Fed inquiry rounds up 23 illegal gun dealers 500 weapons turned in after
3-year investigatio
By Lawrence Buser 901-529-2385
 Reported in the Commercial Appeal
Saturday, March 1, 2008


A three-year multiagency investigation has led to the indictments of 23 illegal gun dealers and the seizure of some 500 handguns, rifles and sawed-off shotguns, federal authorities said Friday.

Twenty-one of the defendants were charged with 153 counts of selling firearms to convicted felons, while other charges included illegal gun sales at flea markets in West Tennessee.

"The investigation began at the flea markets, but it spread out from there," said Nathaniel Jones of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which led the gun probe. "These defendants sold firearms to known felons."

Jones said undercover agents made numerous purchases of illegal weapons and later seized many more in areas stretching from Martin, Tenn., to Corinth, Miss. The investigation is ongoing and arrest warrants have been issued in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas.

Among those indicted is Casey Jones, a jail administrator for the Wayne County Sheriff's Department. Jones is charged with one count of dealing firearms without a license. The maximum punishment is 10 years in prison, plus fines.

U.S. Atty. David Kustoff said the investigation focused on people selling guns without a federal firearms license, selling handguns to felons and selling easy-to-conceal sawed-off shotguns with barrels shorter than 18 inches. Convicted felons are banned by law from possessing firearms.

Sawed-off shotguns also are illegal unless registered to the owner on the National Firearms and Transfer Record.

The other 22 indicted are: Ronnie Breeden, 53, of Waynesboro, Tenn.;           Barry Chance, 62, of McEwen, Tenn.; George Conley, 74, of Holladay, Tenn.;                  Jerry Copeland, 65, of Waverly, Tenn.; Bill Eifert, 71, of Baldwyn, Miss.;            Wayne Ganus, 66, of Adamsville, Tenn.;               John Richard "Rickey" Goode, 61, of Buena Vista, Tenn.; Larry Goode, 54, of Trezevant, Tenn.; Benny Harris, 72, of Paris, Tenn.; Bobby Hedge, 68, of Holladay; Donald Hooks, 72, of Dover, Tenn.; Bruce Hutton, 47, of Savannah, Tenn.;     Oscar Lee Jones, 59, of Walnut, Miss.; Paul Middleton, 70, of Parsons, Tenn.;     Hubert Norfleet, 67, of Dixon, Tenn.; Ovan Owens, 72, of Booneville, Miss.;             Robert Joe Rich, 80, of Waynesboro; Donald Robison, 70, of Huntingdon, Tenn.; Thomas Rorie, 75, of Corinth, Miss.; Herman Rye, 73, of McEwen; Joseph Dean Smith, 65, of Bald Knob, Ark.; and Jackie Weathers, 70 of Corinth.

BY THE NUMBERS
3-year undercover investigation

19 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies involved

23 defendants

239 counts

500 illegal weapons purchased and seized

37 sawed-off shotguns included

10 years maximum punishment


$250,000 maximum fine

 In January 2007, legallyrmed.com wrote an article about individuals selling their firearms at gun shows outside of their home state.  We did this because we heard there were undercover investigations being conducted.  People who were just selling their personal guns were the ones we were trying to advise because, some people did not know the law regarding selling their personal firearms outside of their home state or at flea markets.   We were trying to give a warning without telling people exactly what we had heard about the undercover stings.  There were arrests. Please be aware,       there are going to be more arrests.  This article tells about the latest bust made by the ATF.

Here is that audio article made in 2007and, it also tells what you should ask if you are selling your personal firearm anywhere.  I make sure I ask a person if they are a 'convicted felon'.  This makes it clear I asked the question.  I get a lot of "Do I look like a convicted felon?".  I always say "Yes".  You should do the same.  Click on the Mic. to hear the audio.  Gene Kennedy
     
                                        mic

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Yep, knew this was coming. Army loaned me to ATF a few years back and I worked these issues. There are people who went to flea markets and bought firearms that they would then take and resell in inner-city areas in major northern cities. Convicted felons flocked to these flea markets to illegally buy weapons with no paper trail. There's also one city in the area that has more FFLs per 1000 population than about any other city in the south and they specialized in selling hand guns to cut-out buyers that would resell in major northern cities where they showed up constantly in firearm crimes. They were so bold in this one city that they didn't care that the guns would be traced back to them. Hell, there were tire shops, drug stores, and all manner of other unlikely stores that had FFLs and did a screaming business in selling guns to cut-outs. The flea market in Ft Payne, AL was hit after it started looking like a Pakistani gun bazaar, it almost started looking less like a flea market and more like a low class Shot Show. It was so blatant that the sellers practically dared ATF to step in. Worst thing to me was that the local police could have easily put the brakes on the illegal dealers at these shows as their actions violated state, and frequently local, law but turned a blind eye, relegating the matter to the 'Things Too Hard To Do' box. It wasn't unusual to see local police wandering through and looking at the guns. In the process the liberal news programs get great footage to beat us over the head with and add more fuel to the anti-gun programs. These ATF actions came way too late and should have been local in the first place.

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
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