in a foreign-made Derringer in the bargain. Investigation of some of his customers revealed business addresses that they had given were in low-class hotels, private residences in rundown areas, and many other questionable locations. The section prohibiting licenses to the applicant who does not have or does not intend to have or to maintain business premises for the conduct of a business can be utilized by our department to curtail the activities of the itinerant gun seller who goes from town to town peddling his wares. This traveling gun dealer uses many a ruse to allow paramilitary organizations to transport their weapons. Recently, the Los Angeles Police Department and agents of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Unit of the Treasury Department arrested two such peddlers for illegal possession of machineguns. The two men had each driven a 5-ton truck loaded with machineguns, an antitank cannon, rifles, mortars, training mockup machineguns, machetes, and some one-quarter of a million rounds of ammunition, from Delaware The arrestees told our officers that they had traveled across the country selling their merchandise to various gunshops and at gun shows as they went. It is significant to note that the trucks were still fully loaded when they reached Los Angeles. And, Senator, that is the Robert A. Smith folder that Mr. Perian has a copy of. And near the back of it, in addition, one item that I did not mention but which shows quite clearly in the picture is an aerial bomb. These individuals had an aerial bomb in their group of armament that they were supposedly taking from town to town to sell at gunshop and gun shows. (The documents referred to were marked "Exhibits Nos. 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, and 37" and are as follows:) EXHIBIT No. 31 INVENTORY-ROBERT A. SMITH, FRANCIS A. OWENS 1. 20.30 caliber M-1 carbines. 12.303 caliber British jungle carbines. 6 British other. 14 revolvers. 1 shotgun. 4 miscellaneous rifles. 2 muskets. 2. 950 rounds, 20 millimeter; approximately 250,000 rounds of miscellaneous military ammunition of the following calibers: To point up the need for legislation restricting the importation and sale of weapons, the committee has been presented with a chart containing statistics showing the tremendous increase in weapons seized and destroyed by the Los Angeles Police Department and the percentage of foreign weapons among them. |