I haven’t seen much media on this story, but I don’t pay much attention to local media. Justin Jackson and Melissa Longe, both of Dummerston, VT, have pleaded guilty to a conspiracy that moved firearms across the border into Canada.
“The investigation soon revealed those purchases were part of a complex international trafficking conspiracy funneling illegally obtained weapons from New Hampshire into Canada, through Vermont and the Akwesasne,” said Thomas Greco with ATF Boston.
Federal ATF agents say 46-year-old Justin Jackson of Dummerston was enlisted by members of the reservation to purchase guns on their behalf. Investigators say Jackson then recruited “straw purchasers” with clean backgrounds to buy the weapons from a gun shop in Keene.
.. Federal agents say several of the guns were located at crime scenes in Canada, including kidnappings and attempted murders.
The reservation overlaps the border into Canada, and people living there move back and forth across the border without going through controlled ports of entry. Because of its unique geography, the Mohawk sovereign territory has a long history of international smuggling.
It sounds like everyone, including tribal police, cooperated to identify the perps. Thirteen have been charged, and 51 guns have been identified so far, including Jackson, Longe, and some members of the reservation.
I suppose it was inevitable. Lots of folks come to New Hampshire for cheap booze and cigarettes, much to the dismay of states that tax them or tax them more. Somewhere, we’ve got stories about people pulling up to New Hampshire liquor stores in SUVs, filling them up with product, then driving to New York or just about anywhere that’s not New Hampshire. Those other states keep asking us to keep an eye out. To police their tax policy for them, but that’s not our job.
So far, we’ve expressed no interest in doing it. Their purchases are legal within our borders, and what they do with it after they leave the state is a matter for those other states to manage or address. The same is true for fireworks, tobacco, firearms, cars, boats, RVs, and other big-ticket retail purchases.
We don’t tax them, you do. We don’t police your tax laws, you do.
We will, however, it seems, cooperate when guns purchased in Keene are being moved through Vermont, into upper state New York, and across the border into Canada, and used in crimes.
So maybe there’s hope for liquor and tobacco?
No F-ing way. That’d put a serious crimp in the 300 million or so we take in annually, thanks to non-residents buying tobacco and liquor.
You are welcome to buy your guns here as well. We’ll happily take your money, just don’t use them to commit crimes.
