Westport firearms dealer charged with selling illegal handguns

[LoginName]

My guess is one of two things happened here:

1. Westport PD has an unusually retarded interest in being EOPS lapdog, based on this statement....

"Majewski added that the Westport Police Department had previously sent letters to Richie's Sporting Supply and other local federal licensed gun dealers reminding them that they cannot sell firearms restricted by the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security and the Attorney General's Office."

2. There's some other precursor incident that caused them to go on a flishing expedition with this shop. (like a gun theft, or even some nonjudicial incident between the PD and this shop, etc. )

#1 is kind of a weird scenario since I don't think most PDs probably care about this stupid crap, unless EOPS or a DA comes up to them directly and and demands that they do something about "shop X". (As an aside, even when the locals came to shut down Titegroup, they did it in the least douchey way possible, from my recollection. ) My guess is the WPD chief is bored and looking for something to "harumph and look important about." Some of these PDs are weird.... brings to mind that phrase "Idle hands spend time at the genitals".

-Mike

Or, some competitor pissed and moaned to the PD (or AG), about it.

Who was the dealer non gratis from sometime back that was ratting out other dealers to the AG's office?

 

[Garys]

So, you think that PDs don't do extensive BG checks on candidates including pulling up every FA-10 that they ever signed to see what they own, their character, etc. Guns that aren't on the EOPS List and are well known in LE circles (i.e. Glocks) might well peak some interest in interrogating the applicant OR pulling all such gun sales from that dealer. Either way they got the info, it is out there and easily found out if someone looks.

They check everything. I know two guys who played residency games with their LTCs and their listed addresses for PD job applications. The LTC had one address, they listed a different one on their applications. Ugliness ensued for them. Neither realized that detail to which a PD could drill down during their background check.

 

[drgrant]

Or, some competitor pissed and moaned to the PD (or AG), about it.

Who was the dealer non gratis from sometime back that was ratting out other dealers to the AG's office?

Ted Oven @ Northeast Ratting, er, Trading. He called the AGs office and ratted out BPS.

That's the AGs office though, which is a different ballgame from this.

-Mike

 

[blindndead]

Goal Blog

http://blog.goal.org/ma-gun-law-media-wrong-again/
FALL RIVER — A federally licensed firearms dealer in Westport is facing felony charges of selling illegal handguns to customers.

Richard Pacheco, 67, owner of Richie’s Sporting Supply at 217 Mouse Mill Road, is charged with 13 counts of improper sale of a firearm, according to the Westport Police Department.

Police allege that Pacheco sold numerous Glock-model 42 and 43 handguns — which are illegal for civilians to possess in Massachusetts — to several customers earlier this year. Westport police detectives say they found records corresponding to the sales after executing a search warrant at the business.

 

[Reptile]

IF there is anyone else selling new Glocks, I expect them to stop.

I would expect the Mass Glock Premium to go up a few dollars.

Looks like a great "test case" for Comm2a - but it would cost tens of thousands of dollars.

 

[oilspill]

Wasn't there another case in Westport, a (former?) FFL who got raided and they were parading his "aresenal"?

 

[Rob Boudrie]

They check everything. I know two guys who played residency games with their LTCs and their listed addresses for PD job applications. The LTC had one address, they listed a different one on their applications. Ugliness ensued for them. Neither realized that detail to which a PD could drill down during their background check.

PD applicants typically get a bonus point for being a town resident, so the PD is going to check carefully to make sure they are not being scammed on this.

When I needed a address confirmation from my local PD for a RI license, the officer went over to town hall to confirm I was a registered voter. I had just moved to town and had to take in additional paperwork to prove I was a resident before I could get a sign-off on my RI application.

 

[Bonesinium]

I hope the people involved find out their spouses are cheating on them with their best friend, get divorced, lose their home, and their lives end up in ruins leading them to smoke crack, where they end up arrested and fired. Tyrants.

 

[Hoover]

Wasn't there another case in Westport, a (former?) FFL who got raided and they were parading his "aresenal"?

I think there was one on westport or darmouth, somewhere down there. I think he got busted by the state and feds

 

[righteousbarbarian]

So it sounds like this is not going to be a very good case for challenging the EOPSS list or the AG requirements. What then is a somewhat realistic scenario where these things change?

 

[Varmint]

The AG violation for Glock 42 seems relatively minor compared to post-ban magazines, which seems like the real meat of this arrest.

This thread makes me want to go buy a Glock 42.

 

[jason19711971]

Glock You

 

[1903Collector]

Wasn't there another case in Westport, a (former?) FFL who got raided and they were parading his "aresenal"?

I believe it was the former owner of Village Sports.

 

[Reptile]

The AG violation for Glock 42 seems relatively minor compared to post-ban magazines, which seems like the real meat of this arrest.

This thread makes me want to go buy a Glock 42.

If the main case is post ban mags, perhaps that will make people think twice about not paying the premium for real Glock pre bans.

 

[Smokewagon]

I
Oh, and then there was the time he rolled up to one of the egg shoots at woodcock. In his little armored vehicle w/ a mounted 22 on the top and let loose w/ full auto fire from the parking lot. Over the heads of about 50 people and their kids participating in the shoot. Seriously, the dude is just an *******. If I had to choose, I would walk in to NFS before I ever crossed his threshold again.

Wait what? No one returned fire?

 

[71olds442]

Maybe he was cutting into the profits of the local pd selling there glocks at a premium

 

[shiprec13]

I told a coworker about this story today who is a hunter. He didn't even know there were banned guns or a list. Before I finished he was talking about calling his senator and congressmen. I asked him to let me know how that works out. I've been trying to open the eyes of my fellow gun owners that I work with to all the BS this state pulls. I'm afraid much like myself we're all arriving to the game too late. I love where I live but I really hate this f¥(!n& state.

 

[center442]

The writing in the news article is very poor, its very confusing and looks like crap, and has legal fallacies in it.

-Mike

They've already corrected one of the statements in the article. This gem is still there:

Majewski said only law enforcement officers in Massachusetts can possess magazines over 10 rounds.

I have a lot of magazines that hold more than ten rounds. All perfectly legal. Try explaining to someone from outside the lunatic asylum called Massachusetts that a standard capacity magazine made on one day is perfectly legal to own, but the same magazine made a day or two later is illegal.

I used to say FML. I don't any more. Now I say FMS. The 'S' is for state.

 

[Gooman24]

Wait what? No one returned fire?

Yeah I want to know about this too. Someone shoots in my direction or the direction of my family I am returning fire!

 

[inerlogic]

richie talked a good game to anyone who'd listen.... let's see if he fights or takes a plea.....

 

[Len-2A Training]

richie talked a good game to anyone who'd listen.... let's see if he fights or takes a plea.....

If they have FA-10s with his name on them, he can't fight and win, he must take a plea or they will land on him like a ton of bricks. There is no wiggle room here.

 

[drgrant]

IF there is anyone else selling new Glocks, I expect them to stop.

I would expect the Mass Glock Premium to go up a few dollars.

I don't. At all. Most of the shops that fall victim to this sort of thing tee the ball up for the state.

-Mike

 

[drgrant]

the off list gun is a problem, as Titegroup found out. The G42 should provide an interesting situation, as the AG would have to prove their non-existent list, exists.

The G42 thing isn't going anywhere, that's just a lot of hyperbole/bloviation/hurr durring on the part of the PD. You can pretty much expect that to become an irrelevant issue by the time it gets to the courts. Yeah, the AG can sue him for it, but BFD... that's mouse milk/meaningless compared to the charges hes facing. AG probably won't even bother because there's a 99.9% chance he's getting put out of business anyways, and that's all CMR 940 is really designed to do... so if the AG's office has someone else doing the dirty work for them (MGL) it's doubtful they will bother bringing a separate (civil) case against him for it. Not to mention by the time the criminal case is over he probably won't have much cash left... kinda hard to get blood from a stone.

-Mike

 

[drgrant]

If the main case is post ban mags, perhaps that will make people think twice about not paying the premium for real Glock pre bans.

I doubt it is, because the standard of evidence is a lot higher for the magazines than it is for going off list. I bet pretty much anything if this guy pleas out that stuff is either gonna get sidelined or dropped by the end of this.

As far as "making people more scared" I really doubt it. The people who buy postbans already basically give 0 ****s (or they will keep doing it out of ignorance of the law) and the people scared of their own shadow that pay $90 for an FML preban are still going to be doing that.

-Mike

 

[drgrant]

The AG violation for Glock 42 seems relatively minor compared to post-ban magazines, which seems like the real meat of this arrest.

This thread makes me want to go buy a Glock 42.

The real meat is off list, there's literally no defense against it (unless they find that the PD ****ed up the investigation by violating his rights somehow, and the evidence gets "discarded" but that's pretty doubtful) and the standard of evidence is pretty easy to satisfy. They don't have to prove magazine provenance or any of that BS. Unless the PD has a good expert witness on that front that charge is probably going to get trashed too. These people exist (certain anti gun LEOs) and they're scary as **** in the courtroom, but they're also uncommonly rare individuals in the MA LE community. If they want to go full retard they can probably find a couple dozen other occasions where he did it, too.

-Mike

 

[drgrant]

Anyone doing anything for his legal defense? It would be cool to see some local gun shops step up to help one of our own. I would def be in for that.

Unless there's some vector here where serious misconduct can be shown on the part of the PD as part of his defense, you're better off just taking the cash and setting it on fire. (although I would opine you'd be better off sending it to comm2a or GOAL, frankly.)

-Mike

 

[EJFudd]

The G42 thing isn't going anywhere, that's just a lot of hyperbole/bloviation...

I doubt it is, because the standard of evidence is a lot higher for the magazines than it is for going off list. I bet pretty much anything if this guy pleas out that stuff is either gonna get sidelined or dropped by the end of this.

The real meat is off list, there's literally no defense against it...

I think you're right on the off-list. That's the tough one, legally-speaking. But I also think the post-ban magazine could be a problem if the crazy cop and an anti-gun prosecutor want to push it... or if they trip and fall somehow on the off-list charge. Remember, we are not dealing with reasonable, rational people here. Rather, I think we're dealing with lefties who have an agenda they want to push.

That said, I'd love for them to push their luck on the 42 thing just to maybe give Comm2A another crack at the silly AG's "top secret" list thing. Perhaps a new AG with another issue at the top of her agenda could make a difference.

I am still hoping this dealer has some legal twist in his pocket on the 43's such as reselling "used" guns or from his own personal collection or whatever to lessen the pain. It's hard to believe that he just hadn't thought of the potential off-list consequences.

 

[fbirdquik6]

Word on the street is there were also some Springfields in his books.... Now hes as screwed as Mike Wheelock.

 

[Varmint]

I think you're right on the off-list. That's the tough one, legally-speaking. But I also think the post-ban magazine could be a problem if the crazy cop and an anti-gun prosecutor want to push it... or if they trip and fall somehow on the off-list charge. Remember, we are not dealing with reasonable, rational people here. Rather, I think we're dealing with lefties who have an agenda they want to push.

That said, I'd love for them to push their luck on the 42 thing just to maybe give Comm2A another crack at the silly AG's "top secret" list thing. Perhaps a new AG with another issue at the top of her agenda could make a difference.

I am still hoping this dealer has some legal twist in his pocket on the 43's such as reselling "used" guns or from his own personal collection or whatever to lessen the pain. It's hard to believe that he just hadn't thought of the potential off-list consequences.

I wonder if they are going after the PD applicant for possession of post-ban mags? If not, that could mean the guy was LE already.

- - - Updated - - -

I am still hoping this dealer has some legal twist in his pocket on the 43's such as reselling "used" guns or from his own personal collection or whatever to lessen the pain. It's hard to believe that he just hadn't thought of the potential off-list consequences.

Yeah, I don't understand that - I assume he'd have some angle rather than just hoping nobody ever looked closely at his FA-10s.

 

[Mike S]

I don't know what's worse the absurdity of this law or the prosecution of it.