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Between the Lines
Between the Lines
Joseph Farah
Disarm the BATF
Another day, another debacle for the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
This time, the scene is not Waco, Texas, or Ruby Ridge,
Idaho, but Taft, California -- another hotbed of
"anti-government activity."
According to the federal government's own account, the
BATF began an investigation into illegal firearms sales
by people espousing anti-government rhetoric three or
four years ago with an undercover agent allegedly
making an illegal purchase of a .22-caliber pistol.
It ended last week with one of the three targets of the
federal government probe dead in a highly unusual --
and, yes, improbable -- incident.
The official story goes something like this: Two BATF
agents, a Kern County sheriff's deputy and Sgt. Ed
Whiting of the Taft Police Department attempted to
take into custody on illegal firearms trafficking charges,
Darryl Howell, a 45-year-old grandfather and owner of
a surplus store that sold, among other things, guns and
ammunition.
A struggle between the BATF agents and Howell
ensued. The cops say he broke away from them, lunged
for a .45-caliber handgun, put it into his mouth and fired
a single shot. Whiting, the story goes, had become
temporarily distracted during the scuffle. When he
heard the single shot, he instinctively aimed his gun at
Howell and fired three more shots into his already,
presumably, lifeless body.
Now, if you believe that, I have an intercontinental
ballistic missile I'd like to sell you.
I'm not a cop, and I've never played one on TV. But I
have reported on enough crime stories in my day to
know when one stinks to high heaven. And this one
smells like a cattle ranch on a windless, summer day in
California's Central Valley.
Let me see if I have this straight. Four cops, one
"suspect." This wanted outlaw -- so dangerous he's
been under scrutiny of federal law enforcement for
nearly four years -- is confronted not in his home, not on
his lunch break, not on his way to work or after he locks
up, but during the workday in a store loaded with
firearms. Even though he's not accused of being on
PCP or any other drugs, he cannot be physically
subdued by four officers. They are unable to persuade
him to come along peacefully or handcuff him
involuntarily. Instead, he is permitted by these highly
trained law enforcement professionals to grab one of his
guns. But they don't shoot him right away. Oh no. They
allow him to pick up the handgun, bring it all the way up
to his mouth and pull the trigger. Only then, we are told,
does one of the officers, who wasn't paying attention,
pump the desperado full of lead.
Do these BATF clowns ever learn? Either these guys
are Washington's answer to the Keystone Kops, or we
have on the loose a cold, calculating, professional,
Gestapo-like killing machine designed to root out
dissidents exercising their Second Amendment rights
and blow them away without the messiness of trials and
due process.
How many times does America need to see such
tragedies before it wakes up and disarms these
dangerous, out-of-control, gun-slinging hitmen? The
inmates are running the asylum, folks. Beam me up.
There is no allegation made by any of these cowboys
that Howell or any others charged in a series of raids in
the town of Taft last week had provided weapons to
criminals or represented a threat to law-abiding citizens
anywhere. In fact, I personally would have felt a lot
safer in Taft last week, before Mr. Howell was
"suicided" than I would today. I think most Americans
would.
Let's suspend our own cognitive skills and good
judgment for a moment and pretend the cops' story is
100 percent accurate. Was the four-year investigation
worth it? Was it a prudent investment of taxpayer
dollars? Why aren't these law-enforcement heroes out
investigating real crimes of violence against innocent
victims, instead of conducting secretive sting operations
designed to entrap people into violating inherently
unconstitutional laws?
But, you know what? Such talk can get you in trouble
these days. One of the BATF agents responsible for
this tragedy said one of Howell's friends had (gasp!)
complained about a ban on "assault weapons" and the
actions of President Clinton, Attorney General Janet
Reno and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
At the risk of inviting a similar assault on my home or
business, let me pick up that cry: These are, indeed,
some of the people who represent a real threat to our
lives and liberty in America t