Page 1 of 1

ATF Looking For Guns In Houston

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:18 pm
by dihappy
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6505651.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Federal agents
hunt for guns, one house at a time
By DANE SCHILLER Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
June 30, 2009, 9:36PM

In front of a run-down shack in north Houston, federal agents step from a government sedan into 102-degree heat and face a critical question: How can the woman living here buy four high-end handguns in one day?

The house is worth $35,000. A screen dangles by a wall-unit air conditioner. Porch swing slats are smashed, the smattering of grass is flattened by cars and burned yellow by sun.

“I’ll do the talking on this one,” agent Tim Sloan, of South Carolina, told partner Brian Tumiel, of New York.

Success on the front lines of a government blitz on gunrunners supplying Mexican drug cartels with Houston weaponry hinges on logging heavy miles and knocking on countless doors. Dozens of agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — sent here from around the country — are needed to follow what ATF acting director Kenneth Melson described as a “massive number of investigative leads.”

All told, Mexican officials in 2008 asked federal agents to trace the origins of more than 7,500 firearms recovered at crime scenes in Mexico. Most of them were traced back to Texas, California and Arizona.

Among other things, the agents are combing neighborhoods and asking people about suspicious purchases as well as seeking explanations as to how their guns ended up used in murders, kidnappings and other crimes in Mexico.

“Ever turning up the heat on cartels, our law enforcement and military partners in the government of Mexico have been working more closely with the ATF by sharing information and intelligence,” Melson said Tuesday during a firearms-trafficking summit in New Mexico.

Firearms dealers visited
The ATF recently dispatched 100 veteran agents to its Houston division, which reaches to the border.

The mission is especially challenging because, officials say, that while Houston is the number one point of origin for weapons traced back to the United States from Mexico, the government can’t compile databases on gun owners under federal law.

Agents instead review firearms dealers’ records in person.

People who are legally in the United States and have clean criminal records, but are facing economic problems are often recruited by traffickers to buy weapons on their behalf in order to shield themselves from scrutiny.

Knocks at the door of the shack that looked to be the definition of hard times went unanswered.

“I am out of here,” Sloan said a few moments later, as a pit bull lazily sauntered from the back yard. “I don’t like pit bulls walking up behind me.”

Best information source
On second thought, Sloan switched to Spanish and interviewed a neighbor.

The neighbor said the woman left a month ago after a fight with her husband or boyfriend, who still lived there with what she called “other degenerates.”

“An angry ex-girlfriend or wife is the best person in the world, the greatest source of information,” Sloan said.

The night before, the duo were in a stakeout where they watched a weapons sale.

They also combined efforts with the Drug Enforcement Administration for an aircraft to stealthily follow traffickers to the border.

On this day, agents weren’t wearing raid jackets or combat boots and weren’t armed with warrants.

Guns were hidden under civilian shirts.

Another tip took agents on a 30-minute drive from the shack to a sprawling home with a pool in the back and an American flag out front.

It turned out two handguns, of a type drug gangsters prefer, were bought by a pastor for target practice.

Some stories, they say, are hard to believe.

The lamest so far came from a police officer: He said he bought a few military-style rifles, left them in his car and — on the same night — forgot to lock a door. He couldn’t explain why he didn’t file a police report or why he visited Mexico the day after the alleged theft.

dane.schiller@chron.com

Re: ATF Looking For Guns In Houston

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:33 pm
by pbwalker

Re: ATF Looking For Guns In Houston

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 5:03 pm
by TDDude
This was the lead story on DRUDGE this afternoon.

It of course is full of half truths and lies.

If I get a knock, I know I'll be requesting a warrant.

One mans modest collection is an "ATF agent looking for a rep's" arsenal.

I wonder what the Houston Barnacle would call my 2 bricks of .22 ammo that I have on the shelf. Of course, all I have to shoot them out of are a couple of bolt action rifles and a 52 year old Smith and Wesson K-22 revolver.

Re: ATF Looking For Guns In Houston

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 6:21 pm
by boomerang
If they're looking for guns, they look at gun shows and gun shops and their own holsters.

Re: ATF Looking For Guns In Houston

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 6:25 pm
by Locksmith
No longer valid

Re: ATF Looking For Guns In Houston

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 6:36 pm
by Frost
Locksmith wrote:JUST DON'T ANSWER THE DOOR!
This.

Our "rights" have eroded to the point that if you even speak to a bureaucrat you have already lost. If they have a warrant they will kick the door in. If not then you have nothing to gain from talking to them.

NOTHING

Re: ATF Looking For Guns In Houston

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:24 pm
by Locksmith
No longer valid

Re: ATF Looking For Guns In Houston

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:08 pm
by Paladin
Just the thought of 100 ATF agents roaming our fine city disgusts me.

Some of their history:

ATF Abuse

*** Warning Graphic content ****
Waco: Rules of Engagement pt1
pt2

*** Warning Graphic content ****

Re: ATF Looking For Guns In Houston

Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 11:11 am
by bdickens
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

Re: ATF Looking For Guns In Houston

Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 12:56 pm
by Fangs
Wow Paladin, thanks for posting those Waco links where I would find them at 2:30 am... two and a half hours later I finally went to bed with a whole new appreciation for the idiocy of government agencies. :banghead:

I'd gotten the gist of Waco from Unintended Consequences, but I didn't realize how much of the evidence was covered up... erm.... "lost"

Re: ATF Looking For Guns In Houston

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:52 am
by Paladin
Fangs wrote:Wow Paladin, thanks for posting those Waco links where I would find them at 2:30 am... two and a half hours later I finally went to bed with a whole new appreciation for the idiocy of government agencies. :banghead:

I'd gotten the gist of Waco from Unintended Consequences, but I didn't realize how much of the evidence was covered up... erm.... "lost"
Sorry about the sleep

I'd been meaning to watch Rules of Engagement for years... since it's now free over the internet... I recently ended up losing a couple hours sleep myself :) ... the documentary just grabs ahold of you.

Can't even say which part of the documentary was the most stunning... but the one ATF agent accusing the other ATF agents sitting next to him of lying in the middle of the congressional investigation was something else.

Re: ATF Looking For Guns In Houston

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 10:38 am
by The Annoyed Man
Wow. That's all I can say after watching the videos. We've been living in interesting times. According to the ancient Chinese, that would be a curse.