Local man gets 26 months as ’straw purchaser’ of guns
A Windham man was sentenced to more than two years in federal prison
Wednesday for acting as a “straw purchaser” of handguns, U.S. Attorney
Paula Silsby announced.
Adam J. DeCicco, 27, bought and completed paperwork for six handguns
last year on behalf of another person, Silsby said in a statement.
DeCicco bought the guns from the same dealer over a period of about
three weeks. Each time, he lied on federal firearms and explosives forms
and said he was the actual buyer of the handguns, court documents show.
DeCicco pleaded guilty in February to three counts of making false
statements on firearms paperwork, all felonies. He was sentenced to 26
months in prison and three years of supervised release.
If thishad been done by anyone other than Police Officers we’d be watching the pundits on CNN talk about how badly we don’t need to allow civilians to be armed, after all the Police and the Military are much better trained. Ergo they are more trustworthy to handle firearms safely.
My experience has been that the worst offenders of the rules of firearms safety tend to be wearing a badge. That’s not to say you can’t have a badge and be one of the cognoscenti, just that it is uncommon.
Rule 1: All guns are always loaded Rule 2: Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not prepared to destroy Rule 3: Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target Rule 4: Be sure of your target and what is beyond it
I read with some interest Raymond Blanchard’s July 22 letter, “No longer a need for people to bear arms.” The argument that the Second Amendment is 216 years old and is obsolete because we have states, towns, etc., empowered with law enforcement who can use firearms to protect us is simply naive and ill-conceived. The Second Amendment is no more made obsolete by modern society than is the First Amendment, which is also 216 years old. Now that we have radio, TV, Internet and massive network conglomerates supplying us with professionally crafted free speech, would anyone suggest the First Amendment is obsolete?
As far as the law enforcement entities of states, towns, etc., protecting us: I submit for consideration the case of home invasion that recently took place in Chesire, Conn. The details are too horrible to relate, but three are dead and one injured in this incident. As is the norm, law enforcement was not there to intervene, only to react after the fact. Could a firearm in the home possibly have helped this unfortunate family defend itself against this horrific assault? Mr. Blanchard would deny them such opportunity for defense. I find that appalling.
Violence is something we can all agree to detest. Sadly, violence and guns are often equated. But the truth is that guns are simply tools and, like most tools, can be used properly or improperly. Most of the arguments regarding guns in our society are, in my opinion, based on the frustration we have with violence and crime, which seems so prevalent. But the reality is that the causes of violence are complex. To try to simply blame guns is to create a convenient smoke screen that misdirects the energy we should be using to try to find true solutions to violence in our society.
I direct those readers with an interest in this subject to the well-articulated “Pistol Regulation: Its Principles and History,” written in 1930 by Karl T. Frederick. It appeared in the American Journal of Police Science in 1931 but its content is just as relevant today as it was then. The article can be found on the Internet at:http://www.saf.org/LawReviews/Frederick1.html.
The other day master photographer Oleg Volk posted the following image in hisLive Journal:
A few hours later a bigoted mental midget trolled “Guns are for fags” in Oleg’s journal. I wonder how surprised he was to find out that the Pink Pistols existed.
