April 5, 2009
ASHLAND, KY -- Illegal firearms trafficking is a problem that appears to be
cropping up on the "radar screen" of federal authorities with increasing
frequency in northeastern Kentucky, reports the Ashland Daily
Independent.
Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have
investigated a number of cases involving illicit weapons sales in recent months,
said Bernard V. Teyssier, resident agent in charge of the Ashland ATF field
office.
Teyssier said the majority of those cases have involved individuals dealing
in guns without proper licensing.
One such case came to light in February, when a U.S. District Court grand
jury indicted a Catlettsburg man, Gary Lynn Russell, and his son, Nicholas
Russell, for allegedly selling guns illegally. Authorities allege the two
engaged in more than 200 gun sales in 2007 and 2008. The sales allegedly took
place at their home, at gun shows and at flea markets.
And, in December, an Ashand man, Johnnie Caudill, pleaded guilty to a charge
stemming from an ATF investigation of his illegal gun dealing. He was sentenced
to 15 months in prison.
In that case, Teyssier said, the ATF used an undercover informant with a
felony conviction to purchase several weapons from Caudill, who was dealing guns
out of his home.
The informant let it be known he was a convicted felon and as such, was not
legally permitted to own firearms. However, Caudill "sold him the guns anyway,"
Teyssier said.
Also, one of the guns sold by Caudill was found to have been used in a crime
committed in Washington D.C., Teyssier said.
Those two facts, Teyssier said, serve to underscore the principal danger of
unlicensed firearms dealing - it circumvents laws intended to keep guns out of
the hands of people who shouldn't have them, convicted criminals and gang
members among them.
People who legally purchase guns from licensed dealers are required to
undergo background checks. No such requirement exists for person-to-person
sales, and, as evidenced by the Caudill case, unlicensed dealers generally will
sell to anyone with money, Teyssier said…
