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  • Geebo 8:00 am on May 15, 2024 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: guns, , , ,   

    Armed IRS scammer meets victim in parking lot 

    Armed IRS scammer meets victim in parking lot

    By Greg Collier

    In recent years, scammers have grown increasingly bold in their efforts to extort money. While many scams continue to be executed online or over the phone, a new and more audacious group of scammers is now showing up at meetings with victims to collect their illicit gains in person. This brazen approach significantly heightens the danger for victims, particularly when firearms are involved.

    This week, a 51-year-old Michigan woman was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She was allegedly involved in an elaborate scam aimed at intimidating victims into believing they were under investigation for tax fraud.

    The mastermind behind the scam was a man the suspect met online. He initiated the scheme by sending a text message to the victim, purportedly from the IRS, claiming the victim was under investigation for filing a fraudulent tax return. The victim was then threatened with a federal arrest.

    The scammer provided the suspect with fake documents, including an FBI arrest warrant and an IRS receipt. She delivered these documents to a parking lot, where she was tasked with collecting $60,000 from the victim. In return, she was promised $2,500 of the proceeds.

    To make the charade seem more convincing, the suspect carried an authentic police badge issued to someone else in Michigan. Most alarmingly, she was armed with a fully loaded firearm, which she kept in a holster.

    Whenever a firearm is involved in a situation like this, the outcome can be highly unpredictable and potentially violent. The best protection against such scenarios is to recognize the typical signs of a scam.

    In this particular scenario, it’s important to remember that the IRS will never call, text, or email you. If there is an issue with a tax return, the IRS will only communicate through a letter sent by mail. Additionally, they will never send someone to meet you to collect a payment, especially not in a parking lot. Anyone claiming to be from the government and arranging to meet you for money is a scammer.

    It is recommended that anyone who engages with a message like this should contact their local police immediately.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on May 7, 2019 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , guns, , , , , , ,   

    The Armslist gun sale scam and more 

    The Armslist gun sale scam and more

    We’re back again with another trio of scams to be on the lookout for.

    It seems that the much-criticized Armslist isn’t immune to scams as a woman from Western Pennsylvania has been charged with defrauding users of the website. The woman allegedly advertised several firearms for sale on the controversial site and collected the payments for them in money orders. However, she did not have any of the actual guns for sale and she’s accused of keeping all the money for herself. There’s no word on whether or not any background checks were completed on any of the victims.

    ***

    A man from Silver Lake, Washington was trying to sell his late wife’s wedding ring on craigslist when he was approached with an out-of-state offer. The man then received a bogus email stating that the money for the ring had reached his PayPal account. The man sent the ring but the money wasn’t actually there. Amazingly, after he contacted the police the ring was found in Illinois. This is a rare occurrence on the scale of a solar eclipse. Ok, maybe not that rare but it is remarkable that the man was able to get the ring back as in most cases once the item has been shipped it’s usually gone forever. In most cases, you should only deal locally and only in cash and when completing the transaction it should be done at a local police station.

    ***

    Lastly for today, a rental scam that we’ve discussed before has started popping up again and that’s the lockbox scam. The scam works like the typical rental scam where someone claiming to be a landlord will rent you a property sight unseen if you wire them a deposit. With the lockbox scam, the phony landlords have somehow gained access to the realtor’s lockbox on the property that contains a key to the home. A family in Phoenix, Arizona recently fell for this scam and even moved into the property after wiring their money to a scammer. Sadly, they had to be evicted from the property. Under no circumstance should you ever wire funds to someone you’ve never met. Most legitimate property managers will do background checks on prospective renters and will meet them in person.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on May 1, 2019 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , guns, , , ,   

    The ‘craigslist of guns’ held harmless in domestic murder 

    The 'craigslist of guns' held harmless in domestic murder

    Image via the New York Post

    Previously, we’ve discussed how a lawsuit in Wisconsin was moving forward against Armslist, the so-called ‘craigslist of guns.’ Armslist facilitates the sales of firearms between private owners and buyers. This is a legal loophole that allows people with criminal records to bypass background checks when purchasing a firearm. In the past few years, a number of guns sold through Armslist have been used in some high-profile crimes such as the murder of a Chicago Police Captain.

    Around this time last year, The Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled that a lawsuit against Armslist could move forward. The suit was brought about after the 2012 murder of Zina Daniel Haughton by her estranged husband Radcliffe Haughton. Haughton had a domestic violence injunction against him which prevented him from legally owning a gun at the time. Instead, Haughton bought a gun from an Armslist dealer and murdered his wife at her workplace in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

    [youtube https://youtu.be/OwExQhaVBdw%5D

    Yesterday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Armslist was held harmless in the murder in a 5-1 decision. The ruling mostly stated that Armslist could not be held liable due to the Communications Decency Act of 1996 which holds website owners harmless if their site is used for illegal activity by its users. However, the lone dissenting opinion came from Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. She said…

    “The majority errs in its interpretation of the CDA by basing its decision, not on the actual claims pled…but on its own manufactured interpretation of those claims. As a result, it fails to recognize that here the design itself is the creation of the content.”

    It’s been argued in the past that Armslist was specifically designed to allow buyers to circumvent background checks.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on April 1, 2019 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: assault rifle, , Dick's Sporting Goods, firearms, guns, ,   

    What a company with a conscience looks like 

    What a company with a conscience looks like

    A lot of companies will try to fool you into believing that they’re socially conscious. They’ll tell consumers that if they buy a certain product the company will donate a certain percentage to a charity. That puts the onus on the consumer rather than the company especially since the company has probably marked up the price on the product in order to not lose profits. Very rarely do you see a company saying that they donated X amount of dollars to a charity just because it was something they actually believed in. Dick’s Sporting Goods is not one of those companies as they actually put their money where their mouth is.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_OgkpF4P7Y%5D

    Before we get started, let’s get the semantic arguments out of the way. An ‘assault rifle’ is not a fully automatic machine gun. One pull of the trigger equals one bullet being fired from the gun. However, with many assault rifles, a 30-round high-capacity magazine can be emptied in a matter of seconds rendering the distinction virtually moot.

    With that out of the way, Dick’s Sporting Goods announced last year in the wake of the Parkland School Shooting that they would no longer be selling assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines, and would no longer sell firearms to anybody under the age of 21. Dick’s CEO Ed Stack said the following…

    “The system does not work,” Stack said. “It’s important that when you know there’s something that’s not working, and it’s to the detriment of the public, you have to stand up.”

    And stand up they did as the removal of these firearms from their shelves cost the company $150 million in profits. Now, the 2nd Amendment crowd may be declaring the end of Dick’s Sporting Goods as many gun rights groups like the NRA have boycotted Dick’s. However, Dick’s overall financial standing couldn’t be better as their stock price has increased since the assault rifle removal.

    Many critic’s of Dick’s have said that their stance has not stopped mass shootings in this country, but they forget that at least Dick’s isn’t contributing to the problem. Meanwhile, The NRA is in trouble of shutting down if their hyperbolic rhetoric is to be believed.

    Times are changing in America and you could either change with them or be left behind.

     

    • John 4:43 pm on April 19, 2020 Permalink

      Get lost DICK’S. Ever hear of the 2nd Amendment? And btw you DID just lose a customer. Hopefully, you’ll lose a lot more and you have to file BK. Good riddance!

    • Geebo 8:29 am on April 20, 2020 Permalink

      While you’re free to vote with your consumer dollars as you see fit, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that Dick’s business has been on the rise since discontinuing these items.

  • Geebo 10:56 am on February 14, 2019 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , guns,   

    Close to 30,000 guns were for sale on Armslist requiring no background check 

    Close to 30,000 guns were for sale on Armslist requiring no background check

    City Pages in Minnesota is reporting that 28,818 firearms were for sale on Armslist last year in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. If you’re not familiar with Armslist, they are an online classifieds site specifically designed for the sale and trade of firearms. Armslist has been courting controversy since many Armslist buyers and sellers take advantage of a loophole in the law which does not require a background check when a firearm is sold between private individuals. While many sellers on Armslist are licensed gun dealers there are many who aren’t.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGwqMeHqF5I%5D

    A gun control advocacy group conducted a study on Armslist and they estimate that 10% of the gun buyers on Armslist couldn’t pass a background check if the buyers tried to buy their firearms from outlets that required the checks. If you apply that to the state of Minnesota, that’s roughly 2800 guns that could have been sold to people looking to circumvent a background check for illegal purposes. Even in a state of 5.6 million people, that’s still too many guns that could potentially fall into the wrong hands.

    Armslist’s defenders will claim that most guns used in crimes are purchased on the black market not realizing the irony of their statement. Armslist is part of that chain where guns end up in the black market as they have in Chicago and other locations. All the while, Armslist does very little to discourage the sale of guns to those who shouldn’t be able to own except for a button that buyers have to click that says they’re over 18 and they’re legally able to purchase a gun. Because no one lies on the internet.

     

    • J M2064 8:39 am on February 17, 2019 Permalink

      Gunsuckers are such filth. Gunsuckers are not the same as responsible gun owners, that vanishing minority. Gunsuckers suck guns because they think gunsucking Makes The Man. They’re also fools as well as gunsuckers.

  • Geebo 10:00 am on February 6, 2019 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , guns   

    The House seeks to close loophole that keeps Armslist in business 

    The House seeks to close loophole that keeps Armslist in business

    Today before the House of Representatives a bill is going before the House Judiciary Committee that would require universal background checks for the sale of all firearms. The bill seeks to close the commonly named ‘gun show loophole’ that does not require a background check when firearms are sold between private individuals such as at gun shows and the so-called craigslist of guns Armslist.

    If you’re unfamiliar with Armslist, it’s a classified site where gun owners post the guns that they have for sale online. Just about anyone can buy a gun through Armslist no matter whether or not you have a criminal record or not as the loophole doesn’t require background checks for guns sold through Armslist. This has led to a number of high-profile crimes such as a domestic workplace murder and a Chicago police commander being killed. That’s not even taking into account the number of unreported crimes probably committed with Armslist guns. As with most scoundrels, Armslist sees themselves as some kind of champion for both the 1st and 2nd Amendments as body counts continue to climb around them.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14xkvwQhhAo%5D

    In Amrslist’s defense, they cling to a survey conducted by the Department of Justice done in 2016 that says that most criminals either steal their guns or purchase them from the black market. That’s all well and good but not only are incarcerated criminals not the most honest people in the world but where do you think black market guns come from. It’s not like there are scores of illegal weapons manufacturers operating throughout the country. These illegal guns started off as someone’s legal purchase and probably more than a few guns on the black market have passed through the hands of Armslist sellers and buyers.

     

  • Geebo 10:19 am on January 28, 2019 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: AMA, , guns, , ,   

    AMA criticizes Armslist in legal brief 

    AMA criticizes Armslist in legal brief

    If you’re unfamiliar with Armslist they are a website that facilitates the sale of firearms between private sellers and buyers. Many have referred to Armslist as the ‘craigslist of guns’. Since there are many states that do not require background checks or waiting periods on private gun sales a number of people who were forbidden from owning guns have used Armslist to circumvent background checks. On more than one occasion, guns purchased through Armslist have been used in a mass shooting. Here is Armslist’s owner commenting on a mass shooting that took place in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2015 where the shooter had purchased guns through Armslist.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijbahoQTVb4%5D

    If any of that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the same ‘free speech’ tactic used by Backpage when they were trying to defend their ‘right’ to profit from human trafficking. As has been famously said, patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

    This hasn’t prevented people from trying to claim legal recourse against Armslist. A lawsuit has been filed in Wisconsin against Armslist. In 2012, Radcliffe Haughton stormed his estranged wife’s workplace in Brookfield, Wisconsin, shooting and killing his wife, Zina Daniel Haughton, and two other victims before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life. Haughton had a domestic violence injunction against him which prevented him from legally owning a gun. Zina’s daughter, Yasmeen Daniel, had previously tried to sue Armslist for their role in facilitating the gun sale but the suit was dismissed due to the Communications Decency Act of 1996, again, another Backpage tactic. Back in April of last year, an appeals court ruled that suit can continue claiming that it can be argued that Armslist is designed to facilitate illegal gun sales.

    More recently, the American Medical Association has filed an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit against Armslist. In the brief, the AMA states that “facilitating illegal arms sales does not fall under “traditional publisher functions,” and that the claim of aiding a murder “does not depend on whether Armslist is treated as a publisher.”

    While Armslist doesn’t physically sell firearms to people, they do very little to discourage the illegal sale of firearms outside of making users click on a button that says they’re over 18 and they’re legally able to purchase a gun. That’s not exactly what should be called reasonable steps to help prevent illegal gun sales. That seems to be enough for Armslist through as they continue to make money off of the blood of shooting victims.

     

  • Geebo 9:04 am on October 22, 2018 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , guns, Mankato,   

    17-year-old caught with gun from Armslist 

    17-year-old caught with gun from Armslist

    Previously, I’ve posted about how ‘the craigslist of guns’, better known as Armslist, has been used by several felons to purchase guns when the law expressly prohibits felons from owning guns. Armslist falls under the ‘gun show’ loophole meaning no background check is required when the private sale of a firearm is made. These shady gun sales through Armslist have led to several murders. Now besides felons, who is the last type of person who should be buying a gun through Armslist? If you answered minors you would be correct. However, this hasn’t stopped at least one teen from buying a weapon from the dubious website.

    In Mankato, Minnesota, a 17-year-old male was pulled over by a state trooper for allegedly speeding. The trooper was said to believe that there may have been drugs in the car. When the car was searched the trooper reportedly found a minor amount of drugs but also found a handgun. The driver claimed that he bought the gun from a private seller on Armslist for $300. In case you were wondering, Minnesota state law dictates you have to be at least 18 before legally purchasing a handgun. The suspect is facing felony charges of underage gun possession and drug possession.

    Thankfully, the teen decided not to engage the trooper with the weapon at hand. That may have been his smartest move. Considering how many law enforcement officers end up being ambushed in similar situations this teen should never have had the gun in the first place. What is it going to take for either Armslist to start being more responsible or for legislators to close the gun show loophole? Since the multitudes of murders and mass shootings haven’t changed the laws or Armslist’s disregard for safety, will it take a shooting tragedy of such massive proportions that it shakes us from our complacency for these types of shooting before anything is done? Instead, action should be taken now before our country reaches that level of violence.

     

  • Geebo 9:21 am on October 12, 2018 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , guns   

    Armslist dealer who sold gun used to kill Chicago officer couldn’t stop selling guns 

    Armslist dealer who sold gun used to kill Chicago officer couldn't stop selling guns

    Image via the New York Post

    I’ve posted about Armslist a few times before. While it’s been referred to in the past as the ‘craigslist of guns’ it’s also been cited as a major avenue in which illegal firearms have been funneled into the violent streets if Chicago. One of those guns was used to kill Police Commander Paul Bauer back in February.

    The Chicago Tribune is now reporting that the man who allegedly sold the fateful gun over Armslist was already being watched by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms. A gun that the seller sold ended up in the hands of a known drug dealer which is what first led the ATF to the seller. The ATF warned the seller to stop selling the guns but the man continued. He wasn’t charged with any crimes until after Commander Bauer was killed by a felon who was prohibited from owning a gun.

    The main purpose of Armslist is for private gun owners to sell the firearms between them. Private sales like this are not subject to any background checks which have led many people who are banned from owning guns to use Armslist to obtain their weapons. This has also led to more than a few killings. Much like Backpage used to do, Armslist hides behind the Communications Decency Act claiming that they’re not responsible for what their users do. However, unlike the closure of Backpage which had bipartisan support in Congress, Lawmakers are hesitant to do anything about Armslist since gun ownership has become such a highly contested issue in this country. Since guns from private sales on Armslist are ending up in the hands of killers, a required background check for private sales would go a long way in curtailing the sale of firearms to felons. The question is does any lawmaker have the guts to step up and start fighting for this?

     

  • Geebo 9:22 am on May 16, 2018 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , guns   

    Is Armslist fueling Chicago’s gun violence? 

    Is Armslist fueling Chcago's gun violence?

    The City of Chicago is one with a rich history steeped in tradition. Unfortunately, a lot of that history is the notorious kind. With names like Al Capone, Richard Speck, John Wayne Gacy, and John Dillinger, the Windy City has been no stranger to violence over its storied past. In more modern times Chicago has gained a reputation for being one of if not the most gun-violent cities in the country, having earned the nickname Chiraq comparing itself to the embattled Middle Eastern country of Iraq. In 2014, Chicago tried to curb the violence by banning all firearm sales within the city limits, but the ban was struck down as unconstitutional. While the city did enact strict new laws to try to prevent further bloodshed, the flow of guns continues into the city.

    One of the ways illegal guns keep making their way into Chicago is through Armslist, the so-called craigslist of guns. Last week, three men were arrested for allegedly trafficking guns into Chicago by buying them in Kentucky off of Armslist before supplying the guns to gangs in Chicago. As we have discussed before, Armslist allows private gun owners to sell and trade guns between themselves. In states like Kentucky, a background check is not required in sales between private owners making Armslist a go-to place for people with a criminal record to try to buy guns. The only thing keeping criminals from buying guns on Armslist is a button they have to click agreeing not to use Armslist for any illegal reason. In honesty that seems more like Armslist trying to protect itself from prosecution and lawsuits rather than protecting the public.

    However, while Armslist cashes checks written in the blood of Chicago’s dead, the city s not without hope. One of its most infamous crimes, the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, was the impetus that launched the National Firearms Act of 1934 which made it illegal for anyone to own a machine gun. Maybe, just maybe, modern lawmakers will finally grow a conscience and enact real legislation to curb the gun violence not only in Chicago but in the rest of the country too, putting a stop to the illegal gun sales like the ones that take place through Armslist.

     

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