CNN REPORTER WALKS FINE LINE BETWEEN LEGAL PURCHASE AND FELONY IN .50 CALIBER STORY

A February 17th segment on CNN's "Paula Zahn Now" featured a story on the .50 BMG rifle. CNN's Drew Griffin described his effort to purchase one of these rifles through a private transaction.

Griffin first went to the popular gun classifieds site, GunsAmerica.com, looking for what he described as "the biggest caliber rifle you could possibly buy." He was looking for a private seller, not a federally-licensed dealer. He found a seller in Houston, and emailed him saying that he wanted to buy privately, and had cash.

And this is where Drew Griffin began to walk a fine line between a legal purchase and violating the Gun Control Act of 1968.

Griffin and his crew flew from Atlanta to Houston to purchase the rifle. He made the statement that "What we're about to do is perfectly legal in dozens of states where cash-and-carry is the rule, a private seller, a private buyer. There will be no background check, no government waiting period, no government paperwork at all. In fact, the only paper that will change hands is the money we use to buy our .50- caliber rifle."

Wrong. It is illegal under federal law for someone to buy a gun in a state in which he does not reside.* It's a felony that carries a prison sentence of up to ten years. Griffin is a resident of Georgia, not Texas.

That little fact didn't stop Griffin from misleading the public, though. He continued:

"The transaction at a house in suburban Houston took about 20 minutes. We walked out with a case holding the gun critics say is the perfect terrorist weapon, a brand new .50-caliber with scope, bipod and directions. We flew home."

"Guns are checked as baggage. And when the bags arrived for our flight, I simply picked it up and left."

If the transaction had gone as Griffin described, the BATF should have been waiting to pick him up.

But Griffin let one minor detail wait until very near the end of his story, and then glossed over it quickly: it was a Texas resident, not Griffin, who actually purchased the rifle. Presumably, the resident was one of Griffin's crew members.

However, this begs more questions: did the Texas resident purchase the rifle for himself, or for Griffin? If it was for Griffin, then it was a straw purchase, which is also a felony under the Gun Control Act of 1968. Did the Texas resident stay behind, or did he return to Atlanta with Griffin and crew? That is the definitive question as to whether this was a legal purchase or not.

In their zeal to demonize .50 BMG rifles, CNN and Drew Griffin may have violated the law. If so, then Drew Griffin should be arrested, tried and jailed, just as so many law-abiding gun owners have been who run afoul of confusing gun-control laws.

On the other hand, if Drew Griffin and his crew stayed within the lines of the law, then he is guilty of playing fast and loose with the truth. And, if CNN is willing to tolerate misleading stories on gun issues, how can the public be assured they're hearing the truth on other issues?

*Footnote: it is legal for a resident of one state to purchase a firearm in another state, but only if the firearm is shipped to a licensed dealer in the buyer's home state, and the buyer goes through the federal background check as well as any other laws that apply in his state.

 

 

 

 

   
 

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