Riley Stewart Kotz from Vernon has been charged in a gun trafficking operation that involved 80 firearms, over-capacity magazines and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Some of the weapons seized included the Tech 9 and a number of AK-type assault rifles. CFSEU executed search warrants over the weekend in Penticton, Vernon and Summerland. Four Canadian men and one American woman are facing numerous gun charges. We know that Vernon was where the Vernon Greeks ran the drug trade and had Hells Angels support gear on their possession.
While on the face of it this would be good news, (after all who supports "gun trafficking" especially if it's supplying the criminal element) there is ample reason contained within the official statements to take this whole thing with a grain of salt until more facts are known, and this from an agency that makes a habit of telling you as little as they can. The following for consideration:
ReplyDelete1) "Some of those weapons had a street value of $4,500.
I don't see a single item on that table that goes for that price. Not one. The closest one there is that M1A, and then only if it was a made in USA Springfield Armory gun, as the Chinese version goes for $450 in Canada. Maybe they just mistakenly added an extra zero. :rolleyes: (wood stock, scope, front right of the table) Not exactly the gang members weapon of choice. Firearms enthusiasts a bit more so.
2)"and in all likelihood would have made their way to gang members."
What they are really saying here is "We have absolutely no ties from these people to gangs or gang members." But hey, they pretty much have to say this, otherwise it suggests that people who are not criminals (other than violating gun laws) have an interest in guns. Gotta make it look like they actually saved society from something other than people who like guns and shooting.
3)“Gang violence starts with ready access to weapons,” says CFSEU-BC Chief Officer Dan Malo."
This guy really does Law Enforcement for a living? No dumbass, it starts with people who are minded to criminal enterprise and have no qualms of using violence to protect such. If guns aren't around they use whatever is. Witness the thug interest in MMA. The gun or other weapon, what ever it is, is just a tool, a manifestation of underlying motive. This explains why guns in the hands of non-criminally inclined citizens are such a non-problem, but these guys have decades invested in the idea that guns by their very existence inspire violence in the minds of those who would never be otherwise so inclined. Utter garbage.
4)“Depending on the type of ammunition used, the rounds for these kinds of firearms are capable of passing through vehicles, doors, walls and even body armour. That is an unacceptable risk to the public and the police.”
More "disinformatzia". One has the choice of either believing that these people are so ignorant of a field that the public incorrectly believes them to have some level of knowledge and expertise in because they carry a gun every day, or that they are deliberately misrepresenting the facts to sow fear and make themselves look good for having "saved" someone again. Basically a choice between them being ignorant or lying. Or both.
Here's the juice. Even standard pistol rounds, which are MUCH less penetrative than rifle cartridges, will easily make it through a car door with enough remaining ability to kill someone. They DO know this, they see it frequently on the street in BC.
Modern buildings are largely comprised of 2x4's, sheet rock, and insulation. Even 00 buck shotgun pellets, which deform easily and don't penetrate that much (relative to other projectiles) will sail through stuff like this.
The dreaded hollow point :sarcasm: actually penetrates much less than full metal jacket. Ability to penetrate and ability to stop within a target, thereby transferring all it's energy the better to stop someone from doing whatever it was that justified them being shot in the first place is not the same thing.
Body armor huh? Well, at least they are not blathering on about teflon coated cop killer bullets anymore, that one having been thoroughly debunked over the years it has been parroted endlessly.
ReplyDeleteWhat they don't want to tell you is that ANY rifle round will sail through the body armor that the police wear like a hot knife through butter. Soft armor vests are designed to stop only the vast majority of handgun rounds and shotgun pellets, since this is the most commonly encountered threat for LEO's. Your uncle's deer rifle will go in one side and out the other. Velocity is the key to penetration.
Oh, you'd rather the public didn't know that? My bad, guys. I'll make you a deal, you stop lying and I'll stop telling the truth.....
5)“In the hands of untrained individuals, guns like the ones seized are highly uncontrollable and there is a significant risk for collateral damage should they be used."
Yeah, because these guns are evil and somehow operate on a different body of the laws of physics than other guns......jeez what an idiot....
6) “The success of this investigation and removal of these guns and ammunition from the hands of those who commit violence in our communities’ means that British Columbians are safer,” says Chief Malo."
Yeah, again with the police justifying themselves by telling you how they've made your life safer. Is anyone still buying this claptrap? Notice that once again he has implied a connection between criminal violence and these folks which apparently they don't actually have. Remember "IN ALL LIKELIHOOD" would have made their way to gang members"?
7) "is facing 34 counts with further charges anticipated against him and the remaining individuals arrested"
Wow, pretty scary, right? Until you figure out that there's one count of unsafe storage per gun in there. And one count for each of the magazines that had the block removed that limited it to 5 (rifle) or 10 (pistol) rounds. The rest will be related to lack of registration.
Number of counts related to actual use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime?
ZERO.
Number of counts related to selling guns to gangsters? ZERO.
Good job guys. We all feel safer now, and we will, since you have saved us once again, be much more inclined to forgive you your ongoing litany of sins that you yourselves commit regularly. Not that this was your intent or anything. After all they violated the law, which you are sworn to uphold. Unless the transgressor is one of your own, in which case a different body of the laws of physics applies.....
5)“In the hands of untrained individuals, guns like the ones seized are highly uncontrollable and there is a significant risk for collateral damage should they be used."
ReplyDelete"Yeah, because these guns are evil and somehow operate on a different body of the laws of physics than other guns......jeez what an idiot...."
Yeah, looking at the table, it looks like anything anyone could get, at a US gun store.
Is that a modern US Army rifle below the AK's...? An M-16A2....? Probably not, but I can't see what it is...
But you got to admit, what he says about the barrel jump on full auto., he means firing like that, extra rounds will spray around, maybe hurt someone. I agree that is mostly a function of the user, but still...
Such as Triad hits. They fire a couple of rounds into the victim and that's it, no one else ever gets hurt, same result; they don't appear to often use full auto.
Like the Oakridge Mall hit. A few years back; one un-known guy gets out of his car & is shot dead. Always quick & quiet.
It appears to be an M-4 variant, the carbine version of the M16A2 if you will, shorter front hand guard is the tip-off.
ReplyDeleteWe would more accurately be able to gauge the veracity of the RCMP's claims with more info. Which of course they are not known for releasing.
The firearms lab will do a report on each of these guns. THEN you would know which, if any, have or have not been modified to fire full auto.
Yeah, with that modern stock, that's an M-4 stock; but I doubted they had anything that good, if it's one, that's the top gun, 'cuz it's not available...
ReplyDeleteBut there is nothing else there to crow about, as you pointed out...
This is a close friend of fifteen years, of the late Riley Kotz. I know for a FACT that on that table there was two full auto AMD 65'S HUNGARIAN AK's, one classic full auto AK-47, one glock 19 9mm with a full auto select fire kit installed, one colt m4a2 .223 with full auto, three round burst, and semi auto, and tec 9 full auto, one mack 10 full auto, one FN FAL full auto .308 cal. And an HK G3 .308 CAL full auto, and many more. So stop beaking off on what you think was there, and mind your own business, and have some respect for my dead friend. You guys don't know guns from your own assholes!!!!
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