Gun used in Paris attacks came from Florida dealer

[ttt]

Why is there no liability for this??? Can someone please explain how they're not required to keep track of all their firearms??? 

www.nydailynews.com/news/national/gun-paris-terror-attack-linked-florida-dealer-article-1.2462573


One of the guns used by ISIS terrorists to slaughter 130 people in Paris was once owned by a Florida-based online firearms dealer with close ties to the NRA.

The M92 semiautomatic pistol — made by a Serbian arms factory — was imported into the U.S. by Century Arms, a Delray Beach-based company in 2013, the head of a Serbian arms factory revealed Friday to The Associated Press.

It remained unclear how the weapon made its way back across the Atlantic — and into the hands of Islamic militants.

Marc Adler, president of Allan Adler, a Boca Raton consulting firm that specializes in firearms, said legally taking a handgun out of the country involves reams of paperwork and approval by numerous federal agencies.

“The export of firearms is very heavily regulated,” Adler, who questions how the gun could have legally left the country, told the Palm Beach Post.


“The only way I think it can happen would be some type of illegal transfer.”

Century Arms — which describes itself as North America’s largest importer of surplus firearms and accessories — has faced scrutiny before.

The company was linked to the 1980s-era Iran-Contra scandal when a long-time employee told a U.S. Senate committee the firm had supplied arms, including rockets and grenades, to the Contras in Nicaragua.

In 2011, the Palm Beach Post reported the company made a killing in arms deals — trading in pistols, sniper rifles and assault weapons, sometimes with the help of “unauthorized brokers.” The report was based on secret diplomatic cables made public by WikiLeaks.

That same year, the Center for Public Integrity reported that Century Arms’ Romanian-manufactured WASR-10 “has become a favorite of the Mexican drug cartels and in recent years hundreds of them have been traced to crimes in Mexico.”

In 2014, Century Arms donated 41 weapons to the NRA’s foundation, where they were raffled off in fund-raisers.

“The company abides by all federal, state, and local law regulations,” Century insisted in a statement released Friday.

In a video posted online in December 2013, Century advertised that they were selling the AK-style pistol PAP M92, “a brand new firearm from the Zastava factory in Serbia” and demonstrated its firing power.

“I personally think that (Century Arms) is being attacked for something that they had nothing to do with. They had absolutely no control of that firearm wherever it came from,” said Les Wexler, owner of K&W Gun Works in Delray Beach, who deals with the company. “I think it’s injustice to them — they should look for the criminal not for the good people.”

Milojko Brzakovic, of the Zastava arms factory that manufactured the weapon, told The Associated Press that the M92 semi-automatic pistol’s serial number matched one his company delivered to Century Arms in May 2013.

Brzakovic said the gun was one of about 25,000 hunting and sports guns shipped to the American dealer every year.

At least seven of the weapons used in, or discovered after, the horrific Paris massacre were produced by the factory in Kragujevac, in central Serbia. Most were manufactured before Yugoslavia broke up in a civil war in the 1990s and were modified versions of the Soviet AK-47, or Kalashnikov.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the November slaughter in Paris. The series of bomb and gun attacks — which targeted a soccer stadium, a music hall and a row of trendy cafes — left 130 people dead and more than 300 injured.

Brzakovic did not specify exactly where in Paris the firearm was used.

Brzakovic did say the M92 pistol “is a semiautomatic weapon, a hunting and sporting weapon ... it cannot fire barrage fire, only single shots ... which are legal in America.”

All the guns were delivered to the U.S. legally, but could have later found their way into illegal channels, Brzakovic added.

To legally ship firearms back out of the country, an individual or company would have to be registered with the State Department.

William Hartung, a policy analyst with the Center for International Policy in New York, said there’s very little oversight that would guarantee such deadly weapons won’t wind up in the wrong hands.

“It’s hard to keep track of these things, they’re small, they’re portable,” Hartung told The News. “It’s worth taking a pause to see if we can do better. The system has been moving in the other direction toward looser regulations and we need to look at that.”

Gun control legislation — including preventing suspected terrorists on the federal no-fly list from buying weapons — has stalled in Congress thanks to the NRA’s tight grip on Republican lawmakers.

Earlier this month, a pair of terrorists used legally purchased guns to slaughter 14 people in California.

The assault rifles used by the married militants were purchased by a longtime friend who transferred the guns to the duo without the legally required paperwork.

[iammalcolmx]

Oh shit.

[compassrose]

Dec 14, 2015 8:51:04 GMT -5 ttt said:

Why is there no liability for this??? Can someone please explain how they're not required to keep track of all their firearms??? 

Because 2nd amendment rights, duh! It's a slippery slope!

(Side note: I posted that meme about treating guns like cars in terms of licensing, regulation, and insurance on FB and some people were all "It's a slippery slope!" /headdesk.)

[MixedBerryJam]

Dec 14, 2015 10:23:46 GMT -5 compassrose said:

Dec 14, 2015 8:51:04 GMT -5 ttt said:

Why is there no liability for this??? Can someone please explain how they're not required to keep track of all their firearms??? 

Because 2nd amendment rights, duh! It's a slippery slope!

(Side note: I posted that meme about treating guns like cars in terms of licensing, regulation, and insurance on FB and some people were all "It's a slippery slope!" /headdesk.)

Dont forget Congress's role in this too. I'm looking at you, Senator Sanders.

articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/05/opinion/la-oe-schiff-nra-liability-shield-20130205

[katietornado]

Dec 14, 2015 8:51:04 GMT -5 ttt said:

In 2014, Century Arms donated 41 weapons to the NRA’s foundation, where they were raffled off in fund-raisers.

We are literally GIVING guns away.

Like, a sheriff's office tried to raffle off a puppy and people lost their shit.  Make sure it goes to a good home, with people who know how to take care of it.

But we're just giving out guns like they're fucking candy.  To anyone who buys a ticket.  My head is exploding right now.

[litebright]

Dec 14, 2015 17:35:03 GMT -5 katietornado said:

Dec 14, 2015 8:51:04 GMT -5 ttt said:

In 2014, Century Arms donated 41 weapons to the NRA’s foundation, where they were raffled off in fund-raisers.

We are literally GIVING guns away.

Like, a sheriff's office tried to raffle off a puppy and people lost their shit.  Make sure it goes to a good home, with people who know how to take care of it.

But we're just giving out guns like they're fucking candy.  To anyone who buys a ticket.  My head is exploding right now.

Rocky Mountain Gun Owners is a super pro-gun-rights political org out here in CO, and they do this all the time. I got on their email list somehow (I suspect from something I signed on change.org, but man, they don't target their audience very well) and I was shocked the first time I saw one of them. I had no idea it was legal to just give guns away. 

I think the most recent one was a "Glocktober Giveaway" where you could win one of three Glocks. 

[bernsteincat]

There are gun raffles as fundraisers around here all the time. It does not make me feel safe.