Couldn't Happen to a More Deserving Guy.

Ex-Sheriff Ken Jenne of Broward County Florida has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison:

Fla. Sheriff Gets Prison for Corruption

By CURT ANDERSON

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The former head of the largest sheriff's office in Florida was sentenced to a year and a day in prison Friday after pleading guilty to federal corruption charges.

Ex-Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne, 60, had pleaded guilty in September to tax evasion and mail fraud conspiracy charges involving a series of questionable transactions, including getting money and favors from Broward Sheriff's Office vendors and payments made on his behalf for a Mercedes-Benz convertible.

Jenne was taken into custody immediately and will likely serve his term at a minimum-security prison camp, possibly in the Miami area, said his attorney, David Bogenschutz.

With good behavior, Jenne could be eligible for release in as little as nine months, his attorney said.

Federal prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas to impose a two-year sentence, the maximum possible under sentencing guidelines, saying Jenne had done immense damage to the office.

Two years? Is this all they could stick him with? From everything I've read Jenne was the most blatantly corrupt political hack since Torricelli.

"The people of Broward County shouldn't have to choose between leaders who are effective and those who are law-abiding. They are entitled to both," Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Axelrod said.

But Jenne, a former state senator and long one of Broward County's leading Democratic politicians, sought a lenient sentence involving no prison time. He has already agreed to pay the IRS about $46,000 in back taxes, interest and penalties and has spent most of his life doing good works for Broward County, Bogenschutz said.

At least we don't have to play "What political party does this criminal belong to?" Though they did wait until the sixth paragraph.

"Like no other public official in this county's history, Ken Jenne has left an imprint that will be felt and enjoyed by generations to come," Bogenschutz said in court papers.

Jenne was praised during Friday's hearing by a who's who of public figures, including former state Attorney General Bob Butterworth, former Senate president Jim Scott and many others who asked for leniency.

Every damned one of them should be investigated, too.

In arguing for no prison term, Jenne said he didn't take taxpayer money, just got help from friends and associates. He noted that pleading guilty had already severely damaged his reputation and career.

I hope it's ruined you.

But Dimitrouleas said Jenne's crimes, committed by the county's chief law enforcement officer, deserve at least some prison time.

SOME?!? They ought to throw his ass UNDER the jail.

"It's a sad day for Broward County," Dimitrouleas said. "It doesn't promote respect for the law if the public views someone as getting a slap on the wrist."

Although Dimitrouleas insisted on jail time, he also gave Jenne a break because inmates must serve every day of a one-year prison term. By making it a year and a day, the judge made Jenne eligible for release in as little as nine months for good behavior, Bogenschutz said.

"Judge Dimitrouleas did a very kind thing," Bogenschutz said.

Dammit, they ought to make him serve it ALL.

My first introduction to Ken Jenne came in 2003 when he either duped CNN or they collaborated in making several pieces about the "Assault Weapons Ban." In my opinion, CNN was a willing player. Since they I've payed attention to what was going on in his department.

About damned time.

It Looks Like Misleading America was Just a Small Step Up for Ken Jenne.

(h/t to American Drumslinger for the lead)

Very shortly after I started this blog I became incensed at a CNN piece that was apparently orchestrated by Broward County, Florida Sheriff Ken Jenne. It was done either with the willing and knowing cooperation of CNN correspondent John Zarella and his editors, or it was done taking advantage of the cluelessness of Zarella, et al.. This piece was the source of several posts, all about the Lying News Media. (Just to be up front, I don't think anybody's that ignorant. Zarella and/or his editors were willing accomplices, in my opinion.) The central post on this was a transcript of a piece the NRA produced shortly after CBS aired their "FEAR ASSAULT WEAPONS!" story, which I titled The Lying "News" Media, Part II. I still get pissed thinking about it.

Regardless of CNN's complicity, I concluded right then that Sheriff Jenne was a lying sack unworthy of his office.

It looks like some other people are beginning to agree with me. It seems that the good Sheriff has done some illegal side work for the County. The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel has named him "Kevlar Ken".

It all started out with allegations of, well, let me quote:

Jenne, as we all know, is at the heart of one of the largest law enforcement scandals in Florida history. His underlings, while using a crime-reporting system called PowerTrac, falsified hundreds of affidavits and made up countless confessions. Why? To make it look as if the sheriff's office was clearing a whole lot more cases than it really was. The State Attorney's Office has been investigating for more than a year and has charged two deputies in the case so far.

The sheriff, who benefited politically from the rampant fraud, has been saying the PowerTrac mess was all a big shock to him. He's also claiming full responsibility for the scandal. Yet even after the arrests and the announcement that four high-ranking officers are stepping down, he remains in office.

Where's the responsibility in that?

But that isn't sleazy enough for Jenne, a long-time politician who had no police training before Gov. Lawton Chiles appointed him top cop in 1998. The man has the gall to use the scandal to grossly enrich one of his cronies, lobbyist Tom Panza. Last fall, the sheriff hired Panza at $250 an hour to cover up -- er, I mean, investigate -- the BSO scandal. Panza, whose Fort Lauderdale law firm has been paid $300,000 for its work so far, told the Sun-Sentinel that he hadn't found "one scintilla of evidence" that Jenne had done anything wrong.

Oh HO! A "long-time politician who had no police training" before being appointed Sheriff? I didn't know that! Read the whole piece, it's quite damning. Then there's this piece:

Two deputies are accused falsifying police reports to make it look as if they solved more crimes than they really did.

But records released Monday show the problem is more widespread, and that Sheriff Ken Jenne himself may have known about it all along.

"I should have been more inquisitive and I initially underestimated the scope and complexity of this problem," Jenne said.

Jenne admitted to reporters last month that his agency's remarkable record of solving crime is bogus.

But the records released today show Jenne knew there was a widespread problem five years ago.

John Degroot, a former confidant of Jenne, told prosecutors that a consultant for BSO's controversial "Power Track" program recommended in 1999 that the sheriff look closely at the way his deputies were clearing cases.

Prosecutors asked Degroot if he thought, "the root cause of this entire problem goes all the way to the top of the agency?"

Degroot replied, "Having known the sheriff for 31 years, he ain't stupid."

Well, there's stupid, and then there's "They'll never catch me!" stupid. And there's apparently more than just two deputies involved, and it was standard operating procedure. Here's the killer quote from that last piece:

For years, the Sheriff's Office reported crime clearance rates that were two and three times the national average.

But what's gotten Jenne in real hot water isn't the record falsification, it's his apparent violation of laws prohibiting department personnel from working in side jobs that involve government contracts. Investigation into that has revealed that Jenne apparently made about $60k as an officer of a company that has done subcontract work for the Sheriff's Dept.

Jenne filed financial disclosure forms last year showing he made almost $60,000 in 2003 from two firms, Havloc LLC and Knodishall LLC. He partnered in Havloc with undersheriff Tom Carney and Lt. Col. Thomas Brennan. Carney and Brennan are in the process of leaving the Sheriff's Office.

Jenne said the firms had a single client, T&M Protection Resources of New York, a security firm that, in the words of its Web site, caters to "prestigious corporate, financial, institutional and private high net-worth clients."

Jenne, citing a confidentiality agreement, has declined to say what they did for T&M or if the work had a South Florida angle.

He has declined to answer further questions, a curious stance for someone who has trumpeted openness during his seven years as sheriff.

But the questions keep piling up. The latest involve whether Jenne, Carney and Brennan violated Sheriff's Office policy.

According to section 3.16.1 D 4 of the 2002 policy and procedures manual, the last full manual published, employees are prohibited from working in "businesses that involve ... (d) private guard services ... (g) bodyguards or similar duties ... (h) private enterprises which may bring BSO into dispute with the public or cause the potential for a conflict of interest."

From its Web site, we know T&M is involved in (d) and (g). Without knowing the nature of the work and possible South Florida links, it's hard to know if Jenne, Carney and Brennan violated (h).

Nothing like setting a good example for the troops.

It goes even deeper:

(T)wo probes have focused not only on Jenne's consulting business but also are determining whether he and BSO detectives passed information to T&M executives from the Hollywood police's investigation into the 2002 shooting of Seminole tribal lawyer Jim Shore.

T&M paid almost $60,000 to Jenne's firm in 2003 to assess the Seminole Tribe's police department before the opening of its Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood last year, The Herald has learned.

As T&M's security contract with the tribe was about to expire, the firm expressed concern that its police department was ill-equipped to deal with crimes that might arise from a Las Vegas-type casino operation.

T&M turned to BSO to help craft an assessment of the tribe's police department. T&M met with Jenne's top commanders, working as consultants for Havloc, and asked them to prepare a report on the capabilities of the tribe's police department. The commanders wrote a report on how to revamp the force, according to sources.

But Carney and Brennan, through BSO's (spokesperson, Cheryl) Stopnick, said Wednesday that they never did any consulting work for T&M and never received any income from Havloc.

The Herald also reported on Wednesday that a Coral Springs security company hired Jenne's company, paying it $4,000 last year to develop training courses for the Royal Barbados Police Force.

Innovative Surveillance Technology Inc., a vendor that has sold about $230,000 in equipment and training services to BSO during the past five years, was Havloc's second client. That contradicted Jenne's earlier statements that his consulting company only had one client, T&M.

Jenne's business relationship with Innovative raises further conflict-of-interest questions for him because he recommend his consulting firm to the vendor. State ethics laws bar him from doing that. No elected official can do private business with a company that sells products or services to his government agency.

Gov. Jeb Bush has directed the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate Jenne.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Oh, and he adamantly opposed Florida's recently passed, waiting to be signed, "Protection of Persons and Property" bill, saying that it could lead to accidental shootings and puts too much discretion in the hands of individuals,' according to The Miami Herald, which also opposed the bill.

Why am I not surprised?

The Lying "News" Media Part II

 (Edited for better readability.)

This is a transcript of a slickly produced NRA "news report" covering CNN's, shall we say, deliberate misrepresentation of fact.

The piece opens with the NRA's talking head who fails to introduce herself. Transcript begins:

NRA: "Welcome back to NRA Live. You've heard all about media bias. Well, what we're about to show you is clearly media manipulation of the truth.

"On CNN Thursday night, Miami bureau cheif John Zarella did a story on the controversy brewing over the renewal of the assault weapons ban."

The picture then switches to the CNN story. At the bottom of the screen the story title bar reads in large letters:

Assault Weapons Ban

and beneath that in smaller text:

LAW BANS 19 TYPES OF SEMI-AUTOMATIC WEAPONS.

Remember that. SEMI-automatic weapons. Narration continues while we see some men on what is clearly a firing range.

NRA: "On a live shot of the Broward County Sheriff's office firearms training range, he and Sheriff Ken Jenne did a demonstration first with a semiautomatic firearm that is on the banned list and it had 30 rounds in the magazine. And here's what they showed:"

During the introduction, someone, presumably an officer, is seen handling an AK-47 type weapon. When the demonstration begins, two men are standing on the range, seen from behind, with a human silhouette shown down range past them. The CNN report is now heard in a voice-over by Sheriff Jenne.

Jenne: "First the Deputy is going to demonstrate a AK-47, uh, the Chinese version which is the pre-ban version"

Zarella: "It's currently banned..."

Jenne: (talking over Zarella) "It's currently banned, absolutely."

Zarella: "OK. OK, well let the detective show us."

The Deputy shoulders the AK-47 and aims it downrange. The 30-round magazine is clearly visible. He begins shooting. After the first or second round, the image shifts to a stack of cinderblocks set up like a small wall, showing clearly the impacts of the rounds. The deputy fires FOUR (4) rounds, doing obvious damage to the blocks. The fire is two rounds fairly quickly, followed two rounds, fired more carefully. All four rounds are fired in about 3 seconds. Flying dust and one cinderblock is holed.

Zarella: "That's into a cinderblock."

Jenne: "That's into a cinderblock."

Zarella: "And now into a bullet-proof vest."

Jenne: "And this is a vest similar to the ones that, uh, our deputies have worn. It's a used one but one that's similar."

The image switches to a torso mannequin wearing a bullet resistant vest. Here's the first misrepresentation. There's no such thing as a "bullet-proof" vest. They are designed with certain "threat levels" for different useages. The threat levels are established by the National Institute of Justice The vests commonly worn by police officers are Threat Level II (capable of stopping up to a .357 Magnum handgun round) or Threat Level IIIA (capable of stopping up to a .44 Magnum handgun round). Neither of these vests is capable of stopping ANY centerfire rifle round, whether it's fired from an "assault weapon" or a deer rifle. There are Threat Levels III and IV that are designed to stop a .308 (7.62NATO) rifle bullet and an armor piercing .308 respectively, but no cop on the beat would wear one because they have heavy steel or ceramic plates in them. Level IIIA and lower vests are at least a little flexible, lighter, and can be worn under a duty blouse. Level III and IV vests are the type you saw embedded reporters wearing during the war in Iraq. Remember the funky looking semicircular chest shields there to protect their faces from bullet spatter? But you're not supposed to know that. You're supposed to think a "bullet-proof vest" will stop ANY bullet. Right?

And remember this: Even a Level IV vest won't stop more than one round in the same spot. The second one will probably get through.

The deputy fires THREE (3) carefully aimed rounds to the center of the mannequin's chest.

Zarella: "Now that bullet's clearly fired right through there..."

Jenne: "Right through, and there's panelling on the front and on the back."

The NRA's talking head reappears.

NRA: "Then, CNN showed Deputy Chris Worth (sp?) shooting the very same cinderblocks with a semiautomatic that had not been banned."

The scene switches back to the CNN story, with Jenne trading weapons with Deputy Worth.

NRA: "Only this time, as the Sheriff pointed out, there were only ten rounds in the magazine."

Zarella: "Now this weapon, now, is legal under the current law."

Jenne: "A -absolutely. This is an AK-47 also, but it's a civilian model. It has some differences, and right now this only has a clip of ten, uh, in the magazine er, magazin..uh ten round in the magazine. So this is is a big difference than the thirty rounds in the previous magazine."

Really? Why? The deputy in the previous demonstration fired SEVEN ROUNDS, not 30. Is there something the NRA didn't show us? The really interesting thing here, is that when the deputy shoulders the rifle, it doesn't have a TEN ROUND magazine in it, it's got a THIRTY ROUND magazine in it! That's right, boys and girls! Thirty round magazines FIT IN POST BAN WEAPONS - and they're NOT ILLEGAL! I've got several for my POST-BAN AR-15.

At any rate, the deputy shoulders the weapon and aims downrange. Remember now, the first gun was an AK-47 which chambers the 7.62x39 Russian cartridge, and the second gun is ALSO an AK-47 which chambers exactly the same round. The deputy begins firing. He fires SIX (6) shots. On the third shot the image switches to that same stack of cinderblocks. AND THERE ISN'T A SINGLE HIT. What, are the sights off? No dust flying, no concrete shattering, nada. The image switches back to the NRA talking head:

NRA: "Surprised? Not one shot went into the cinderblocks. No smoke, no dust, no bullet holes. Well, you're probably asking the very same questions we are: How could that happen? Was the deputy firing blanks? Or was he just a bad shot? Either way, CNN's John Zarella should have told the viewers, because we both know both guns were semi-automatics. And even though one had thirty rounds and the other one had ten, that makes no difference in the way they perform."

Especially when you fire FOUR rounds out of the rifle with 30 and SIX rounds out of the one holding ten.

NRA: "A semi-auto is a semi-auto is a semi-auto. And they all fire the very same cartridge, and have the same firing power."

Not exactly. An AK-47 is not an AR-15 is not an M1A. They don't fire the same cartridge and have the same power, but that's beside the point for this demonstration.

NRA: "Right? Well not according to CNN and the Sheriff. The whole message, in fact, behind their story was to drive home the point to viewers, whether by misfiring or staging it, that somehow the semi-automatics on the banned list have more firepower than those that are not banned."

Seems pretty obvious to me. But then I'm a gun nut and know better already.

NRA: "Just listen to this conversation that CNN had with the Sheriff."

The image switches back to the stack of cinderblocks.

Zarella: "So what makes the big difference here is the amount of, of firepower then."

Jenne: "Absolutely. When, when deputies and people are on the street, or people are subjected to drive-by shootings, uh, these weapons are not that particularly, uh, accurate to begin with. When the more rounds you have, the more firepower you have..."

He's interrupted by the NRA talking head. And remember - in the demonstration of the LEGAL AK-47, it had a 30 round magazine in it!

NRA: "But, as if that was not enough to mislead the public with absolute fabrication, CNN shows another demonstration on another show later that night. And although Sheriff Jenne claims his deputy is shooting with a semi-automatic firearm, that is banned, that's not the case at all. The deputy is actually using a fully automatic firearm. Take a listen."

The image switches back to the deputy on the firing range. The banner at the bottom of the screen now reads:

GUN BATTLE
BAN ON 19 ASSAULT WEAPONS
EXPIRES IN SEPTEMBER 2004

Jenne: "So you can see the destructive force. It's got a thirty, uh, rounds in it's magazine, uh, and it will be firing it now."

(Hey, I just transcribe this stuff. It's what I heard.)

Zarella: "OK."

The deputy shoulders the weapon and aims it downrange. He fires three rounds at the stack of cinderblocks (apparently there was more than one take done, as this stack is shorter, and untouched.) He fires three more rounds. Dust & broken cinderblock, just as you'd expect.

Zarella: "Now that was semi-automatic..." (He's a bit garbled as Jenne speaks) "Now your (garbled) switch'er to automatic..."

The deputy is seen manipulating the weapon as they speak, and as Jenne speaks,

Jenne: "This is automatic..."

The deputy begins firing FULLY AUTO, and the cinderblocks are, of course, busted all to hell.

Zarella: "Wow. That obliterated those blocks."

Jenne: "Those blocks are gone."

Zarella: "Absolutely obliterated them."

Jenne: "And, and you can tell the difference."

Zarella: "Clearly, Anderson (?), a-an example of the firepower that these weapons possess, and why, at least here in Broward County, the Broward Sheriff's office and Sheriff Ken Jenne want to see that ban remain in place."

Except the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban didn't affect fully automatic weapons - those are regulated under the 1934 National Firearms Act. Remember the blurb?

The NRA talking head reappears.

NRA: "Again, what CNN and the Sheriff don't tell you is that no guns on the banned list are fully automatic. Those guns were severely restricted in 1934. So why did they do this? Why did they concoct a story that the Sheriff should have known was not true? Well, I tried to call Sheriff Jenne to talk with him about the demonstration. He wasn't available. But I did get to speak with the director of media relations."

The image shifts to the talking head sitting at a microphone. A phone ring tone is heard. Someone picks up.

Cheryl Stopnick (how appropriate): "Media relations. Cheryl Stopnick."

NRA: "Yeah, this is Jenny Cimone (spelling is as close as I can figure, as they never put her name up) calling from Washington, D.C."

Stopnick: "And who are you with?"

NRA: "I'm with a company called the Mercury Group. Out of Washington."

Stopnick: "Uh-huh, and what is your group?"

NRA: "And we provide investigative services to the NRA."

Stopnick: "Uh-huh."

NRA: "And we wanted to talk to him about the demonstration he did on CNN yesterday."

Stopnick: "Uh-huh. Well, I'll take your number and pass your message along."

NRA: "OK. Um, when do you think you could get back to us?"

Stopnick: "I don't know."

NRA: "Let me ask you this: I know that, um, there was a deputy involved, in, in..Chris Worth?"

Stopnick: "Uh-huh?"

NRA: "Is he available to talk?"

Stopnick: "No."

NRA: "He's not."

Stopnick: "No."

NRA: "OK. Alright, well we'll just wait to hear from him."

Stopnick: "Thank you."

NRA: "Thanks." (End of conversation.) "Well as you can imagine, we still haven't heard back from Sheriff Jenne or from CNN's John Zarella who we also called."

And then she goes into the NRA speil.

What you're seeing here is the Violence Policy Center's tactics in action:

"Assault weapons-just like armor-piercing bullets, machine guns, and plastic firearms - are a new topic. The weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons - anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun - can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons. In addition, few people can envision a practical use for these weapons."

Show the rubes a machine gun and tell 'em it's an evil banned "assault weapon" and they'll believe you. Don't tell them that the only thing that makes an "assault weapon" according to the law is the name of the weapon, or whether or not it has a flash-hider or a bayonet lug, and they'll think the law did something good.

SHOW THEM THAT THE "GOOD" GUNS CAN'T HURT A CINDERBLOCK AND THEY'LL BUY ANYTHING.

I am OUTRAGED.

(Updated. I'm reliably informed that the NRA talking head is Ginny Simone (last name pronounced Sim-o-nee))

About Damned Time.

Broward County, Florida Sheriff Ken Jenne has finally resigned. Like Al Capone, they got him for tax evasion. If you don't know who Ken Jenne is, I've covered that lying sack a couple of times previously; first with the deceptive mendacious "assault weapons" piece run on CNN in May of 2003, either taking advantage of the ignorance John Zarella and the army of editors and producers behind him, or with their complicity. Later, in April of 2005 when it came to light that Sheriff Jenne's office had apparently falsified crime statistics, and he was making money on the side through kickbacks from subcontractors he just happened to be an officer of.

That investigation is what finally got him, and it was long overdue.

If a Police Officer Says It, It Must Be True
 
Very shortly after I started this blog I did a transcript of an NRA piece exposing a case of a police official, in that case Sheriff Ken Jenne of Broward County, Florida, deliberately misleading a CNN reporter concerning "assault weapons." 
 
Here's another one.

Should gun ban be extended?
 
The federal law that prohibits the manufacture, sale and possession of semiautomatic assault weapons will expire Sept. 13 unless Congress and President Bush renew the ban.
 
However, the U.S. House of Representatives has yet to act on a bill to do so, and Congress will recess Friday until after Labor Day.
 
"I think it’s something to consider," said U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, R-6th, of West Pikeland. "I want to see what a final bill would look like."
 
One House bill would provide a straight 10-year extension of the assault weapons ban.  Another measure has been introduced that would outlaw more firearms, said Gerlach. 
 
He added that Congress could vote on the bill when lawmakers return to Washington, D.C., in September."
 
Law enforcement feels it’s been effective," said Gerlach, "so that’s good feedback to have."
 
Last week, the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association passed a resolution to encourage Congress to renew the 10-year assault weapons ban that President Clinton signed into law.
 
East Pikeland Police Chief James Franciscus, who serves as Chester County Police Chiefs Association financial secretary, supports extending the ban.
 
"If the ban is lifted, people will be able to purchase fully automatic weapons, and they will be able to use those automatic weapons," he said. "  It could jeopardize the lives of the public or police officers or others."

Gee, that's what Ken Jenne implied but did not actually say.  (There's more to the op-ed, but it's the typical boilerplate "HORRORS!" piece.)
 
I have a question:  Should people so ignorant of the law be police chiefs?   Or, if he actually knows the law and is lying, should people willing to frighten the public with a non-existent boogeyman be in such positions of power? 
 
I think not.
 

Is Broward County a Smaller Version of Chicago?

There's been a lot of outrage toward Broward County, FL's Sheriff Scott Israel over his department's lack of response to the rampage shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. See also this.  I'd like to point out that the Broward County Sheriff's Department has a longer history that people should be aware of.

During the waning days of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban (that wasn't), then-Sheriff Ken Jenne invited CNN's John Zarella to demonstrate to him the difference between the then-legal semi-automatic weapons and those that had been banned by the 1994 AWB.  It was one of the earliest things I posted about here at TSM.

He had a deputy fire four rounds from a (legal) AK-clone into cinderblocks.

He then demonstrated that rifle rounds from that AK-47 clone would penetrate the "bulletproof" vests worn by law enforcement - vests that are rated, at best, to stop pistol rounds. Zarella was shocked. He was told that the rifle held only ten rounds, as per the law. He was not told that 30-round magazines were still legal and still fit in that rifle.

Then he ostensibly demonstrated a banned AK-clone. Thirty-round magazine, FULL-AUTO.

A transcript of the clip (video not available) is here.

The NRA responded to this episode of "fake news."

And Sheriff Jenne? Well, he suffered a rather spectacular fall from grace not long afterward.

Is Broward County a smaller version of Chicago?

Can We Blogswarm This?

Jed at Freedomsight found an interesting story. It seems that CNN, in an attempt at exposing the horrible dangers of .50 BMG rifles just committed at least one, and possibly more than one felony. Apparently they purchased a .50 in a private-party transaction from a person in another state. In fact, they might have done it by straw-purchase - that is, they had someone local buy it for them. Those are no-no's. FEDERAL no-no's, unless the purchaser has a Federal Firearms License.

Triggerfinger has done a bit of digging on the laws broken, and has four five posts up on it, here, here, here, here and here. The last one is a description of the video.

(Edited to add:) Matthew at Triggerfinger looked up the pertinent law in the second link above. This is what the reporter did that was illegal:

Here's the plain-language explanation, from the ATF's FAQ:

From whom may an unlicensed person acquire a firearm under the GCA?

A person may only buy a firearm within the person s own State, except that he or she may buy a rifle or shotgun, in person, at a licensee's premises in any State, provided the sale complies with State laws applicable in the State of sale and the State where the purchaser resides.

So the short answer is, you can buy a firearm out of your state of residence from a licensed dealer only. CNN's story involves a private sale; they make an explicit point of that in their voiceover.

Please do read all of the links. (End of edit.)

David Codrea has picked it up, too. The story origininated at The Claire Files message board with a post by "kbarrett" that goes:

It looks like CNN aired a spot this evening of one of its own reporters finding a .50 cal rifle on Gunsamerica.com for sale by a private owner in Houston, and then flying to Houston, paying cash, and then flying with said rifle back to Atlanta.

Where's the kitten-stomping BATF when you really need them? I think a reporter needs to be busted.

UPDATE: WELCOME INSTAPUNDIT READERS. While you're here, please peruse the "Best Posts," would you? Most especially, read The Lying "News" Media, Part II, which is a transcript of a previous CNN hit piece on "assault weapons." Decide for yourself if CNN was hoodwinked by Broward County (FL) Sherrif Ken Jenne, or if reporter John Zarella and his producer were complicit in airing a misleading and deliberately mendacious piece of "journalism."

UPDATE 2/21: CNN has a transcript of the story up. Looks like two felonies to me.

UPDATE 2/22: The BATF is aware of the violation.

*GASP!* Did You Know an AR-15 can SHATTER CONCRETE?

Well, yes, actually, I did. The pipsqueak .223 round will do a number on cinderblocks, as CNN illustrated quite graphically in May of 2003, and I covered their little piece of propaganda when I started this blog in The Lying "News" Media, Pt. II. But apparently this was news to a New York Daily News writer in her hysterical phillippic:

Weapons that can shatter concrete

Semiautomatic assault rifles have returned, and cops who face them know all too well what they can do
By PATRICE O'SHAUGHNESSY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

The Cold (That's COLT, moron - ed.) AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifle is long, black and sleek and shoots .223-caliber ammunition, or 2-inch long bullets.

First paragraph SENTENCE, two technical errors. The COLT AR-15 fires the .223 Remington/5.56Nato cartridge, with bullets (the projectiles) that are about 3/4" long and 0.224" in diameter. The overall cartridge (case, bullet, primer, powder) is about 2.2" long. Let's get more from the "expert," shall we?

For 10 years, the sale and manufacture of the fearsome weapon was illegal anywhere in America.

Only Colt's version, if it was marked "AR-15." Lots of other manufacturers made it, and sold it with perfect legality. And many other manufacturers made weapons chambered for the (apparently fearsome) .223 Remington round. It's quite the small game round.

Last week, as some Southern stores resumed sale of the rifle, Police Officer Darrell Corti demonstrated its destructive power.

Oh, I'll bet he did. Just like Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne did back in May, 2003.

Corti aimed the weapon at a cinderblock at the NYPD firing range at Rodman's Neck in the Bronx and pulled the trigger. The burst of gunfire rang loudly in the ears despite protective gear. The narrow bullet traveled at such a high velocity that it pierced a half-dollar-sized hole in the inch-thick side of the stone before shattering into shiny fragments.

"Burst" of gunfire? As in "full-auto?" Probably not, but that's the impression it's supposed to leave. Hell, you liked that? You should see what my 1896 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser will do to one! Or my 1917 Enfield chambered in .30-06. Or a .45-70 Government round that dates back to the Old West. Half-dollar-sized hole? Hell, that cinderblock would be dust!

The round is capable of penetrating some bulletproof vests.

Actually, the .223 round will penetrate just about any vest a duty officer would be willing to wear. I covered that, too in Speaking of Teddy Kennedy... Any rifle bullet will, including the venerable old .30-30 deer cartridge. Most police vests are designed to stop handgun bullets only.

"These are weapons of war, and to make them more readily available is certainly a concern for us," said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. "It is a concern for police officers because they're the ones at 2 a.m. who are most likely to confront these types of weapons."

My 1896 Swede is a "weapon of war." My 1917 Enfield is a "weapon of war." My No. 5 Mk I Lee-Enfield, built in 1945 is a "weapon of war." What's your point?

But so-called "assault weapons" are not "more readily available." They were "readily available" all through the so-called "ban". That was a fact decried by the gun-control groups calling to "strengthen" the "ban."

More than a decade ago, the AR-15 had been routinely used by dealers to guard drug dens. Now it can be legally sold in federally licensed gun shops in certain states, along with Uzis, Macs and Tec-9s, the sinister-looking pistols toted by thugs who devastated the city.

Now there's a bold-faced lie. The AR-15 has never been "routinely" used by druggies because it's too large to easily conceal. They liked small guns. Now, they did like the Uzi and the Mac and the Tec, but that's because they can be concealed relatively easily. But every one of those fires the 9mm pistol cartridge, and is no more deadly that a police-issue Berretta or Glock.

But you're not supposed to know that.

With the expiration of the federal assault weapons ban two weeks ago, will the guns that held neighborhoods in the clench of violence in the late 1980s and early 1990s be making a comeback?

Well, since they never left, why should they?

"Assault weapons will be more lethal and less expensive."

Say WHAT? "More lethal" than WHAT? The same gun without a bayonet lug?

"High capacity magazines will be back in production for civilian sale," the Consumer Federation of America darkly concluded after polling weapons manufacturers.

Yeaaa! No more $50 magazines!

New York's own ban on assault weapons remains in effect, and the city has some of toughest gun laws in the nation, but traffickers have managed to smuggle in thousands of illegal handguns each year through Southern states, where lax laws allow multiple purchases and the use of so-called straw buyers.

Really? The law allows this? I thought those acts, like bringing guns into NYC and selling them out of the backs of cars was illegal. That means NOT ALLOWED. Did somebody forget to send me a memo when the definition of "illegal" changed? What about the Brady Background Check? Isn't it working? No? Why not?

Authorities are concerned that as stores now offer the higher-powered weapons, as well as certain styles favored by criminals and magazines holding as many as 50 bullets, that the weapons will make their way into the arsenals of the city's gangs and drug organizations.

Um, those weapons and magazines were already out there. If the cities "gangs and drug organizations" wanted them, they've got 'em already. The elevated price didn't worry them any. They're selling drugs. That's a high profit-margin business, I understand.

"We are concerned anytime illegal firearms, whether handguns or rifles, are trafficked or possessed in New York City," said William McMahon, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives New York office. "In the hands of criminals, any of these weapons can be deadly."

In the hands of criminals, any gun is "deadly." Doesn't matter if it's a zip-gun, a sawed-off, or a full-auto. THEY'RE CRIMINALS! GUN LAWS MEAN JACK SHIT TO THEM.

The new availability of increased firepower is a major concern. Under the ban, dealers could not sell magazines holding more than 10 bullets.

Another bold-faced lie. Dealers could sell all the "pre-ban" "normal capacity" magazines they could get their hands on, and there were tens of thousands of them. Only the price went up. And criminals and drug dealers can afford it.

"With the magazine limitation lifted, you have in effect what amounts to putting an automatic weapon on the street," said Kelly. "A 30- or 50-round clip put in a semiautomatic, you just keep pulling the trigger and you put out an awful lot of firepower."

So, my post-ban AR with my pre-ban 30-round magazines is equivalent to an "automatic weapon?" Really? Tell that to the Army. They've been paying extra for the full-auto option.

"They're going to shoot what they've got," said a Bronx investigator.

But the National Rifle Association said the fears are unfounded.

"We've received phone calls from numerous rank-and-file police who know this ban had nothing to do with crime," said Andrew Arulanandam, an NRA spokesman. "These guns have been available in different forms. A magazine is a piece of metal. The focus ought not to be on an inanimate object, but on the criminal, who gets guns through the black market."

This is the writer's deliberate effort to be "fair." Moving on...

The ban on 19 weapons was signed into law by former President Bill Clinton after shootouts among drug dealers claimed hundreds of innocent lives in inner cities and deranged killers armed with assault rifles grabbed headlines in pristine suburbs.

Note that she didn't say "shootouts among drug dealers armed with assault rifles." That's supposed to be implied, but deniable.

Assault rifles had such features as a folding stock, a night sight, a flash suppressor, a bayonet mount, a pistol grip and a large magazine capacity.

Right. And prohibiting the folding stock, flash suppressor, and bayonet mount made these guns so much more "less lethal."

Now, read this part:

Of 125 guns taken off the street last year by just one firearms investigations team, 10 of them were banned weapons; most were cheap 9-mm. handguns.

What was the breakdown of those ten weapons? How many of them were AR-15s? Hmm? Enquiring minds want to know.

With the ban lifted, some criminals may covet the status and intimidating reliability of once forbidden firepower, investigators said.

Oh JESUS CHRIST! "Forbidden firepower" my aching ASS!

For example, the newly available Colt AR-15 bears a revered name in the gun industry, known for accurate, well-made weapons.

Likewise, the Mac-10 is twice the size of the Glock 9-mm. carried by cops, and packs a 30-shot ammunition clip.

Perhaps the cops should carry them, since they seem to have a hard time hitting anything with their 15-round Glocks. Amadou Diallo ring any bells?

Although the firms that manufactured some of the guns are defunct, stores may have inventories they were previously unable to sell. And authorities believe a manufacturer will fill the void. The Tec-9 is also a weapon that helped spike the city's murders to a record 2,245 in 1990.

"The Tec-9 has the same power as the Glock, but it's a bigger gun, with a big handle, and you can add a flash suppressor - and it's a very menacing gun, and that's why criminals wanted it," said a federal firearms investigator.

"Currently the Tec-9s are the biggest concern," added a detective in the firearms unit. "They're everywhere ... and in the winter, these guns are easily concealed under bulky jackets."

Wait, wasn't this story about how the AR-15 could shatter concrete? Penetrate police vests? Now it's about Tec-9s? (Which you could still get after the "ban?")

"It remains to be seen what the effect will be, but lifting the ban can only bring about bad things," Kelly said.

Really? Only bring "bad things?" Want to bet you won't be able to tell the difference?

DAMN I'm tired of these bloviating, mendacious, fearmongering ASSHOLES!

UPDATE, 9/29: Head of Head's Bunker liked Ms. O'Shaughnessy's article so much, he created an educational poster suitable for schools and daycare centers and everywhere ignorant people need to be frightened. Excellent! Give it a look.

Gun Control with a Happy Face

(Via Ipse Dixit)

PrudentPolitics.com carries an excellent piece by Howard Nemerov, entitled Gun Control and the Next Big Lie.

A taste:

Get ready for gun control with a happy face. Gun banners pretend to no longer want to confiscate your firearms. They are concerned about safety. With all those firearms on the streets, now that 37 states have Shall-Issue Concealed Carry laws, the gun banners want to know who has them and where they are at all times. In their hoplophobia (irrational fear of guns) they believe that anybody carrying a gun is a hair’s breadth away from becoming a homicidal maniac or that demon-possessed guns will leap out of holsters and fire of their own volition. Of course, the only way to keep track of all those guns is to have a registry, and history has shown that registration leads to confiscation, which leads to loss of other civil rights. So we come full circle to a new confiscation scheme.

RTWT. It's worth your time.

I'd like to remind you of two things when you read this. First, the Violence Policy Center listed as one of its reasons for supporting a ban on "assault weapons":

Efforts to stop restrictions on assault weapons will only further alienate the police from the gun lobby.

Until recently, police organizations viewed the gun lobby in general, and the NRA in particular, as a reliable friend. This stemmed in part from the role the NRA played in training officers and its reputation regarding gun safety and hunter training. Yet, throughout the 1980s, the NRA has found itself increasingly on the opposite side of police on the gun control issue. Its opposition to legislation banning armor-piercing ammunition, plastic handguns, and machine guns, and its drafting of and support for the McClure/Volkmer handgun decontrol bill, burned many of the bridges the NRA had built throughout the past hundred years. As the result of this, the Law Enforcement Steering Committee was formed. The Committee now favors such restriction measures as waiting periods with background check for handgun purchase and a ban on machine guns and plastic firearms. If police continue to call for assault weapons restrictions, and the NRA continues to fight such measures, the result can only be a further tarnishing of the NRA's image in the eyes of the public, the police, and NRA members. The organization will no longer be viewed as the defender of the sportsman, but as the defender of the drug dealer.

I submit to you that now they have added "liberalized Concealed Carry" to the list of "dividing issues."

I'd also like to remind you that it was Broward County, Florida, Sheriff Ken Jenne who hoodwinked CNN's reporter John Zarella over the differences between pre-ban and post-ban "assault weapons" I reported on last May. For some reason, Florida seems to be a hotbed of anti-gun activity, perhaps because Florida is where the push for "liberalized" Concealed Carry began.

I've noted here on numerous occasions that the opposition has (with the notable exception of the Violence Policy Center) abandoned the "gun control" platform for the "gun safety" one, though both mean to them precisely the same thing: Gun ELIMINATION.

The Lying News Media, Part VII

As an addendum to this whole CNN / assault weapon ban story, I found this ironic piece. It's an excerpt from Wolf Blitzer's commencement address for the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication on Monday, the day CNN aired their retraction-that-wasn't.

In it are these pearls:

"Here's what worries me so much. So many Americans already have a rather low regard for journalists; so many of our viewers, readers and listeners simply don't trust us. Many of them, according to public opinion polls, believe we have political agendas and biases that taint our reporting. And many of our news consumers, no doubt, suspect we often make things up -- whether to advance a political cause, or settle personal scores, or sell newspapers and increase ratings on television. What has now happened at The New York Times has simply fueled those suspicions."

No, really?

"Journalism is not a perfect science. It is often referred to as a first draft of history. And as all of you know, a first draft can occasionally be sloppy. Yes, we will make mistakes. But those are unwitting mistakes. There must be zero tolerance for deliberate distortions, false reporting and fiction writing in the guise of journalism. They cannot be tolerated."

Damn straight, Wolf! Tell it like it is!

"Healthy skepticism is critical in doing our job. In my experience, if a story sounds too good to be true, it almost always is. Check and re-check and triple-check those sources. There are people with agendas trying to use us for their own purposes."

Say, like Sheriff Ken Jenne?

Um, didn't CNN say, after LaPierre called them on the (at the absolute minimum) shoddy reporting of John Zarella: "And we all stick by John Zarrella and how credible of a reporter he is."? What happened to "(c)heck and re-check and triple-check those sources."?

Zero tolerance. Yup.