounded 17. The 19-year-old gunman used what authorities say was a military-style AK-47 assault weapon purchased legally at a Nevada gun store.
“The importation of those assault-style weapons is against California law,” state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra told reporters after the Gilroy attack. “We may have progressive gun laws, but if other states don’t match us, we have to rely on catching these individuals.”
State agents for years have conducted undercover operations and arrested dozens of Californians for bringing illegal guns and ammunition magazines into the state. But some agents have been redeployed to a program that seizes firearms from Californians prohibited from owning them because of felony convictions or mental illness.
“If you have surrounding states that have less restrictive gun laws, you are going to have importation,” said Steve Lindley, the former chief of the Justice Department’s Bureau of Firearms who is now a program manager for the gun control group Brady United. “If there is no enforcement going on, they can just come right across the border.”
In Northern California, Nevada County Dist. Atty. Clifford Newell has prosecuted dozens of people for bringing illegal guns into the state.
“The real crux of the problem is that California has a 608-mile border with Nevada, shared with 12 California counties, and Nevada’s gun regulations are less stringent,” Newell said. “People with sinister and nefarious intent will find a way into California with these weapons and accessories.”
While the state Justice Department has tools to stem the flow of illegal guns — including two new laws that help track out-of-state gun and ammunition purchases — the agency is facing competing priorities, according to spokeswoman Bethany Lesser.
Some agents previously assigned to surveillance operations at gun shows have been shifted in the last few years to efforts to reduce a large backlog in the Armed Prohibited Persons System, a list of California residents who bought guns before they were convicted of felonies or found to be severely mentally ill. The Justice Department reported in March that there were 23,222 people in the database who are prohibited from owning firearms.
Though the state makes little information available about undercover operations in neighboring states, records indicate that weapons purchases are still being watched despite the redeployment of agents.
“DOJ continues to investigate information provided regarding the unlawful importation of illegal firearms into California,” including with undercover investigations, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Lindley said he attended this year’s Reno show as an observer for Brady United. Up to half of the cars in the parking lot, he said, had California plates, adding that undercover law enforcement was also on hand.
“We cannot comment, even to confirm or deny, potential or ongoing investigations or operations,” said a statement from Becerra’s office.
Scott Tarbell, the organizer of the Reno event, said he welcomed the presence of California Justice Department agents and wasn’t concerned about them scaring away potential customers.
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Scott Tarbell, the organizer of the Reno event, said he welcomed the presence of California Justice Department agents and wasn’t concerned about them scaring away potential customers.
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Aww how cute...
