Mayor Bloomberg, Check Your Army...

...before you start blaming "other states" with "lax gun laws" for the "illegal guns" circulating in your city...

NYPD officer pleads guilty in gun smuggling case

NEW YORK – A Brooklyn police officer has pleaded guilty in a smuggling case that involved guns, cigarettes and slot machines.

Officer William Masso pleaded guilty Monday to four conspiracy counts. He could face roughly five to six years in prison when he's sentenced on June 15.

Guns, cigarettes, and slot machines. Why, it's almost like he was trafficking in items that the government limits access to - no, wait, that's exactly what he was doing. A New York City cop was stealing firearms and distributing them to folks we can pretty safely assume did not have NY carry permits. Along with cigarettes (heavily taxed, so ripe for black market) and slot machines (also heavily regulated like firearms), this modern day Robbin' Hood was taking from the, err, well, we're not sure where he was getting these items. And we can't be certain he was giving to the poor, so...

Interesting, is it not, that even the folks tasked with upholding the law have a hard time doing so when the lure of easy money is tossed their way? And why is it easy money? Because the government either restricts access to a product folks are going to buy anyways or puts burdensome tariffs on otherwise legal items. Restrict the supply without a change in demand and it brings about those willing to circumvent the law - it's a story that's as old as society itself.

The irony of it happening right under Mayor Bloomberg's nose involving a member of his "army" is just too delicious to ignore...

That is all.

Another dispatch from...

(image courtesy of Robb Allen)