By Chad D. Baus

The Associated Press reported recenty that a U.S. senator is examining a claim that two guns sold in purchases sanctioned by federal firearms agents were later used in a December shootout that left a Border Patrol agent dead near the Arizona-Mexico border.

From the article:

Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa said in a letter provided Monday to The Associated Press he had received information that appears to partially corroborate the claim received by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee about the guns.

“Members of the Judiciary Committee have received numerous allegations that the ATF sanctioned the sale of hundreds of assault weapons to suspected straw buyers, who then allegedly transported these weapons throughout the Southwest border area and into Mexico,” reads a letter sent Thursday from Grassley to Kenneth Melson, acting director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The letter does not elaborate on the role possible of federal agents in the sale of the guns, and it could not be determined if the purchases were part of a sting operation.

ATF spokesman Tom Mangan declined to comment. Grassley spokeswoman Beth Pellett Levine declined to comment on the senator’s letter to Melson.

The article goes on to describe the details of the shoot-out that led to a Border Patrol agent’s death.

by Alan Korwin Recent events have made it painfully obvious that murderous trouble can erupt at any time and in any place. It is a clear and present danger. We can no…

by Tim Inwood

After a tragic shooting in the US, you can almost use a stopwatch to count the minutes before certain people will start pointing fingers and placing blame in places where it does not belong. Sadly the Tucson attack on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was just such an event. Within hours, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik stepped up to the microphones and began to blather on about how this was the fault of the right wing, Tea Party activists and radio talk show hosts. When pressed about his proof he admitted this was just his opinion. As time passed we learned classmates viewed the shooter, Jared Loughner, as a left-wing, pot head atheist. Hardly the kind of person who would listen to Rush Limbaugh or Neal Boortz.

Later we would learn that Sheriff Dupnik was well aware of the many complaints about Loughner’s erratic and eccentric behavior at school, as well as the fact he had sent Congresswoman Giffords a threatening letter and had been stalking her since 2007. Apparently in 2007 Loughner was at another event with Giffords and felt slighted by her answer to his questions. The grudge from that discussion in 2007 is what led to the shooting. For Sheriff Dupnik’s information, the Tea Party did not even exist when Loughner’s obsession with Rep. Giffords began.

Frankly, had Sheriff Dupnik done his job and charged Loughner with a crime, he never would have passed the FBI National Instant Check when he purchased the Glock model 19 pistol used in the shooting. It now appears Sheriff Dupnik was looking for a scapegoat to deflect attention from the fact that he was negligent and incompetent in dealing with Loughner. In my view, Sheriff Dupnik is the poster geezer for the kind of guy who should not be holding public office at all and should be removed from his office as a result of this incident.

by Ann Coulter

Fresh off of blaming Jared Loughner’s killing spree in the Tucson mall on Sarah Palin, liberals are now blaming it on high-capacity magazines. They might as well imprison everyone named “Jared” to prevent a crime like this from ever happening again.

During the presidential campaign, Obama said: “I don’t know of any self-respecting hunter that needs 19 rounds of anything. You don’t shoot 19 rounds at a deer, and if you do, you shouldn’t be hunting.” It would have been more accurate for him to end that sentence after the word “hunter.”

It’s so adorable when people who wouldn’t know a high-capacity magazine from Vanity Fair start telling gun owners what they should want and need.

In fact, high-capacity mags put a predator like Loughner at a disadvantage because they are so long, unwieldy and difficult to conceal. This may be why the Tucson shooting appears to be the first spree killing involving a high-capacity magazine. It would have been easier for Loughner to bring two guns.

On the other hand, for a homeowner who is a poor marksman, a large-capacity clip could be a lifesaver.

But after every multiple murder, liberals come up with some crackpot idea to “do something” that invariably involves infringing on some aspect of our Second Amendment rights.