Second Amendment Blog
Colosimo Inc. Pleads Guilty
Posted by:Sebastian on 
Sep 28th, 2009 | 
Filed under: Crime, Guns, Philadelphia
James Colosimo admits in federal court that illegal activity went on in his shop. His FFL has been revoked, and he is selling his inventory to other dealers. His shop will close.
Good riddance, I say. If the charges were true, we don’t need dealers who break the law. If the charges were false, we don’t need dealers who won’t stand up for what’s right.
Related posts (automatically generated):
September 28th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Yup your right. Thanks for not mincing words on the matter.
If he did it, he was wrong.
September 28th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Not to play down any illegal activity but I think that admitting to illegal activity was part of the plea bargain.
September 28th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
That’s quite probable, but we’ll never know, really, unless Colosimo wants to talk.
September 28th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Too bad Colosimo didn’t have the youth and gumption of a Ryan Horsley of Red’s Trading Post in Idaho. He refused to be run out of business and fought it tooth and nail in court. And he won.
I find it interesting that the US Atty never charged Colosimo personally – only the corporation.
September 29th, 2009 at 7:31 am
Thanks for saying right out that dealers who break the law are not needed. I find it amazing how many pro-gun folks will defend these guys regardless of what they do. It goes way beyond giving people the benefit of the doubt.
September 29th, 2009 at 9:47 am
It’s not difficult to screen out some straw purchasers…like the boyfriend who comes in with his girlfriend, looks and decides on a gun then has his girlfriend try to buy it. But if someone has a clean record and is by themselves and doesn’t look “shifty” or say something incriminating, then the onus is on the purchaser to obey the law. Colosimo may have gotten sloppy, but I don’t think he willfully aided and abetted straw purchases. He was just targeted politically…and EVERY gun shop in Philadelphia will be similarly targeted, because every gun shop in Philadelphia has had one of their guns traced.
September 29th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Good riddance, I say. If the charges were true, we don’t need dealers who break the law. If the charges were false, we don’t need dealers who won’t stand up for what’s right.
The man plead a possible $500,000 fine down to a likely $10,000 fine. Maybe he’s dirty and maybe he’s not, but I wouldn’t fault even an innocent man for making that calculation. Innocence is no firm guarantee of a not guilty verdict anymore, and half a million is a life and a retirement gone if he has it at all, or debtor’s servitude if he doesn’t.
At best, he’s not training his employees correctly, and at worst not being careful about hiring scrupulous employees. I’m sorry I ever stood up for this guy.
In other words, mildly incompetent at best, or a failure of due diligence at worst, but no personal criminal intent. I agree that makes him not cut out for the FFL business, but that doesn’t make me feel any better about the full legal penalty or the joy with which it is enforced.
September 29th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Argh… Failed to close italics. 1st and 3rd paragraphs are Snowflake’s, 2nd and 4th are mine. Sorry.
September 29th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Fixed it for you. See my latest post on this. The evidence the prosecution has in the case has come out, and it doesn’t look good. I think a plea deal was probably going easy on them. They conducted several stings on the dealer where they executed obvious straw buys.
September 29th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Vollfie:
I agree that Colosimo himself doesn’t appear to be guilty, but they went after Colosimo Inc, not Coloisimo himself.