A case to watch
Not sure if it’s ATF shenanigans or if there is a legitimate charge but:
A Northampton County man faces a federal firearms charge after he was identified as the original buyer of the gun used in the fatal shooting of a Reading police officer earlier this month.
Jared Tomline has been in federal custody since his arrest last week by agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He is scheduled for a detention hearing today at U.S. District Court in Allentown.
John Hageman, a bureau spokesman in Philadelphia, declined to specify the charge against Tomline or comment on how the .40-caliber handgun went from Tomline into the hands of Cletus Rivera, 24, the Reading man charged with killing officer Scott Wertz on Aug. 6.
Hageman said agents traced the original purchase to Tomline, and that Tomline was not involved in Wertz’s murder.
So, no charges publicly revealed. At first glance, it seems Tomline sold the gun or gave it away. It was later used in a murder. Selling the gun, of course, is not a crime. I am curious what the charges will be. This article says Tomline supplied the gun to the killer, which implies intent.
There should be something to this as the judge has stated Tomline should remain behind bars. Further:
But, prosecutors say he also has six weapons, bought within seven months, and all unaccounted for, except for the one they say Cletus Rivera used to kill Officer Scott Wertz on August 6th.
My guess is they’re going for dealer without a license. If the above statement is true, it’s a charge that will likely stick. More:
He’s charged with giving a false address last month when he bought the 40-caliber semiautomatic pistol believed to have been the one used in Officer Wertz’s murder.
That also happens to be a felony, like when Bloomberg’s investigators did it. But:
Tomline’s lawyer argues the form isn’t specific, and that Tomline did nothing wrong by giving his mailing address.
This should be an interesting one.
August 23rd, 2006 at 6:52 pm
So it seems he gave his “mailing address” rather than his “physical address” on the form 4473? Off with his head! Oh, and never mind the Bill of Rights, that does not enter into the discussion, and why would it, after all?
Now, since there are so many more deaths per year involving automobiles I want everyone to think of the last time a carjacking or a vehicular homicide, or a traffic accident fatality resulted in tracking down the original buyer of the car, or a newsie going to interview the car dealer, asking him what he though of “his” car killing people. Also ask yourselves the last time a TV ad for cars was blamed for so many traffic fatalities, or the last time you hear legislators wanting to ban certain cars because of their “link to crime”, etc…
The point is to show the gigantic double standard that exists, revealing the disingenuousness of the anti gun/anti Liberty culture in America and worldwide.
If someone kills someone, I submit it makes sense to blame the killer unless there is evidence of a conspiracy. Your local supermarket may have sold a knife to someone who later used it in a murder, but that in itself is not collusion, complicity, or any form of connection whatsoever. That you may hate knives and knife owners with a burning passion is your problem. Your hate does not constitute guilt in others. It may howver result in some of us being forced to stop you from doing certain ugly things to innocent people.
August 23rd, 2006 at 8:06 pm
As a Reading PA resident (suburbs) and a NRA life member I mourn the murder of Officer Wertz. Reading has gunbattles nightly, with mostly hispanic perps and victims.
As far as Tomline goses as the buyer of the pistol, PA law requires handguns to be transfered only by FFL dealers. It appears Tomline is a gun runner for drug dealers. If that is the case may he rot in prison for many years.
Sput
August 23rd, 2006 at 10:59 pm
Concerning the mailing address thing. I use a purchased mail service for everything. I used that address on the last federal gun form i filled out. Eventhough, there were signs that told me not to (could be a state law, but i don’t really care whose law it is). I was courious if the gun guy at the counter would catch it, but he didn’t. It helped the address is the one on my license.
August 24th, 2006 at 8:51 am
[…] I was thinking about this case and a quote really stuck out: But, prosecutors say he also has six weapons, bought within seven months, and all unaccounted for, except for the one they say Cletus Rivera used to kill Officer Scott Wertz on August 6th. […]