The ATF and me

[Lodge2004]

Perfect example of an anti-2A reporter getting upset because he did something illegal and is being investigated by the government. His basic argument appears to be that our existing gun laws work but they should not apply to him.

http://www.boston.com/business/globe/ar ... e_atf__me/

By Steve Bailey, Globe Columnist | July 20, 2007

There is an epidemic of handgun violence in Boston's poorest neighborhoods, and the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is investigating me?

Consider this my confession. I plead guilty to offending the loony gun lobby.

In the likely event you missed this alleged story, here are the facts. You be the judge.

Twenty months ago, a lifetime in columnist time, I wrote in this space about going to a gun show in New Hampshire. The idea was to see how easy it would be to buy a handgun just across the border from Massachusetts, which has some of the toughest gun laws in the country. The answer: not very hard at all.

I went with John Rosenthal, the Boston gun-control advocate the gun lobby loves to hate, a cop named Andrew Heggie, and a former prison guard, Walter Belair. I also took my kids, who got in free. The cereal makers may be cutting back on marketing to kids, but the gun industry knows it is never to early to target the next generation.

We shopped till we dropped. Someone beat us to the used grenade launcher (price: $190), but it took Belair, a New Hampshire resident and licensed gun owner, less than 20 minutes to complete the purchase of a trashy little .38-caliber revolver, perfect for a night out in Dorchester. The gun, which retails for $349, was bargain-priced at $240, which I had given to Belair. (And, of course, expensed to the Globe.)

Belair could have bought 100 guns in tax-free, no-limit New Hampshire that day, and I could have put them in my trunk and driven (illegally) home. That was exactly the point I was making. That is not what I did. Belair took the gun with him; I'm afraid of guns.

You would have thought I burned Johnny Pesky's jersey at Fenway Park. I got hundreds of vitriolic e-mails and phone calls from the live free and die bunch. No other column in a decade has approached it for hate mail, and that's saying something. In general, these are exactly the people I'd rather not see armed. In January I wrote about a 14-year-old boy who was gunned down on Bowdoin Street. Not a word of outrage from this crowd.

This was all ancient history until 10 days ago when Rosenthal and I talked about our trip to the gun show on WRKO-AM's "Finneran's Forum," where I am a daily (paid) guest. The loonies went off again. On Wednesday the Second Amendment Foundation issued a press release headlined: "SAF calls for firing of Boston Globe columnist in straw purchase." It asked the ATF to open an investigation.

(It turns out that Alan Gottlieb, the foundation's founder and the guy who thinks I should be fired for unethical conduct, was convicted in 1984 for filing a false tax return, a felony. His right to possess a gun was later restored through an ATF program that gave felons a second chance. Gottlieb says the case should have been a civil matter; he says he settled the case for $18,000. But that's another story.)

Coincidence or not, you decide, two ATF agents and a Manchester, N.H., cop visited Belair at his work the same day. They had a search warrant and a tape of the radio interview. They wanted to know about the gun, Rosenthal, and me. Belair told them the gun was at home; they went there later in the day, and confiscated it. They did give him a receipt.

Jim McNally, a spokesman for the ATF's Boston office, declined to comment.

This is how it works. Intimidation is the stock in trade of the National Rifle Association and all the NRA knock-offs out there. Dare to say we need fewer, not more guns in this country, dare to say we need a uniform system for monitoring gun sales in this country and you become a target to be hunted down. Democrats and Republicans have allowed themselves to be cowed by this one-issue bloc for too long.

The list of what ails America's poor urban neighborhoods is long. Start with the disaster of children bearing children, our scandalous dropout rate, and the drugs that are everywhere. But the flood of guns belongs prominently on that list, too. Count me as a proud member of the gun lobby's hit list.

Steve Bailey is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at bailey@globe.com or at 617-929-2902.

[Venus Pax]

Why is it acceptable for reporters to be so obviously slanted?

[Drifter]

Why is it acceptable for reporters to be so obviously slanted?

That's the problem -- many things are NOT acceptable these days IMHO, but we've forgotten how to say "Don't do that, it is WRONG"!

We, the American public, simply smile (or grimace) and go about our merry oblivious daily lives.

Having spent over 20 years in the military, I certainly support everyone's RIGHT to express their opinion. It's the RESPONSIBILITY of the rest of us to call 'em on it when they are wrong or lying. Unfortunately, their voices are louder than ours!

We've forgotten that with every RIGHT comes a RESPONSIBILITY.

[MoJo]

Another problem is no one wants to admit that they are responsible for their actions. The mantra is - - -someone else caused me to be this way or, society did it or, I was abused/neglected as a child - - - on and on to the point of nausea.

[portsider44]

Why is it acceptable for reporters to be so obviously slanted?

I don't get it either. It's OK to slant everything towards the liberal following. While the liberals are trying to to hush talk radio with bring back the Fairness Doctrine.

Plus I don't get using straw purchases to make a point on availability. I don't see how that helps the anti's. Basically you are showing how current gun control works. Folks not legal to purchase guns can not & must find an illegal means to obtain them. Same things happens in most all contorlled enviorments.

Take prescrition drugs and boze, how often do folks that have no legal right to have these items end up with them. Look at Al Gore III how did he have Xanax, Valium, Vicodin and Adderall. All of which are contorlled substances, for which he had no legal prescription. My best guess is that someone legally obtained the drugs and then sold them, making the orginal purchase nothing more than a straw purchase.

Of course I don't see anyone trying to ban all prescription drugs. As the main stream meida views this as a small part of the whole drug problems that our country is fighting. Plus these drugs also provide good for folks that truly need them. Just like guns do.

[Dougmyers5]

Steve Bailey has the right to his opinion as much as anyone else and if he is scared of guns then thats his problem.
I have the right to have guns and I am not scared of them when they are handled properly, and thats my problem.

I can live with it so he should be able to live with it also.

I hope he never has a need for a gun in his life but I bet if he does he will get one.

[stevie_d_64]

Lemme see if I can cry a tear for Steve Bailey...



Nope...Sorry...

You'd think people named Steve would have a bit more going for them...

Don't know what went wrong with Mr. Schleper here, but obviously he's afraid of guns...I'm surprised he didn't have a coniption fit as he went through the front door of the evil gunshow...

[anygunanywhere]

What does he expect the ATFE to do, give him a hug for breaking federal firearms laws?

Anygun

[phddan]

What laws did he break??

Dan

[Crossfire]

He gave money to someone else to purchase a firearm for him, since he was not LEGALLY able to do so. That is called a "straw purchase".

He did this to prove that gun control laws don't work. Well, DUH! Laws only work for those willing to obey them.

And now he is all bent out of shape because the ATF is coming after him? What did he expect? A cookie?

[Renegade]

What laws did he break??

Dan

From the text article it is not clear he broke any laws.

But from transcripts of his radio show it seems he engaged illegally obtained the gun, and had someone lie on the 4473.

[KRM45]

He gave money to someone else to purchase a firearm for him, since he was not LEGALLY able to do so. That is called a "straw purchase".

The way I see it if the guy that bought the gun got to keep it, it wasn't a Straw Purchase...

[lrb111]

What laws did he break??

Dan

From the text article it is not clear he broke any laws.

But from transcripts of his radio show it seems he engaged illegally obtained the gun, and had someone lie on the 4473.

When one makes fun of the BATFE, remember, the BATFE will have the last laugh.

[govnor]

People like this amaze me. I want to cuss, but I can't on here so I'll say a nice word for him at my house...

This guy is talking about what goes on in poor neighborhoods with all of the thugs and how gun control will help them. He must be out of his mind! I can guarantee you this DB has never been to one of those areas to live. What about the grandmas that live there that need a gun to protect their house? He's probably lived in some rich white suburb his entire life and has no clue what the 'hood is all about.

With people like this, I want to drop them off in the middle of the ghetto and ask them one question. You are about to walk out of here by yourself. Would you prefer to have a gun on you or not? Oh wait...you're scared of guns! Bye! *tire screeching noise*

[Crossfire]

He gave money to someone else to purchase a firearm for him, since he was not LEGALLY able to do so. That is called a "straw purchase".

The way I see it if the guy that bought the gun got to keep it, it wasn't a Straw Purchase...

A little more detail from another source:
http://prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.p ... 063&EDATE=

Here's what Bailey told his hosts on the air: "We finally settled on a
.38 Special. To be fair we took a new Hampshire resident with us who was a
guard, a prison guard. It would have been much harder; you would have had a
waiting time if you were a Massachusetts resident...

"But he (the New Hampshire man) bought it for me. I gave him a couple
of hundred bucks. We expensed it to the Globe by the way. One of the first
things I learned when I came to the Globe was I never saw a receipt I
couldn't expense."