By David Codrea
“The submachine gun was a Heckler & Koch MP5 10mm,” the report elaborates. “An ammunition magazine for the weapon was also taken. Officials did not say how the weapon was secured.”
In other words, they don’t know where, they don’t know when, they’re not saying how, and they’re certainly not going to publicly identify who the public employee is, despite indications of personal negligence and an institutional history of chronic incompetence. And it’s not just a gun—it’s a National Firearms Act-controlled weapon, forbidden by California law to non-LEOs (with limited exceptions, like for the “anti-gun” movie industry). Do you doubt, had such a gun been stolen from your car, that not only would your name be widely spread (and smeared by gleeful antis painting you as a typical, irresponsible ammosexual), but that you’d be facing be serious criminal charges, and potential civil ones as well?
Such anonymity for fedgov offenders appears to be standard operating procedure, and unsurprisingly, that appears to be the way the establishment media likes it. Recalling the killing of Kate Steinle by an illegal alien and habitual criminal taking advantage of San Francisco’s “sanctuary city” policies, even the lawsuit filed by her parents refers to the negligent party who “left a loaded and government-issued .40 caliber SIG Sauer P239 handgun unlocked in an unattended vehicle … in a backpack in plain sight of passersby’s and within reach of someone smashing a window of the vehicle” as “a BLM Ranger.” Now that a judge has released the San Francisco from the lawsuit, the city is “doubling down” on providing a haven for unvetted foreigners, all the while doing everything it can to disarm the citizenry.
And it’s not like these are isolated incidents. Per a 2016 investigative report in The Mercury News, “Officers across the Bay Area and state are losing firearms at an astonishing rate.
“Nine-hundred and forty-four guns,” the report reckoned. “From Glocks, Sig Sauers and Remingtons to sniper and assault rifles … They used to belong to law enforcement officers across California, but a new Bay Area News Group investigation found hundreds of police-issued weapons have been either stolen, lost or can’t be accounted for since 2010, often disappearing onto the streets without a trace.
It’s also not like the problem is limited to the Bay area. Per The New York Times in a 2001 report:
An internal F.B.I. inventory has found that 449 firearms and 184 laptop computers, including one containing classified data, are missing or have been stolen…
Sometimes, the way the guns are “lost” is ridiculous, bordering on the hilarious if not for the wholly unnecessary danger created through inexcusable negligence. Cases in point: multiple examples of bathroom humor, “Only Ones”-style.
These are the people tasked with controlling your guns. Still, now may be the time to say “Welcome to the party, pals.”
“Beginning Jan. 1, the law in California changed,” Law Enforcement Today reported. “Depending upon the variables, this could be a violation of law, LET previously reported. That is because Senate Bill 869 requires anyone — including police and people with concealed weapon permits — leaving a gun in a vehicle to lock it in the trunk or in a container out of plain sight. Otherwise, they will face a $1,000 fine. Police won’t face sanctions during exigent circumstances.”
Perhaps that means “We the People” paying for FBI “services” will ultimately learn the name of our employee. Either that or get the lowdown on how his assigned weapon was “secured.”
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UPDATE: FBI refuses to say how stolen machine gun was stored in agent’s car in Contra Costa
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating / defending the RKBA and a long-time gun rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament.
In addition to being a field editor/columnist at GUNS Magazine and associate editor for Oath Keepers, he blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.