Columbus, NM Raid: Firearm Sale Oversight
The mayor and police chief of the Village of Columbus, N.M., were among 10 people arrested Thursday morning on allegations of buying firearms in the U.S. to illegally export to Mexico, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Mexico.
Among the eleven defendants charged in the 84-count indictment are Angelo Vega, the Columbus chief of police; Eddie Espinoza, the mayor of Columbus; and Blas Gutierrez, a village trustee in Columbus.
Inside the federal indictment, there are several mentions of a gun store named “Chaparral Guns”. Its owner, Ian Garland, is one of the defendants.
The defendants are accused of selling, buying, conspiring to transport or trafficking guns from the United States into Mexico.
Most of the guns were allegedly purches at “Chaparral Guns” in Chaparral, New Mexico. The shop was operated out of a home.
The agency responsible for regulating firearm sales is the ATF, or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
ABC-7 went to a West El Paso gun shop unrealted to the Columbus raid to see how the ATF keeps track of shady gun sales.
The indictment states that a total of 277 firearms were handled by the defendants in an alleged attempt to smuggle them across the border during a 14 month period. At least 12 of those firearms have been traced back to the defendants from Mexico, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Wiley Heath, an employee at the Collector’s Gun Exchange, told ABC-7 that it’s up to individual gun shop owners to report suspicious sales. He said ATF agents usually check in on gun shops at least once a year. “They can come in and check our records at any time they like,” said Heath.
However, the restrictions are minimal for individuals who want to purchase firearms. Besides background checks and age requirements, buyers can purchase a variety of firearms without notifying authorities.
The exception, said Heath, is handguns. “If you buy more than one handgun within a 5 day period, we do have to let the authorities know that you did that.”
ABC-7 wanted to ask the ATF when was the last time they looked at gun sale records for “Chaparral Guns.” An ATF agent in Las Cruces said they are not commenting on the case.
