The Goat Pen

$10K. And all you do with that is file an 8300. I've never even gotten a follow-up call.

He is the only one I know of that has bought ammo in this quantity before committing this kind of atrocity. Maybe there were others, I just don't remember anyone doing this.

I'm not a huge fan of the idea because, at least viscerally, it appears that would only provide a minor inconvenience to the people who want to but large quantities of ammo - much like the $10K wire transfer is a minor inconvenience for criminals to work around.

$10,000, but a series of transfers of $9,999 will also get you in trouble

Owlman wrote:$10,000, but a series of transfers of $9,999 will also get you in trouble

True. For that matter, any series that totals more than $10k in a short amount of time will get you dinged. The criminals have a ton of work-arounds, though. This only catches the low-hanging fruit of the dumbest criminals and tax evaders.

The point though is that it does catch some. If the low hanging fruit would include a potential mass murderer (on Yahoo, they caught and stopped a few copycats the past few days), then that's great.

Owlman wrote:The point though is that it does catch some. If the low hanging fruit would include a potential mass murderer (on Yahoo, they caught and stopped a few copycats the past few days), then that's great.

Transfers of cash are very common. Large purchases of ammo to commit massacres are much less common, I would think. He's the only one I've ever heard of. Maybe the VaTech shooter bought 5000 rounds, but I do not remember hearing about it if he did. In other words, there is no low-hanging fruit on a barren tree. But if it is happening in any frequency to make it a worthwhile pursuit, I would be okay with it.


Anyway, how did they catch the people on Yahoo?

One of them was speeding with guns and clippings in his car.

http://news.yahoo.com/3-arrested-separa ... 30278.html

As you said, not the brightest bulb in the bunch. More like 10 watts

Heh. Love it.

Showed the picture (not the whole video to my wife and she thought they were a couple). I don't think so. I suspect at her age, she does great blow jobs for him though.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/repu ... 18177.html

Opposites attract: Republican Don Young endorses Democrat Mazie Hironi in Hawaii

[youtube]YIgy-BkNx9M[/youtube]

The 10K wire issue got Spitzer caught (allegedly...some say he was being watched anyway because of how hard he went against AIG and big Hank was funding a private investigation of Elliott).

You fund the operation (which could be largely run in an automated fashion if they tightened up the secondary sale market) with taxing ammo. The Chris Rock principle: If bullets cost more, you'd be more careful how you spent your rounds.

I'd just have to see evidence that massive ammo purchases are a trend with these lunatics. I don't know that they are. Taxing all ammo in the hopes of catching a mass murderer who buys in bulk just doesn't seem prudent to me on the face.

It is a bit funny we're talking about this. The wife of one of my associates is big in MADD. She was telling me yesterday of her plan to make alcohol wildly expensive to discourage use. She mentioned $50 6-packs. I didn't like that idea at all.

Well, they're taxing strip clubs to pay for rape investigations in Texas. They tax cigarettes in NYC at an additional $4 - $5 a pack to fund child care and health-related activities. It doesn't have to have a 100% logical connection to do it.

More important, I really think we have to get a handle on secondary sales. So much fuckery goes on there and that's where criminal element really steps in big.

Yeah, I've never been a fan of those tax schemes. We're so in bed with cigarette taxation, that if enough people quit, we go bankrupt.

Just not a fan.

In Ontario you can only buy liquor from government controlled retail outlets

and they only open regular business hours, so no late nite runs to the 7/11 or gas station to re-up. I actually never realized how available it is until I visited Montreal & then the states (as a drinking age adult)

they've got shyt on lock up here and most of the citizens applaude them for it, but it's extremely restrictive

say you're throwing a party on a holiday and it goes longer than expected, or the guest count balloons and you realize you're short on drinks?

unless someone has a home stash and is willing to kick in.... you're done, night's over

Alabama has so-called "state stores," too. The prices are roughly 1.5x neighboring states. There are private " bottle shops" though. Their prices are 20-40% higher than the state stores.

AlabamAlum wrote:Rat,

I'm with you. Some follow-up questions: Okay, it sets off a warning. Other than funding issues (who tracks the purchases and hunts folks down?), let's say that he says he tells whatever department we anoint to watch over ammo purchases that he plans to take up competitive shooting. It's a hobby. He shows the authorities his shooting range membership. What then? Arrest him? Tell him to pick another hobby? How many people would this have stopped historically? How many crazies have bought 5000 rounds? Is what he did (buy 5000 rounds) common enough to make this a good use of resources?

He tried to get into a gun range but when the owner called him back his message creeped him out and he told his employees that if he showed up he couldn't join until he met with him. A tracking system for ammo & gun purchases should have already been in place. Fuckin Bush.

He never returned to that range. He practiced somewhere, though.

If a process had been in place, I think he would have worked around it. He was working on a PhD in neurobiology. He is crazy, not stupid.

He never went to that range in the first place. Just called for membership info. I'm betting he was a gamer who practiced on xbox Tom Clancy & Modern Warfare games. His hit ratio was 50% on moving targets. Cops only hit 25%. (CBS Morning News)

Need to have the Feds tax and monitor video game sales!