Washington Two charged in scheme to illegally purchase firearms and transfer them to others

[fmvolume86]

While its great they caught them, how the hell did they get away with it for that long?

because it shouldn't be a problem buying 100 + firearms......but I can see how people will be flagged for buying lots of firearms in a short period which is why they even went after this. I'm not condoning this, however private sales should be private sales. We had private sales in this country be done with out FFL transfer. This is a cherry picked case for them to make an example out of and push more narrative and legislation. Watch ATF show up at your door because you bought 5 guns in teh last month or some crap

 

[AtMyself]

The problem is they did for two years.

Dang that's a long time. Crazy that it went on for so long. Yikes

 

[ilikegunspdx]

This guy was arming the people we are trying to protect ourselves from. Who knows what the 24 out of 107 criminals who bought his guns did, robbery, murder? who knows. What about the other criminals who haven't been caught yet that bought his guns?

He is actively arming yours' and the police's adversaries and seems like some people are on his side. I don't get it.

 

[Nick Burkhardt]

Are these two out of prison yet?

Feds: Twin Portland gang members bought 82 guns in 18 months

Twin brothers from Gresham are facing federal charges after illegally buying dozens of firearms, many of which have been linked to shootings across the Portland area, the U.S. Attorney’s Offi…

www.koin.com

 

[Alexx1401]

because it shouldn't be a problem buying 100 + firearms......but I can see how people will be flagged for buying lots of firearms in a short period which is why they even went after this. I'm not condoning this, however private sales should be private sales. We had private sales in this country be done with out FFL transfer. This is a cherry picked case for them to make an example out of and push more narrative and legislation. Watch ATF show up at your door because you bought 5 guns in teh last month or some crap

The Feds are already "notified" if you buy even just a couple guns at the same time. I have done this a few times in my life. I am sure the info went across some desk or two and was at least glanced at. No one shows up at my door and they still will not. The reason they have a bunch of these people on the payroll is they are supposed to be taking a 2nd and 3d look at some of these sales. This was one they should have been taking a better look at LONG before it got this out of hand. This is a lot like the times some kid is either killed or badly hurt and it comes out they were in a home for YEARS that was sending up red flags so many times it was hard to keep track of. Reason it was ignored? Too many of the employee's who were paid to watch for this were in a job they can't be fired from and don't care. when I was a youngster I used to think that if you were playing games with the Fed Police and they showed up you were toast. Had a buddy who was playing with a LOT of illegal stuff. He probably would have been fine if he had not gone off the deep end with this gold and silver stuff. Even then when they finally came to his house with 10 agents and spent hours going through the house they walked away empty handed. I was shocked and then found out just how incompetent even the "better educated" Fed Cops could often be. Since then this same agency has been involved in so many clown shows they are legend. Yes some of them are just power hungry but a LOT of them are just plain incompetent.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

The Feds are already "notified" if you buy even just a couple guns at the same time. I have done this a few times in my life. I am sure the info went across some desk or two and was at least glanced at. No one shows up at my door and they still will not. The reason they have a bunch of these people on the payroll is they are supposed to be taking a 2nd and 3d look at some of these sales. This was one they should have been taking a better look at LONG before it got this out of hand. This is a lot like the times some kid is either killed or badly hurt and it comes out they were in a home for YEARS that was sending up red flags so many times it was hard to keep track of. Reason it was ignored? Too many of the employee's who were paid to watch for this were in a job they can't be fired from and don't care. when I was a youngster I used to think that if you were playing games with the Fed Police and they showed up you were toast. Had a buddy who was playing with a LOT of illegal stuff. He probably would have been fine if he had not gone off the deep end with this gold and silver stuff. Even then when they finally came to his house with 10 agents and spent hours going through the house they walked away empty handed. I was shocked and then found out just how incompetent even the "better educated" Fed Cops could often be. Since then this same agency has been involved in so many clown shows they are legend. Yes some of them are just power hungry but a LOT of them are just plain incompetent.

If not in Mexico border states my understanding is ffl is required to send atf a report only if you buy two handguns from the same dealer within 7 days. There is video online of atf visiting house for this reason only. So don't do that and no worries on that front.

 

[Alexx1401]

If not in Mexico border states my understanding is ffl is required to send atf a report only if you buy two handguns from the same dealer within 7 days. There is video online of atf visiting house for this reason only. So don't do that and no worries on that front.

Yes they have to tell them. I have done it a few times and the dealer let me know they had to notify the ATF. I just shrugged as I did not care. As I mentioned I am sure that info went across some desk to be looked at. There is a lot of video of ATF agents showing up that I am often skeptical of to say the least. There was one a bit ago of a guy who does a lot of work on Diesel and they showed up because of all the oil filters he was buying. I watched it and thought I would bet there was more to this we were not told in the story. It is possible they really show up for no real reason to joe six packs house but, I suspect most of the time if they actually bother to show up there was a LOT more they were seeing. That they missed this clown doing this for this long? Shows just how incompetent they really can be.

 

[jtr]

The article says "Cooper had purchased 107 firearms since June 2021."

Are you really saying that it is not super uncommon for someone to purchase 107 guns in a 22-month period, or nearly 5 guns a month every month? And that there are people here who buy the same volume for personal use?

If we agree that the average cost per gun is $500 each, which is WAY low for even for pawn shop guns, then he spent over $53,000 in less than two years. Unless I missed some membership requirement here that requires a lottery win to join, I call Bulsh that there are people on here with a $29,000 a year gun buying budget.

No, there is a problem here from the dealer side. Even if we are generous and say that the guy visited 15 different gun shops or pawn shops (and I will bet you it was fewer), SOMEBODY at one of those shops has to realize this guy has bought 7-10 guns over a 22-month period, and that the buyer is probably not a legitimate gun guy.

So why wasn't something said to ATF? Was it greed on the part of the shop owners? Don't ask and don't tell if the buyer seems a little off?

Maybe it is because no dealer wants the ATF snooping around their shop and going thru their books. Maybe this whole case is an indictment on the ATF for not promoting mutually beneficial cooperation with dealers.

This is a screwed up deal that should be more of an embarrassment to authorities than a cause for celebration.

I have purchased more than two dozen firearms, if we include frames and receivers, in the last five months. Only seven were complete firearms. Every time I say I am done, another state starts talking about AW bans and I hit the buy button. The way I see it is I am forced to buy now all the firearms that I might want to own during my life. Your price assumption is off by an order of magnitude. I got my frames and receivers somewhere between $35-$60. I figured a poverty pony (Anderson) is better than no pony.

 

[Member 34319]

Dang, these two practiced the 2nd amendment harder than those here with tattoos on their body stating they do!

 

[fmvolume86]

This guy was arming the people we are trying to protect ourselves from. Who knows what the 24 out of 107 criminals who bought his guns did, robbery, murder? who knows. What about the other criminals who haven't been caught yet that bought his guns?

He is actively arming yours' and the police's adversaries and seems like some people are on his side. I don't get it.

I'm not on his side. If you committed a crime and you abbaited in a crime as these sales are then arrest and go forth. But the fact he was buying X amount of weapons is not an issue and now its becoming an issue..... You should be able to buy 1000000000 firearms in one day if you'd like. It's no one's business. It is your right. I"m not defending someone who bought weapons and supplied criminals. I highly doubt he didn't know they were going to go commit crimes. But what about the rest of America. Maybe I want to buy 10 guns in one day one for each of my family members??? Am i now going to have the ATF knock on my door. ??? not to mention its no one's business who I give my gun to. The point is we used to have the ability to transfer our gun to a spouse, father, son, etc..... no questions asked and no ones business.

 

[LoloMama53]

The Feds are already "notified" if you buy even just a couple guns at the same time. I have done this a few times in my life. I am sure the info went across some desk or two and was at least glanced at. No one shows up at my door and they still will not. The reason they have a bunch of these people on the payroll is they are supposed to be taking a 2nd and 3d look at some of these sales. This was one they should have been taking a better look at LONG before it got this out of hand. This is a lot like the times some kid is either killed or badly hurt and it comes out they were in a home for YEARS that was sending up red flags so many times it was hard to keep track of. Reason it was ignored? Too many of the employee's who were paid to watch for this were in a job they can't be fired from and don't care. when I was a youngster I used to think that if you were playing games with the Fed Police and they showed up you were toast. Had a buddy who was playing with a LOT of illegal stuff. He probably would have been fine if he had not gone off the deep end with this gold and silver stuff. Even then when they finally came to his house with 10 agents and spent hours going through the house they walked away empty handed. I was shocked and then found out just how incompetent even the "better educated" Fed Cops could often be. Since then this same agency has been involved in so many clown shows they are legend. Yes some of them are just power hungry but a LOT of them are just plain incompetent.

I bought 4 handguns in the last year and 2 in.the last week. So am I to expect the ATF to come knocking on my door? Do I need to explain myself to them?

 

[Nick Burkhardt]

I bought 4 handguns in the last year and 2 in.the last week. So am I to expect the ATF to come knocking on my door? Do I need to explain myself to them?

 

[red442joe]

The Straw Purchaser Law has been on the books for some time, yet this Justice Department news release is touting this arrest as a first. Just an arrest, mind you, not a conviction. And these two clowns couldn't have made it any easier for the Feds. I find this really odd. The Straw Purchase Law was voted in as there was a perceived rampant buying of firearms for others by others (their words). Yet here we are, a first time arrest. Anyone else find this strange...?

Yes, however, I find it stranger that NOBODY knows what is a straw-purchase.

Joe

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Yes, however, I find it stranger that NOBODY knows what is a straw-purchase.

Joe

 

[WAW44]

According to the criminal complaint, the investigation began in late January (2022) with the assault and attempted robbery…Police found a firearm in her vehicle that had been dropped by one of the assailants. A check of the firearm revealed it had been purchased by Dion Jamar Cooper on December 10, 2022. That recovery led the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) to check Cooper's purchase history. During March and April 2023, agents surveilled Cooper as he made arrangements to purchase additional firearms.

So, a (likely) a black criminal drops a gun in commission of a crime, and it comes up as being bought by another black man locally just a month prior. Don't you think our boy Cooper didn't get a visit from the local cops in his mansion in Kent sometime in December? I'm pretty sure he did. Given his demographic and purchase history he got put on a watch list at that time, and handed off to the Feds. Now all they had to do is wait for his intelligence to kick in as he assumed that the heat was off, and to resume his SOP. Hence the news story we get to read.

The decision tree for the Feds is pretty simple here. You're poor and black and purchase many guns, you're likely arming local thugs. You're white and Republican and purchasing many guns, you're probably arming a Nazi militia. Either way…we are keeping an eye on you to find something that will stick.

 

[WAW44]

Also, paywall, but...

Two WA men charged with ‘straw purchasing’ more than 100 guns

Two King County men were charged Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle with illegally purchasing 100 firearms and distributing them.

www.seattletimes.com

Not so bright, is he...

In interviews with investigators, the shop employees who sold the firearms said they saw Cooper getting a ride from someone else and they believed he was likely selling the guns to other people, the complaint said. According to prosecutors, Cooper videotaped some of the transactions, or video called other people as he looked at the firearms.

Investigators tracked the car in April and found it went between Cooper's apartment, firearm sellers and a storage unit. A search warrant for Cooper's apartment revealed he had no firearms in it.

Three firearms were found in Phillips' car, and 15 were later found in his apartment, the complaint said. Over $22,000 in cash and hundreds of grams of drugs, some suspected to contain fentanyl, were also found, according to the complaint.

More firearms and hundreds of ammunition rounds were found in his storage unit in Federal Way, prosecutors allege.According to the complaint, Cooper admitted to being a straw purchaser while being interviewed at the Kent City Jail.

 

[Alexx1401]

I bought 4 handguns in the last year and 2 in.the last week. So am I to expect the ATF to come knocking on my door? Do I need to explain myself to them?

My best guess? No. If you do have them showing up at your door there would be something big going on other than you just buying the guns. Now if one of those guns ends up at a crime scene? Then yes, you could expect at minimum some kind of contact. Along the lines of hey, this gun you bought was found at a crime.
Many talk now and then about the HUGE jumps in NIC's checks now and then when something gets sales ramped up. Assuming most of those checks are resulting in someone walking out with a gun? They would need an army of agents fanning out all over the US to even try to contact half of those people. So if Feds are showing up at someone's door there was something other than just buying guns going on.

 

[Alexx1401]

Also, paywall, but...

Two WA men charged with ‘straw purchasing’ more than 100 guns

Two King County men were charged Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle with illegally purchasing 100 firearms and distributing them.

www.seattletimes.com

Not so bright, is he...

In interviews with investigators, the shop employees who sold the firearms said they saw Cooper getting a ride from someone else and they believed he was likely selling the guns to other people, the complaint said. According to prosecutors, Cooper videotaped some of the transactions, or video called other people as he looked at the firearms.

Investigators tracked the car in April and found it went between Cooper's apartment, firearm sellers and a storage unit. A search warrant for Cooper's apartment revealed he had no firearms in it.

Three firearms were found in Phillips' car, and 15 were later found in his apartment, the complaint said. Over $22,000 in cash and hundreds of grams of drugs, some suspected to contain fentanyl, were also found, according to the complaint.

More firearms and hundreds of ammunition rounds were found in his storage unit in Federal Way, prosecutors allege.According to the complaint, Cooper admitted to being a straw purchaser while being interviewed at the Kent City Jail.

Sounds like a real criminal master mind there.
Again though what this tells me is the people who are supposed to be watching for this can't catch someone this damn stupid? Some criminals seem to be holding up a large sign saying here I am come get me and they still can't manage to fine them for years.

 

[Cookemountain]

But wait! I thought that , with all of our "common-sense' gun laws on the books, it would prevent criminals from getting guns. Is it possible, just possible that there are people out there who don't follow the law? And... certainly these laws are properly enforced, right; at least that is what we are told. Yet this is the FIRST prosecution (if they ever see a trial) under this law? My dead aunt Rita could have seen this coming. Duh.

 

[micdude]

I'm going to come at this in a different way, now don't get me wrong these are dirt bags and deserve to go to jail. The things I don't like is how they knew how many and what he bought that comes under Scrutiny to that person. My worry is all someone has to do is look up how many purchases over the year I have had and put me in that category, I'm not straw purchasing fyi.I know in Washington we have had a handgun registration for years and now with AWB no more " assault weapon style" guns