You are correct. There is virtually NO enforcement against illegal gun suppliers. TV stations can do midnight buys for "sweeps" week but the police can't seem to give it a high priority. Their actions (charge gun crimes only as "freebie" add-ons which are immediately bargained away) belie their words (LE needs more, more, more tools [gun laws] to reduce crime).
This seems almost a universal truth. Minneapolis has, with great fanfare, three times (maybe four) launched a new "gun squad" to stop the proliferation of guns on our street. That's it. Six months later the officers are back at higher priority police work and the gun squad quietly dies. All flash and no cash. Apparently the politicians, prosecutors, police, and anti-gun groups are all unconcerned with the bad guys guns and only show real interest in the good guys guns. No wonder gun owners think THEY are the target. It's like treating bunions on the toes with rectal suppositories. *********************************************************************** Professor Joseph Olson Hamline University School of Law tel. (651) 523-2142 St. Paul, Minnesota 55104-1284 fax. (651) 523-2236 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>> "Phil Lee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 03/12/04 05:47AM >>> You get the conviction the way you get other convictions for illegal sales of controlled items -- in this case you send disqualified people to buy guns from them (felons or juveniles under some dispensation). I'm always amazed at why there is not more active enforcement of the law in this legal area, given all the rhetoric about violence. Even people wanting only to use the gun issue for political advantage should be interested in enforcement if only to convince that more laws are needed. _______________________________________________ To post, send message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/firearmsregprof
