One of the guns used in the November 13, 2015 Paris terrorist attacks
came from Phoenix, Arizona where the Obama administration allowed
criminals to buy thousands of weapons illegally in a deadly and futile
“gun-walking” operation known as “Fast and Furious.”
A Report of Investigation (ROI) filed by a case agent in the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) tracked the gun used
in the Paris attacks to a Phoenix gun owner who sold it illegally, “off
book,” Judicial Watch’s law enforcement sources confirm. Federal agents
tracing the firearm also found the Phoenix gun owner to be in possession
of an unregistered fully automatic weapon, according to law enforcement
officials with firsthand knowledge of the investigation.
The investigative follow up of the Paris weapon consisted of tracking
a paper trail using a 4473 form, which documents a gun’s ownership
history by, among other things, using serial numbers. The Phoenix gun
owner that the weapon was traced back to was found to have at least two
federal firearms violations—for selling one weapon illegally and
possessing an unregistered automatic—but no enforcement or prosecutorial
action was taken against the individual. Instead, ATF leaders went out
of their way to keep the information under the radar and ensure that the
gun owner’s identity was “kept quiet,” according to law enforcement
sources involved with the case. “Agents were told, in the process of
taking the fully auto, not to anger the seller to prevent him from going
public,” a veteran law enforcement official told Judicial Watch.
It’s not clear if the agency, which is responsible for cracking down
on the illegal use and trafficking of firearms, did this because the
individual was involved in the Fast and Furious gun-running scheme. An
ATF spokesman, Corey Ray, at the agency’s Washington D.C. headquarters
told Judicial Watch that “no firearms used in the Paris attacks have
been traced” by the agency. When asked about the ROI report linking the
weapon used in Paris to Phoenix, Ray said “I’m not familiar with the
report you’re referencing.” Judicial Watch also tried contacting the
Phoenix ATF office, but multiple calls were not returned.
The ATF ran the Fast and Furious experiment and actually allowed
criminals, “straw purchasers,” working for Mexican drug cartels to buy
weapons at federally licensed firearms dealers in Phoenix and allowed
the guns to be “walked”—possessed without any knowledge of their
whereabouts. The government lost track of most of the weapons and many
have been used to murder hundreds of innocent people as well as a U.S.
Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry, in Arizona. A mainstream newspaper reported
that a Muslim terrorist who planned to murder attendees of a Muhammad
cartoon contest in Garland, Texas last year bought a 9-millimeter pistol
at a Phoenix gun shop that participated in the ATF’s Fast and Furious
program despite drug and assault charges that should have raised red
flags. Judicial Watch has thoroughly investigated Fast and Furious and has sued the Obama administration for information about the once-secret operation.
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