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#10
04-21-2005, 12:09 AM
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Fabs,
I had the time to do the digging a few weeks ago, with the help of my father. One of the 50 cal. guns was bought at a store near my hometown. I'll post again with the lonk to the 60 Minutes story. fabsroman wrote: Quote:
http://www.ridgwayrecord.com/article...ews/news01.txt St. Marys gun store on 60 Minutes Wednesday, March 23, 2005 11:24 AM EST ST. MARYS - A local business recently appeared on national television following the purchase of a gun by a former Albanian man supplying guns to guerilla forces in Kosovo last April. According to a 60 Minutes show, which aired Sunday, Florin Krasniqi, a former Albanian currently residing in Brooklyn, N.Y., bought a .50-caliber rifle from Elk County Ammo & Arms, in St. Marys, while accompanied by a Dutch film crew. The store, not named in the program, was referred to as a "gun store in Pennsylvania." The .50-caliber rifle, which is legal to sell within the United States, was coupled with an estimated 200 other weapons bought elsewhere that were then shipped overseas to Kosovo. Krasniqi's intentions, he told 60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley, was to show how easy it is to purchase large caliber rifles and ammunition in the U.S. The weapons he bought in America ended up in the hands of the Kosovo Liberation Army, he told 60 Minutes. According to Mark Rupprecht, owner of Elk County Ammo & Arms, the store had no idea the documentary was intended for 60 Minutes. In fact, he said this issue all started when a woman from New York called the store, saying she had an elephant hunter interested in purchasing a specific gun for a hunt. As a freelance photographer, Rupprecht said the woman wished to film a documentary in hopes of selling the footage to a Dutch TV station. "She wanted to film this hunt in its entirety, including where he bought the gun," said Rupprecht. This footage is what ended up on 60 Minutes. "It's not an illegal gun to buy," said Rupprecht, adding the only thing significant about this gun is its size. Rupprecht did order the gun on the woman's request and agreed to the filming in his store. Rupprecht said Elk County Ammo & Arms had recently gotten its website up and running, which is how the film crew found the store. According to Rupprecht, filming is a big part of hunting, so he found nothing unnatural about the request to film the gun purchase. "I went along with their wishes," he said. "That was pretty much the end of it." However, in November, he said the Office of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms came to Elk County Ammo & Arms, asking specific questions about the transaction. He said the organization checked all of the store's records. "They did their investigation and there was nothing wrong on my end," said Rupprecht. Then the footage showed up on 60 Minutes. "It was very deceitful what they did," Rupprecht said of the film crew. "I don't know how you can take precautions from deceitful people." Rupprecht said there was absolutely nothing illegal about the sale, and the filming was done under false pretenses. "The laws are very specific on what you have to do when you sell guns. Every sale we do is perfectly legal." Rupprecht said last April's sale was similar to any other. He treated his customer with the best possible customer service. In fact, Rupprecht said he has no idea how many other stores were filmed, but he believes his footage was chosen due to the level of customer service he displays. He said he was not letting them film for store promotion purposes, as the footage, he believed, was to be sold to a Dutch TV station.
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