Is FBI agent charged with illegal gun dealing just a collector?

  John T. Shipley

We first learned of John Shipley when he was busted for illegal gun dealing.

From "The Newspaper of Record":

An F.B.I. agent in El Paso has been arrested and charged with dealing guns, some of which ended up being used in gunfights between the authorities and drug dealers in Mexico, law enforcement officials said.

Except it wasn't "some" that "ended up being used in gunfights...in Mexico":

SO FAR SHIPLEY HAS ONLY BEEN LINKED TO THAT ONE GUN RECOVERED IN CHIHUAHUA.

And how did it get there?

SHIPLEY ALLEGEDLY RESOLD THE GUN TO FORMER EL PASO COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPUTY ARMANDO RODRIGUEZ...RODRIGUEZ THEN ALLEGEDLY SOLD THE GUN TO SOMEONE IN MEXICO.

"Former"?

Rodriguez...at the time was a detention officer at the El Paso County Jail.

The facts of the story, along with some contacts I received from trusted sources, led me to ask "Is FBI agent in Mexican gun case being persecuted?"

From one of the comments posted under that column:

Read the search warrant affidavit. He admits to the crimes. All it is missing is his signature.

So I did. You can, too.

It certainly appears damning, so I can see where my comment poster is coming from. But then, that's what law enforcement trying to nail a guy tends to do.

What it does not present is alternative explanations or a defense. Shouldn't we hear those before making up our minds?

From a source helping defend Shipley:

The AUSA leaked the sealed (by the AUSA) Search Warrant to the local press the day before John was arraigned, and never notified the Defense Attorney.

Well isn't that interesting--and something else to look into. Also:

Below I have cut from the regulation the definition for a fire arms dealer. You can see that a collector of firearms or a hobbyist is not required to obtain a license or maintain records of sales. So why is John Shipley being accused of being a dealer if he sold 50 weapons in three years and bought 53 weapons. Can a collector improve his collection? Can a collector buy a gun, shoot it and find out that it is not what he thought it was, sell it and buy something else? If you read the regulation there is no finite number that says if you sell ten guns you have to be a Federal Firearms Licensee. So if the regulation is vague, then do we allow the government to pick and choose who they want to prosecute? Does the word Selective Prosecution mean anything to you?

PART 478—COMMERCE IN FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION

Section Contents

Subpart A—Introduction

§ 478.1 Scope of regulations.
§ 478.2 Relation to other provisions of law.

Subpart B—Definitions

§ 478.11 Meaning of terms.

Dealer. Any person engaged in the business of selling firearms at wholesale or retail; any person engaged in the business of repairing firearms or of making or fitting special barrels, stocks, or trigger mechanisms to firearms; or any person who is a pawnbroker. The term shall include any person who engages in such business or occupation on a part-time basis.

(c) Dealer in firearms other than a gunsmith or a pawnbroker. A person who devotes time, attention, and labor to dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade or business with the principal objective of livelihood and profit through the repetitive purchase and resale of firearms, but such a term shall not include a person who makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or who sells all or part of his personal collection of firearms;

Principal objective of livelihood and profit. The intent underlying the sale or disposition of firearms is predominantly one of obtaining livelihood and pecuniary gain, as opposed to other intents such as improving or liquidating a personal firearms collection: Provided, That proof of profit shall not be required as to a person who engages in the regular and repetitive purchase and disposition of firearms for criminal purposes or terrorism.

As I mentioned in my last column on Shipley, a website presenting his side and seeking assistance from gun owners/Second Amendment advocates has been established.

I've long been a strong critic of unconstitutional federal law enforcement, of government corruption in re the Mexican crime cartels, and especially of scapegoating gun owners. I don't exactly have a record of being sympathetic to FBI snipers.

That said, I've been consistent in demanding equal justice and treatment for all. As I've said many times, my purpose in presenting "Only Ones" stories is not to bash cops or other government employees, but to highlight that no individual deserves special privileges and immunities. There's a flip side to that.

And I'm also concerned with the level of disingenuousness I'm seeing from the mainstream press covering this story. It's not like we gun owners don't see that every day from the "Authorized Journalists".

My recommendation is to learn more, and I'll certainly see what I can find out and share it as I do.

Perhaps this will present an opportunity to increase visibility for Oath Keepers, and to develop allies. But at the very least, the record will show that while the government and media have been universally painting a federal LEO as guilty, it was the "anti-government right wing gun extremists" doing the reminding that we need to consider his innocence until the burden of proof requirement has been satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt.

If we want that for ourselves, we must demand it for John Shipley.

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Thune amendment on nationwide concealed carry reciprocity up for vote today?

I'll post on that when/if it happens.  In the mean time, former gun owners' gal pal Kirsten Gillibrand flaunts her serial infidelity to the jilted constituents who trusted her with their achin' hearts.

And rival anti-gunner Carolyn Maloney just complicated her bid to unseat unfaithful Kirsten by publicly using the "n" word. What a dope.