Case of 100 Handguns: Police Arrest Two Massachusetts Felons

[MaineCWPtraining]

Charges that the Massachusetts men plotted to buy guns in Maine and sell them back home may revive a touchy issue.

PORTLAND — Two men with criminal records in Massachusetts have been charged in federal court with illegally buying handguns in Maine.

Joseph Burns of Lynn, Mass., and Marvin Davis of Boston were arrested March 4 in Wells during a sting operation by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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[Titan]

Wow...that doesn't help!

 

[pdm]

So, two criminal masterminds -- already felons -- decide to try and buy some guns in Maine and do such a good job that the BATFE is able to set them up and sting them and this proves we need more laws? I'd say it means the current laws worked, but what do I know.

 

[upStomp]

Massachusetts requires buyers of guns from private sellers to pass the same criminal background checks required of buyers from federally licensed firearms dealers.

Umm. What?

 

[physics]

Call me naïve..

Straying off topic a little here...

Both men are prohibited from possessing firearms because of prior convictions. Davis was convicted in 2006 of armed robbery, armed assault with intent to kill and drug distribution in Boston.

Convicted of armed robbery, armed assault with intent to kill, and drug distribution - and he's out in four years? Call me naïve, but aren't those felonies that carry lengthy prison sentences (even in Massachusetts)? What the heck is this guy doing out of jail so soon?

 

[n1oty]

Straying off topic a little here...



Convicted of armed robbery, armed assault with intent to kill, and drug distribution - and he's out in four years? Call me naïve, but aren't those felonies that carry lengthy prison sentences (even in Massachusetts)? What the heck is this guy doing out of jail so soon?

The Commonwealth needed the extra room for Runyan when they convict him. Priorities, ya know!!

 

[KBCraig]

What does it hurt?

There is a law against felons possessing firearms: Strike 1
There is a law against interstate sales: Strike 2
There is a law against defacing serial numbers: Strike 3

Hit the showers, law. You're done for the day.

 

[Titan]

So, two criminal masterminds -- already felons -- decide to try and buy some guns in Maine and do such a good job that the BATFE is able to set them up and sting them and this proves we need more laws? I'd say it means the current laws worked, but what do I know.

It's never good when the legal process of face to face transfers in a state (Maine) is suspected to be a major conduit for funneling legal guns into the illegal market.

The key to the story is NOT how well the BATF performed!!

It still contributes to the notion that legal gun owners are supporting the criminal trade in guns.

 

[Admin]

Straying off topic a little here...



Convicted of armed robbery, armed assault with intent to kill, and drug distribution - and he's out in four years? Call me naïve, but aren't those felonies that carry lengthy prison sentences (even in Massachusetts)? What the heck is this guy doing out of jail so soon?

Silly, it's Massachusetts. If they don't let the bad guys out of jail the system can't support itself.

What are the laws in ME for a private firearm sale?

 

[jonathans]

Charges that the Massachusetts men plotted to buy guns in Maine and sell them back home may revive a touchy issue.

what, like, good prices for handguns?

 

[Titan]

Massachusetts requires buyers of guns from private sellers to pass the same criminal background checks required of buyers from federally licensed firearms dealers.

Umm. What?

You're required to sell only to people with an LTC who have passed the same criminal background checks....

No?

 

[Larry Legend]

So you mean, for once, the laws currently on the books are being enforced!?

And how the heck do you buy TWO guns for $600 total?

 

[upStomp]

You're required to sell only to people with an LTC who have passed the same criminal background checks....

No?

Ah. Good call. The way I read it, it seemed they were talking about the same background checks that FFL's run each time we buy a firearm.

 

[P-14]

Silly, it's Massachusetts. If they don't let the bad guys out of jail the system can't support itself.

Exactly. We need .gov to protect us from crime and they release criminals early to perpetuate crime so we need .gov to protect us. [sad2]

 

[Titan]

Ah. Good call. The way I read it, it seemed they were talking about the same background checks that FFL's run each time we buy a firearm.

They may have been. I certainly wouldn't argue they have the gun laws nailed down.

 

[MassMark]

When I read the headline, I thought Fooped left the hatch open after the Fraggin Frosty shoot and a case fell out....

 

[derrick_lui]

You're required to sell only to people with an LTC who have passed the same criminal background checks....

No?

Yes but the article is twisted to make it sound like you need a NICS check everytime you do a private transfer...just to make it sound like "Mass tough gun laws work".

 

[Doc Holiday]

Straying off topic a little here...



Convicted of armed robbery, armed assault with intent to kill, and drug distribution - and he's out in four years? Call me naïve, but aren't those felonies that carry lengthy prison sentences (even in Massachusetts)? What the heck is this guy doing out of jail so soon?

Because he got the best free attorneys the tax payers of MA could provide him, and got a sackless, weak kneed judge, who approved the plea bargin deal proposed by the useless, only out to further my career with a win at any cost DA. Did I miss anything?

 

[delgrifith]

Because he got the best free attorneys the tax payers of MA could provide him, and got a sackless, weak kneed judge, who approved the plea bargin deal proposed by the useless, only out to further my career with a win at any cost DA. Did I miss anything?

If most people knew the BS that goes on in MA courts they would be outside protesting them with pitch forks and torches.

 

[Zombieoutfitters]

Wow...laws that punish criminals from illegally obtaining guns actually being used? But what is this...after the criminal buys 100 guns to provide to other criminals they let the @#&%$ out on BAIL!!?!?!?!?! Friggin bleeding hearts. Yeah lets strip law abiding citizens of their @#$^^#$@ rights and when we actually catch someone BREAKING the law we'll let them out on bail.

I realize bail exists for many reasons, but really...if states are going to bust the balls of law abiding citizens when it comes to gun ownership it's just a SLAP in the face to let someone breaking the law - a real criminal - get back on the streets to dig up other illegal guns he's been hiding and get back to biznass.

This reality really sucks some times.

 

[Mike S]

So, a convicted felon is buying guns illegally that he was probably trafficking to street gangs, and he's out on $10K bail.

Meanwhile Gregory Girard, who has never committed a crime, is still in Jail, and has been since February 9th.

Only in Massachusetts!

 

[fbirdquik6]

Straying off topic a little here...



Convicted of armed robbery, armed assault with intent to kill, and drug distribution - and he's out in four years? Call me naïve, but aren't those felonies that carry lengthy prison sentences (even in Massachusetts)? What the heck is this guy doing out of jail so soon?

Try spending countless hours building cases and sitting in a court room only to hear a judge sentence the individual to HALF of a mandatory minimum sentence and credit them for the time already served pre-trial.......

Welcome to Massachusetts.................

 

[Rob Boudrie]

Wait - this doesn't make any sense. According to Deval and Mumbles, the problem is MA residents taking a class, getting an LTC, getting their name forever associated with some firearms they buy and then selling them to unlicensed criminals.

 

[calsdad]

So, a convicted felon is buying guns illegally that he was probably trafficking to street gangs, and he's out on $10K bail.

Meanwhile Gregory Girard, who has never committed a crime, is still in Jail, and has been since February 9th.

Only in Massachusetts!

It's not "only in Massachusetts". You have to look at the differences between the two cases.

The convicted felon did not issue threats against the government and has not done criminal acts against the government in the past. He HAS done criminal acts against other human beings (citizens) - and actually been convicted and sentenced to jail for those crimes - and "served" a minimal sentence for those crimes.

On the other hand Gregory Girard threatened action against the government and the people he felt were destroying society. So he ends up in jail with no bail - even though he does NOT have a past record.

So ask yourself: who is REALLY a greater threat to the average person's life, liberty, and property - the government, or the average street criminal? If you were to shoot said criminal yourself say when he broke into your house, what kind of sentence do you think you would get for "taking the law into your own hands" vs what kind of sentence the criminal would get for actually breaking into your house and threatening YOU. ??

It's crap like this why "extremists" and "tin foil hat wearing libertarians" say that the government really is not here to help YOU - they are here to help themselves and keep YOU in line. The reality is that criminals only really get screwed over when they threaten the government or those who are intimately connected to that power structure. Kill a poor black woman on the street or have a continuous criminal record and you will often just go thru the revolving door of the 'criminal justice system' over and over again.

Do something that really doesn't hurt anybody but the governments ability to screw you out of your hard earned money - like the Browns did in NH - and you will get yourself thrown in a deep dark hole somewhere and never see the light of day again.

Maybe someday people will wake the eff up and smell the reality of what is really going on around them. MA is only one of the worst examples because MA is a further along the road to becoming complete socialist - government run hellhole than much of the rest of the country. MA is just the canary in the coal mine.

 

[Scrivener]

So, a convicted felon is buying guns illegally that he was probably trafficking to street gangs, and he's out on $10K bail.

Meanwhile Gregory Girard, who has never committed a crime, is still in Jail, and has been since February 9th.

Only in Massachusetts!

Hardly. Portland is in MAINE.

According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Portland, a York County man told federal agents that he had sold about 100 handguns to Burns since September or early October.

 

[GOAL C.M.]

.

 

[Mike S]

It's not "only in Massachusetts". You have to look at the differences between the two cases.

The convicted felon did not issue threats against the government and has not done criminal acts against the government in the past. He HAS done criminal acts against other human beings (citizens) - and actually been convicted and sentenced to jail for those crimes - and "served" a minimal sentence for those crimes.

On the other hand Gregory Girard threatened action against the government and the people he felt were destroying society. So he ends up in jail with no bail - even though he does NOT have a past record.

So ask yourself: who is REALLY a greater threat to the average person's life, liberty, and property - the government, or the average street criminal? If you were to shoot said criminal yourself say when he broke into your house, what kind of sentence do you think you would get for "taking the law into your own hands" vs what kind of sentence the criminal would get for actually breaking into your house and threatening YOU. ??

It's crap like this why "extremists" and "tin foil hat wearing libertarians" say that the government really is not here to help YOU - they are here to help themselves and keep YOU in line. The reality is that criminals only really get screwed over when they threaten the government or those who are intimately connected to that power structure. Kill a poor black woman on the street or have a continuous criminal record and you will often just go thru the revolving door of the 'criminal justice system' over and over again.

Do something that really doesn't hurt anybody but the governments ability to screw you out of your hard earned money - like the Browns did in NH - and you will get yourself thrown in a deep dark hole somewhere and never see the light of day again.

Maybe someday people will wake the eff up and smell the reality of what is really going on around them. MA is only one of the worst examples because MA is a further along the road to becoming complete socialist - government run hellhole than much of the rest of the country. MA is just the canary in the coal mine.

You are missing one extremely important thing. HE ALLEGEDLY SAID THOSE THINGS!

Their is no proof of any sort that he ever said any such thing, and even if he did, since when do we throw people in jail for things they said? Are you really ready to go down that road?

 

[seanc]

So you mean, for once, the laws currently on the books are being enforced!?

And how the heck do you buy TWO guns for $600 total?

Consecutively serial numbered Jennings/ Lorcin? Maybe they came in a commemerative limited edition brown paper bag (suitable for framing) case?

 

[Chris]

Consecutively serial numbered Jennings/ Lorcin?

No such thing. I don't think any consecutive guns ever stayed together long enough to reach packaging. (^_^)

 

[Sputa Arms]

I just want to know one thing!! what are they dong with all the guns??, I'll buy some.. Could the state sell them or auction them off???