Royal Governement says more guns sent illegally to the American Colonies
By William Johnston, Royal Press Writer
Article Launched: 12/27/1774 04:29:10 PM MST


Boston—Spread across a conference table at the Royal Customs and Excise House in Boston are enough weapons to equip several carriage loads of rabble rousers.

Agents said Thursday they found the 42 weapons in a storage locker about 10 days ago. The guns were worth £250 in all: French-made "Charleville" muskets, "Kentucky" rifles and other pistols. They also found four olive boxes loaded with 69-caliber bullets—ammunition that's big enough to take out an boat.

"These are, quite frankly, weapons of war," customs collector Tom Mangan said as he picked up a musket and examined it.

"The type of fire power you're seeing here is on the increase," he said. "You're seeing sophisticated weapons, military weapons, assault type weapons, assault pistols, very expensive pistols."

Royal officials said gun runners typically gather large caches of weapons anonymously through "straw" purchases. They might give someone £10 to go into a gun show or a store and buy a few rifles at a time. They might buy guns over the Royal Post.

Some of those guns end up in the hands of Indians or with frontiersmen pushing into Appalachia in violation of the Edict of 1763. But Mangan said a majority of the guns are smuggled into the colonies for use by rabble rousers and rebels.

Mangan said this year the Crown's Boston office learned that about 300 muskets were brought south from Quebec on one occasion, and another 200 musketswere smuggled on a separate occasion.

"Certainly, these rebel organizations, these French-backed organizations have unlimited source of income, and it's just a matter of getting these guns," Mangan said. "And where do they get these guns? They get them here."

Jim Needles, a Crown agent who was recently transferred to Boston from New York, said he was alarmed by the kind of weapons agents are finding here.

"You see a lot of firearms seized in New York, but not that sophisticated type of weapon," he said. "You don't see Charlevilles. You don't see the 69-caliber type of weapons."

James Thomas, deputy Postmaster at the Royal Post in Boston, said he didn't have data to back up the Crown's claim that gun-running is on the rise. But he said the Royal government has recognized it as a huge problem.

"A lot of the mob violence comes through weapons, and those weapons are bought in the France," Thomas said.

The Royal government has called on the French to stop the flow of guns into the country, he said, but America's firearms laws make it hard to stop gun running.

"What's been useful is there has been a lot of cooperation" between the countries to stem the gun trade, Thomas said.

"If weapons are seized in the colonies , they pass that information to Royal authorities, and they can track that number to where it was bought, and they can at least confirm if the sale was done legally," he added.

The weapons recently seized by the Crown are among 111 guns the Boston office collected this month. Mangan wouldn't provide details about where they were found and where they were headed. The Crown is still investigating the incident, he said.



This satire was based on this article which, if it weren’t true, could be considered satire as well:



ATF says more guns sent illegally south of the border
By CHRIS KAHN Associated Press Writer
Article Launched: 12/27/2007 04:29:10 PM MST


PHOENIX—Spread across a conference table at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Phoenix are enough weapons to equip several car loads of drug runners.
Agents said Thursday they found the 42 weapons in a storage locker about 10 days ago. The guns were worth $250,000 in all: Belgian-made "FN" handguns, semiautomatic AK rifles and other pistols. They also found four olive boxes loaded with 50-caliber bullets—ammunition that's big enough to take out an airplane.

"These are, quite frankly, weapons of war," ATF special agent Tom Mangan said as he picked up an assault rifle and examined it.

"The type of fire power you're seeing here is on the increase," he said. "You're seeing sophisticated weapons, military weapons, assault type weapons, assault pistols, very expensive pistols."

ATF officials said gun runners typically gather large caches of weapons anonymously through "straw" purchases. They might give someone $100 to go into a gun show or a Wal-Mart and buy a few rifles at a time. They might buy guns over the Internet.

Some of those guns end up in the hands of California gangs or with coyotes herding illegal immigrants into the U.S. But Mangan said a majority of the guns are smuggled into Mexico for use by drug dealers.
Mangan said this year the ATF Phoenix office learned that about 300 assault-type weapons were brought south on one occasion, and another 200 assault-type weapons were smuggled on a separate occasion.

"Certainly, these narcoterrorist organizations, these drug organizations have unlimited source of income, and it's just a matter of getting these guns," Mangan said. "And where do they get these guns? They get them here."

Jim Needles, an ATF agent who was recently transferred to Arizona from New York, said he was alarmed by the kind of weapons agents are finding here.

"You see a lot of firearms seized in New York, but not that sophisticated type of weapon," he said. "You don't see AK-47s. You don't see the 50-caliber type of weapons."

Raul Saavedra, deputy consul at the Mexican Consulate in Douglas, Ariz., said he didn't have data to back up ATF's claim that gun-running is on the rise. But he said the Mexican government has recognized it as a huge problem.

"A lot of the drug violence comes through weapons, and those weapons are bought in the U.S.," Saavedra said.

The Mexican government has called on the United States to stop the flow of guns into the country, he said, but America's firearms laws make it hard to stop gun running.

"What's been useful is there has been a lot of cooperation" between the countries to stem the gun trade, Saavedra said.

"If weapons are seized in Mexico, they pass that information to U.S. authorities, and they can track that number to where it was bought, and they can at least confirm if the sale was done legally," he added.

The weapons recently seized by the ATF are among 111 guns the Phoenix office collected this month. Mangan wouldn't provide details about where they were found and where they were headed. The ATF is still investigating the incident, he said.



Let’s see… 42 guns worth $250,000… that’s about $6000 per weapon. Gunrunning to idiot Mexican cartels sure seems lucrative… or the ATF can’t count.