"Mike's gun shop stings may put holes in 18 cases"

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Mon, 22 May 2006 11:02:47 GMT  <== Politics ==> 

alandp at The Gun Blogs - Bloomberg's out-of-state stings apparently disrupted a number of in-process criminal cases, by alerting the suspects. But why is nobody, except this writer, making the case that if the stings were illegal gun purchases, then the stingers, out-of-state private investigators, have committed federal felonies?

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I've been making that case

Submitted by SayUncle on Mon, 22 May 2006 13:19:26 GMT

I've been making that case for a while.

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Indeed! You quoted Alan Gottlieb

Submitted by on Mon, 22 May 2006 15:10:38 GMT

Indeed! You quoted Alan Gottlieb's Atlanta Journal-Constitution essay, where he makes exactly that point:

The press and prosecutors in those five states ought to be asking Bloomberg why, if his investigators had positively identified these retailers and caught them in an illegal act, was the information not turned over to the proper authorities, including the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives?

Instead, the headline-hunting Bloomberg launched a civil lawsuit in what should be, if he is to be believed, a criminal action.

There's a reason for that. The private investigators New York hired to conduct this sting must have made deliberately false statements on federal firearms purchase forms. That's a felony. They should be prosecuted. If Bloomberg sent them to do this, he's an accessory, if not a conspirator.

But I won't hold my breath waiting for the b.a.t.f.e. to prosecute Mr. Bloomberg or his entrapment teams.

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