Interestingly, just this weekend it has become known that Bill McMahon, Assistant Director of ATF, and one of the defenders of Operation Fast & Furious, McMahon in essence received a promotion. ATF's OPRSO (Internal Affairs) is the highest level of integrity review in the Bureau. They have given the keys to that car to a person who has displayed self-admitted incompetence and refused any accountability for Fast and Furious beyond an admission that he did not review reports closely enough on the case. He has no integrity but now he will be judging everyone else's. Plus, he has supervised and protected SAC John Torres for years, one of ATF's biggest criminals. Prepare for the already low esteem of IA to sink deeper regardless of how well Chait props him up.

 

But trying to misdirect everyone's attention from the hearings has been ATF's number one job of late. So desperate at this have they been, that they even have turned on their supposed friends, the FBI, making the claim much like a child would “but he made me do it!”

 

Testifying before Congress, ATF Director Ken Melson, who has been under pressure to resign, but has thus far refused, said the FBI and DEA kept the ATF "in the dark" about their relationships with the cartel informants. If ATF agents had known of the relationships, the agency might have ended the investigation much earlier, he said.

 

 

The question thus has become, “Did the guns supplied by ATF get bought by funds provided to criminal participant by the FBI and DEA? Wouldn't that make the U.S. Government the most effective supplier of guns to cartels, and not the status of U.S. gun laws?” Obviously, there are people in Washington that don't want those questions asked.

 

And speaking of the government selling guns,...residents of Washington D.C. Who wish to buy one may soon have to do so at Metro P.D. Headquarters. In a twist for the District, which once banned the weapons before its rules were struck down by the Supreme Court, emergency legislation that would make D.C. a licensed firearms dealer is being considered. Under the legislation, gun owners who want to bring handguns into the District would have their guns shipped to government offices to get the stamp of approval to carry them within D.C. borders. D.C. needs the law because the only licensed firearms dealer in the District is temporarily closed for business as of April. That amounts to a de facto ban on handguns, since no one can now legally bring a gun into the District, The Washington Examiner reports.

 

D.C. hopes to dodge a legal bullet by allowing its only licensed gun dealer to operate out of police headquarters. The city will permit Charles Sykes to use space at the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters, Mayor Vincent Gray said Wednesday. He'll be allowed to set up shop in the tight security offices where guns are registered. It won't be set up like a retailer, officials said. "There won't be any exchange like a regular commercial establishment where you go in and purchase," Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Paul Quander said.

 

What is interesting about this situation is how it eerily parallels the gun regulation scheme in Mexico. Gun ownership is embodied in the Mexican Constitution (bet you didn't know that), but has become nearly non-existent due to regulations meant to make it so difficult and expensive that hardly anyone does so. (Legally, at least.) Mexico has only 1 legally operating outlet for guns sold to civilians,...and it is on a military base in Mexico City.

 

FLORIDA

But not all of the feds' gun problems are in D.C. and the southwest. Virginia O’Brien, Special Agent in Charge at the ATF Tampa Field Division, and formerly SAC at the Phoenix Field Division over Bill Newell (remember him?), ran a gun-running investigation that was walking guns to Honduras using the techniques and tactics identical to Fast and Furious. After leaving the Phoenix office, O'Brien was promoted to the Deputy Assistant Director of ATF, but then stepped down to the position in Tampa. 

 

"From a first person source she is sh*tting herself trying to cover it up," a confidential source has stated.

 

CALIFORNIA

Now usually, when it comes to theft of U.S. gov't property from military facilities, the FBI is the agency to pursue the investigation. Military investigators may head up the task at first, but if it gets handed off to anyone, the FBI is it. If the FBI needs specialty consultation on matters involving weapons, the ATF may be brought in to assist. But it is still an FBI thing. Or at least, it was. These are difficult times for ATF, and they need high-profile cases that will rescue their reputation. So,...somehow,...the case of the missing AK-74s from Ft. Irwin is being conducted entirely by ATF. Perhaps this is why the public is only now learning of this after 2 weeks,...while a turf battle was fought in D.C. Over who would lead this case?

 

NEW ORLEANS

Massacre is probably an inaccurate term here, since it denotes the death of several persons, and at the Danziger Bridge, while 6 people were shot by NOPD officers, only 2 were killed. Yet, the dynamic of tired, under-fire, poorly-trained, poorly-led persons surrounded by unseen dangers in “Indian country” cut off from their normal command structure and on their own was rather similar to what led to the dead villagers in Mai Lai. One of the dead men, after first being wounded by gunfire in the initial opening salvo, ran away from the gunfire. He was chased down and shot in the back from a speeding police car. All the wounded and dead had been unarmed. Testimony was given that, as the officers rolled up on the scene of reported shots fired at officers, they saw people running,...and opened fire on them.

 

Officer Ignatius Hills said he jumped out of the rental truck after the shooting stopped and scanned the blood-covered bodies on the ground - civilians who had allegedly shot at the police moments earlier - and wondered aloud where their guns were. Sgt. Kenneth Bowen heard him and answered "that he had kicked the guns off the bridge," Hills told jurors in a New Orleans courtroom earlier this month. So began a web of deceit, federal prosecutors say, that stretched for years after the slaying of two civilians by police in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Four others were injured in the September 2005 shooting. Defense attorneys argue that in the hysteria and trauma following the hurricane and flooding, police were doing their best to keep the peace that day and believed they were being fired upon.

 

Hills told jurors that he knew immediately that Bowen had not kicked weapons off the bridge. He decided that the shooting was unjustified and officers intended to cover their tracks. He later admitted that he participated in a cover-up after cutting a deal with the government last year. His testimony and that of others who have made plea deals will be crucial in proving the government's case. Lt. Michael Lohman, who also pleaded guilty, told the jury earlier in June that every report filed about the Danziger incident is full of "lies and fabrications."

 

Detective Jeff Lerhmann also testified how officers later planted guns and even made up false witnesses to cover their own asses. When it was obvious that the civilians' lack of weapons was a problem, he said, they "fixed" it by planting a gun.

 

"We got one from Archie's house," he said.

 

Then, when the investigators entered Kaufman's Colt revolver into evidence, he said they took another step: They reported they had confiscated the weapon from Lance Madison, whose brother was killed at the scene. And they arrested him and charged him with attempted murder of police officers.

 

Lehrmann said after attributing the planted revolver to Madison, Archie Kaufman, who was the lead officer orchestrating the cover-up, "was not happy" to learn that Madison had no criminal record.

 

"These are big charges against a man who's never been arrested," Lehrmann said on the witness stand.

 

Lehrmann said he and Kaufman also made up two eyewitnesses: Lakeisha Smith, who supposedly stated she saw Ronald Madison reach into his waistband for something before being shot, and James Youngman, whose statement said he saw young men shoot at police and then flee over the Danziger Bridge.

 

Neither Smith nor Youngman exist, Lehrmann said.

 

"The lies changed whenever we needed to change them," Lehrmann said at one point, in reference to filing many false reports. "It was part of the fun."

 

The trial is still ongoing and is expected to run into next month.

 

TEXAS

 

And remember last month how we discussed Adam Gadahn, “The American Al Qaida” muslim convert California dude who put out a video call, in english, for muslims in America to go buy guns and start shooting people? Well, it seems one U.S. Army soldier of islamic faith intended to take up that challenge. Pfc. Nasser Abdo, who had previously already gained notoriety for applying for Conscientious Objector status to prevent being deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, was arrested for supposedly plotting to conduct some sort of attack at Ft. Hood, Texas. The same installation where Maj. Nadal Hasan killed 13 soldiers and wounded 32 others. Amazingly, Abdo was foiled for attempting to buy his weapons from the very same store in Killeen where Hasan bought his weapons. The store clerk was suspicious when Abdo bought 8 pounds of gun powder, but asked several questions about the powder that indicated he had no idea of its common use by sportsmen in manufacturing their own ammunition, or how to do so. His alertness aroused, the clerk called the police, who followed up.

 

According to Killeen Police, Abdo admitted his intention to commit a terror act. The target of Abdo's plot was to be a restaurant outside the Ft. Hood base frequented by base members, a senior law enforcement source told FOX News Channel. The attack was to involve at least one bomb blast followed by a shooting attack.

 

Killeen seems to just not be able to escape crazy shooters. Back in 1991, a crazed man drove his truck into a Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen and opened fire on the customers, killing 23 people and wounding 20. The end result, years later in 1995, was Texas finally passing a legal manner for Texans to carry weapons to defend themselves. This was due primarilly to the efforts of Suzanna Gratia-Hupp, who was there and watched her parents die because she had abided by the law and left her purse with her gun in it in her car. She ran for the Texas state legislature, principally to rectify stupid disarmament laws like the one she felt obliged to follow that day and which killed her mom and dad.

 

Then of course, Maj. Hasan did his deed back in 2009.

 

No word yet from Adam Gadahn as to his opinion on this latest event.

 

OREGON

Also recall how last month we told you about the currently hot issue of possession of guns while also a medical marijuana patient. I had described how it had been settled in Oregon and Rhode Island that having a MM card was not sufficient grounds to deny a Concealed Carry Permit to a citizen. But there are some very brain-washed cops who can't seem to accept that, and the Oregon Sheriff who first tried to deny an Oregon woman her CCW permit due to being a Medical Marijuana Card holder is appealing his being rebuffed by all Oregon courts to the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

From Bloomberg Businessweek: “Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters has argued that issuing the license would violate federal law, specifically the Gun Control Act of 1968. That argument was rejected by a trial court, the Oregon Court of Appeals and the Oregon Supreme Court in rulings that say state law on concealed handgun permits does not pre-empt federal law. Cynthia Willis acknowledged using medical marijuana when she filed her permit application with Winters in 2008, setting off the legal battle. She was issued a concealed handgun license after the sheriff lost in the Oregon Court of Appeals.

 

Because marijuana is a controlled substance, the county argues gun ownership would be barred under the Gun Control Act, he said. But the state statute concerning concealed weapons doesn't explicitly address it.

 

Leland Berger, who represents Willis, said judges in three different Oregon courts have already concluded that the federal law does not excuse sheriffs from issuing concealed weapons permits to people who hold medical marijuana cards and otherwise qualify.

 

"How many judges do we need to rule on this?" Berger said.

 

The petition Kirchoff filed with the U.S. Supreme Court makes a point of pressing for clarity in resolving conflicting state and federal laws.

 

"As this case demonstrates, the mounting constitutional and political tension between the states and the federal government over medical marijuana has expanded into the intersection of federal and state firearms regulation," the petition states.

 

But the likelihood a case will be taken under review is slim. Of the 10,000 cases sent to the U.S. Supreme Court in a given year, only about 200 are heard.”

 

ARIZONA

 

And the petty tyrant fiefdom of Quartzite hissy fit is finally getting noticed by higher authorities, but it is also now getting even further out of hand, with corrupt council members demanding the seizure of guns from political opponents and banning of their possession. And of course, they have found some lackey judge to issue such an order.

 

From World Net Daily:

Town Councilman Joe Winslow has prompted the seizure of guns from local gem dealer and online entrepreneur Michael Roth because Roth allegedly glared at the councilman, blocked his entrance to Town Hall and called him a "turd."

Winslow told Slaughter what he wanted was that Roth and others with similar views "not be allowed to walk around armed. To me, I'm not a psychologist or psychiatrist, but I have been diagnosed with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) ... that's what I'm concerned with, that he's gonna get so far into my personal space that I'm gonna react without thinking. I'm not making threats or anything like that. I'm not proud of that, but that's the way I am."

Winslow said he has been flooded with several hundred emails from Americans not happy about his demand for the removal of Jones from speaking, as he called her "disruptive."

"They're contacting people all over the country with similar political beliefs and that's why we had to declare a state of emergency, and Mr. Roth is involved in that," Winslow said.

"I don't like firearms," he said. "I have nothing against anyone who wants to own a gun for protection, hunting, recreation, whatever, that's their business. But you bring the two things together �" the fixed-minded people who for whatever reason are aggressive and confrontational by nature and bring in firearms and it's a bad combination. As far as name-calling goes, that's sophomoric. I just ignore it."

Ironically, despite Winslow's self-expressed aversion to firearms and desire to confiscate Roth's weapons, the councilman admitted he had recently gone gun shopping for himself.

"I felt it necessary for me to go out and purchase a gun, and I did," Winslow said. "I went out and bought a 12-gauge shotgun. I don't like it. I don't like being in that position."

 

So if you follow the logic here; Councilman Winslow wants citizen Roth disarmed because Winslow is afraid that Winslow might over-react due to his own PTSD issues and harm Roth. And apparently, he wants free reign to do this without being shot by Roth, who understandably would likely want to protect himself from the brand new shotgun Winslow just bought,...bought, apparently, in anticipation of flipping out and attacking someone like Roth.

 

Um,...okaaaaaaaaaaay. Can we all say “arrogant sumbitch with kingly delusions”?

 

The order for Roth to surrender his weapons to the local police was issued by Justice of the Peace Karen Slaughter, herself a former sheriff's deputy who won a popular election to her position and has no formal legal training. If anything, it sounds like Winslow made the case for HIM to be disarmed. Why hasn't the JP ordered HIM to give up his shotgun?

 

Quartzite is one f**ked up town!!!

 

NORWAY

And of course, we could not possibly neglect to mention Norway, and the terrorist Anders Behring Breivik, who bombed the Parliament square in Oslo and killed over 80 children and others at a nearby summer camp retreat. As most know, mass shootings of that sort are incredibly rare in Europe, and the Nordic countries in particular. Yet, gun ownership there is rather high by European standards. Gun ownership in Norway is nearly as common as it is in the United States, as hunting is a popular activity there. The types of weapons are rather different, with high-capacity auto-loading types of weapons being somewhat scarce,...but available none the less. As has been discussed in the news a fair amount, Breivik acquired all his weaponry legally; going through all the proper channels and fulfilling all the requirements for each and every weapon acquired. He complied with (and in the end, defeated) considerably more gun control regulation than most Americans will ever have to deal with. Gun control measures that have been the pride of Europe’s political and administrative types, and upon which they have claimed for years were responsible for the relative peace and tranquility that is very rarely disturbed by gun violence.

Gun control measures they always waved in America's face and said we should copy. Gun control measures that so completely and utterly proved themselves useless on that tragic day. Worse than useless, actually. Lethal, deadly, complicit,...evil.

 

It has been the predictable and expected response in Europe whenever gun violence breaks out on any scale larger than a few people, to say there ought to be more gun control and weapons made even harder to acquire or banned completely. And there is some of that going on in politically “progressive” Norway. But in an unusual moment of clarity and honesty in the debate over weapon ownership in Europe, many Norwegians are coming to the opinion that perhaps all this gun regulation is ineffective and pointless. Some even (gasp) speak of how gun control simply made the campground a giant victim disarmament zone, guaranteeing the wolf Breivik would have nothing but penned in sheep to deal with, and no sheepdog to worry about pulling out his own weapon and stopping the rabid wolf.

 

Indeed, with all the hunting rifles in Norway, why haven't there been sniper attacks and such? The answer, quite obviously, is that the mere presence of weapons doesn't make someone act murderously. They must choose to. But once they choose to, like Breivik, all that stands between them and a body count is their level of determination and ability to be creative in their mayhem. Indeed, some Norwegians are asking, would it really be so bad if trusted stable citizens were able to have the ability to exercise the option of having a discreetly carried weapon to protect themselves and/or the community in the rare event of something like this happening again? While such reasoning is new and strange to Norwegians, and those opposed to such ideas predictably attempt to shout down such voices of intelligent inquiry, interest in the question is not going away.