The firearms involved here were not being exported for official use by an agency, nor as part of foreign aid. This a lot narrower than the GCA exception for acts by a government agency, and for good reason: the purpose of this statute is to control executive agency actions. No gun running to foreign governments or persons without a paper trail (and in cases of large transactions, a prior request for Congressional approval).
Any person who willfully violates these provisions "shall upon conviction be fined for each violation not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both."
There have been some reports of agents having directly transferred firearms to drug cartel buyers, in order to boost their "street creds." That'd clearly be a violation. In other situations, the person who actually exported the firearms would be in clear violation. But what of those government supervisors who allowed the arms to flow -- especially the cases where a protesting FFL was told to sell the guns anyway?
18 U.S. Code §2 provides:
"§ 2. Principals
(a) Whoever commits an offense against the United States or aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures its commission, is punishable as a principal.
(b) Whoever willfully causes an act to be done which if directly performed by him or another would be an offense against the United States, is punishable as a principal."
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
David Hardy: Did Fast & Furious violate the Arms Export Control Act?
I like the penalties.
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10 comments:
It is known to have been a definate ITAR violation. You cannot even export parts for those firearms let alone the firearms themselves w/o State Dept approval.
Where's Hillary on this...
hehe
If you consider each firearm a separate violation, +/- 3000 counts time $1000.00= $3,000,000.00plus 30,000 years in jail. I say forget the fine and Just hang Obama,Holder,Clinton,Napolitano and Brewer just to get warmed up. Cheaper for the Tax Payers.
Dennis
III
Texas
I like the penalties as well in addition to the fact this sucks Madame Hilliary's department into this tornado if DOJ sought permits from her to pull off Gunwalker.
10yrs and $1,000,000....that would put them out of prison just in time to campaign for the 2022 elections.
Lots of serious charges being bandied about.
I am without doubt that more than few, at least a bunch, are guilty of more than a single crime from minor ones to major.
I really wonder exactly how all of this will play out. Just how many will be charged and with what? Who and how many will do serious jail time?
As I stare at the thing with all of its revelations to date, I'm betting damn few. And those that do will receive more minor charges than major.
And you know why?
Even though all this crap has been exposed they still had the balls to put more requirements on dealers in the four southwestern states. Certainly some of the requirements they intended to impose after they exposed "all those guns moving to Mexico" in their way had they not been caught.
News says more regulation is on the way.
They just don't friggin' care.
They have to know nothing will come of this thing ultimately.
Oh, please, Lord, let this happen!
III
What Dennis308 said.
WarriorClass
III
Hey, that might be the one way to pay off the National debt!
now, now...you know damn well those laws only apply to us common folk...
It does raise the question who would do the prosecutions. Justice Dept. lawyers could end up prosecuting other Justice Dept. employees. Seems like a conflict of interest.
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