by Erik Larson
58 Wayne Daniel may … ATF-CR1, 2.
59 Ledbetter and Motes … Peter Urrea, ATF affidavit in US-SWD.
60 Wayne Daniel went … ATF-CR1, 3.
61 Ledbetter and Motes founded … Ibid., 3–4.
62 Details of this … Peter Urrea, ATF affidavit in US-SWD; Keith W. Dunkel, ATF affidavit in US-SWD.
63 On April 27 … Keith W. Dunkel, ATF affidavit in US-SWD; Peter Urrea, affidavit in US-SWD.
64 On April 30 … Urrea, Ibid.
65 Urrea also … Ibid.
66 On July 19 … Keith W. Dunkel, ATF affidavit in US-SWD, 10–11.
67 The bureau used … ATF-CR2, 1.
68 In formal court … “SW Daniel Inc.’s Response to Government’s Motion to Amend the Conditions of Release,” US-SWD.
69 All in all … Keith Dunkel, testimony. US-SWD, February 10, 1986.
70 Only four buyers … “Government’s Motion to Amend the Conditions of Release,” US-SWD.
71 An ATF agent … ATF-CR2.
72 Agents also … Ibid., 8–9.
73 Another investigation … ATF-CR1, 4.
74 In Ohio … Ibid., 4–5; George Burton, statement to ATF. US-SWD, April 27, 1984.
75 The growing list … ATF-CR1, 6, 7, 14; Michael Molinari, ATF affidavit. US-SWD, May 17, 1985.
76 “There are literally …” Brian C. Leighton, “Government’s Motion to Amend the Conditions of Release,” US-SWD.
77 The Daniels pleaded … Wayne Daniel, affidavit. ET-SP.
78 On May 1 … Complaint, judgment. Exhibit A, ET-SP.
79 In a handwritten … Exhibit C, ET-SP.
80 “It wasn’t …” Earl Taylor, interview.
81 They introduced … Northwest Distributing advertisement.
82 The company’s latest … Maryland Handgun Roster Board, “Determination on Petition: Ladies’ Home Companion,” Docket 90148, July 16, 1991.
83 The trigger … Ibid., 1–2.
84 The board ruled … Ibid., 5.
85 An official … Confidential source, interview.
86 “Shit no …” Earl Taylor, interview.
87 “You put a gun …” Leonard Supenski, testimony. WF-SE.
88 “Well, I should say …” Leonard Supenski, interview.
Chapter Six: Nicholas
1 Nicholas did come … NES, 47–50, 70–72.
2 Nicholas, who … Samuel M. Marino, testimony. VA-NE, 7–8.
3 Marino said … Ibid., 8.
4 Just as Nicholas left … Ibid., 8.
5 “All of a sudden …” Ibid., 9.
6 “At first …” Ibid., 9
7 He saw Nicholas … Ibid., 40.
8 “In a situation …” Ibid., 39
9 “I’ve got something …” Ibid., 10–11.
10 Susan Allen, watching … Susan Allen, testimony. VA-NE, 50.
11 “What is it …” Samuel M. Marino, testimony. VA-NE, 31.
12 “Give it to me …” Susan Allen, testimony. VA-NE, 51.
13 “Here it is …” Ibid., 51.
14 Victims of … Det. Donald Adams, interview.
15 Marino held … Samuel M. Marino, testimony. VA-NE, 12.
Chapter Seven: The Purchase
1 Nonetheless, Guns Unlimited … Motion for judgment, WF-SE.
2 One peaceful weekend … Curtis Williams, testimony. US-CW.
3 “He wanted …” Ibid., 6.
4 “Man,” he said … Ibid., 34.
5 “My husband …” Ibid., 9.
6 “After that …” Ibid., 10.
7 “They got in …” Ibid., 12–13.
8 Nicholas reached … Ibid., 14–15.
9 What Massengill … Tony D. Massengill, deposition. WF-SE, July 16, 1990, 38, 46–48, 116.
10 This clerk … Christopher Hartwig, testimony. WF-SE, January 15, 1992, 5, 14.
11 Williams testified … Curtis Williams, testimony. US-CW, 14.
12 Asked if anything … Ibid., 15.
13 (Raymond Rowley … Raymond Rowley, testimony. US-CW, 21.
14 “The only thing …” Curtis Williams, Testimony. US-CW, 17.
15 Massengill, in a … Tony D. Massengill, deposition. WF-SE, July 16, 1990, 16.
16 In an interview … Tony D. Massengill, interview.
17 Once outside … Curtis Williams, testimony. US-CW, 19.
18 “What would ever …” Robert W. Wiechering. US-CW, 42.
Chapter Eight: The Dealer
1 A Baltimore police … Confidential source, Baltimore Police Department, interview.
2 A thick printout … Printout of Virginia Federal Firearms Licensees. ATF, May 12, 1992.
3 One medical examiner … Allen M. Jones, et. al. “Suicidal Contact Gunshot Wounds to the Head with .38 Special Glaser Safety Slug Ammunition. Journal of Forensic Sciences 32:6 (November 1987): 1604–21.
4 The Dicks learned … J. Michael Dick, interview.
5 The domestic gun industry … New York Times, March 20, 1992, D1; New York Times, March 8, 1992, 1.
6 Financial statements filed … SNUG Enterprises, Bankruptcy File. U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Norfolk, Virginia, 91–22192-T.
7 At its peak … Ibid; See also photograph, Virginian-Pilot, December 19, 1988, A2.
8 In a deposition, Christopher … Christopher Hartwig, deposition. WF-SE, September 12, 1991, 38–40.
9 “Is that something …” Ibid., 39.
10 “I can’t lie …” Ibid., 39–40.
11 “Guns Unlimited is …” J. Michael Dick, interview.
12 “Whatever you want …” Harry Boone, deposition. WF-SE, September 12, 1991, 16.
13 “It’s good for nothing …” Christopher Hartwig, deposition. WF-SE, September 12, 1991, 32.
14 “Your blacks …” Ibid., 32.
15 “I hate to use …” J. Michael Dick, interview.
16 Just as Nicholas … Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, January 18, 1992, A1.
17 In August 1991 … “United States’ Position on Defendant’s Role in the Offense,” US-AF, January 6, 1992.
18 All the dealer … Title 27, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 178: Commerce in Firearms and Ammunition, 178.126a; “Report of Multiple Sale or Other Disposition of Pistols and Revolvers,” ATF form 3310.4; Jack Killorin, interview.
19 In 1992, ATF … Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 14, 1993, H1.
20 Even Batman … Ibid., H4.
21 In the early 1970s … Ibid., H4.
22 Before it took effect … Ibid., H4.
23 At eight-forty … Criminal complaint. US-AF, September 8, 1991.
24 Requizo, the license … Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, January 18, 1992, A1.
25 Cooper said … John Cooper, sentencing hearing. US-AF, January 9, 1992.
26 Mike Dick was … J. Michael Dick, interview.
27 He made his first … Indictment. US-DA, January 14, 1991; Wall Street Journal, February 28, 1992, 1.
28 Moreover, she sold … J. Michael Dick, interview.
29 When ATF learned … John DePollo, testimony. US-DA, February 28, 1991.
30 A few days after … Criminal complaint/ATF affidavit. US-DA.
31 Again the form … John DePollo, testimony. US-DA, February 28, 1991.
32 A few days later … Ibid.
33 Four days later … Ibid.
34 Dick explained … J. Michael Dick, interview.
35 Federal law grants … ATF, “Federal Firearms Licensee Information,” ATF P5300.15., January 1, 1989.
36 “Yes, they tell …” J. Michael Dick, interview.
37 “Well, actually …” Ibid.
38 On March 20, 1991 … J. Michael Dick, testimony. PA-JH, 963–97.
39 Yet from July … John W. Thompson, Jr., testimony. PA-JH, 1135–39.
40 Dick remembered … J. Michael Dick, interview.
41 He had never … J. Michael Dick, testimony. PA-JH, 997.
42 The executives … Judge O’Keefe, opinion. Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia. PA-JH, January 21, 1993.
43 Robert Dowe hadn’t … Robert Dowe, testimony. PA-JH, 1055–61.
44 Foy, who weighed … Dr. James Lewis, testimony. PA-JH, 1051.
45 Leonard Allen … Leonard Allen, testimony. PA-JH, 946.
46 “No. I did …” J. Michael Dick, interview.
47 “The object of …” Ibid.
48 “I would say …” Raymond Rowley, interview.
49 “That guy is …” Leonard Supenski, interview.
Chapter Nine: Nicholas
1 “Now you …” Susan Allen, testimony. VA-NE, February 28, 1989, 51.
2 At first … Ibid., 52.
3 “I hit …” Ibid., 52.
4 “It was not …” Det. Donald Adams, interview.
5 “My God …” Susan Allen, testimony. VA-NE, 52.
6 Two things … Samuel M. Marino, testimony. VA-NE, 43.
7 Nicholas knew … NES, 61–62.
8 “I saw Mr. Marino …” Maurice H. Matteson, testimony. VA-NE, 120.
9 “I saw Nicholas …” Ibid., 122.
10 Nicholas had seen … NES, 62.
11 “There were chairs …” (Billy Cutter), testimony. VA-NE, 173.
12 “Billy …” Ibid.
13 “I know …” NES, 87.
14 “Billy Cutter …” Maurice H. Matteson, testimony. VA-NE, 123.
Chapter Ten: The Enforcers
1 In a 1981 congressional … G. R. Dickerson, testimony. Dismantling of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms hearing, Subcommittee on Crime, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, April 30, 1981, 26.
2 “There’s been …” Jack Killorin, interview.
3 “Illegal traffickers …” “A Study of Weapons Seized in Connection with Narcotics Investigations,” ATF Detroit Division, 1992, 13.
4 “If it were not …” Ibid., 13.
5 It must police … Anthony Fleming, interview.
6 This ratio … Robert Sherrill, The Saturday Night Special (New York: Charterhouse, 1973), 143.
7 In 1990 … Firearms Program License Application Data, ATF.
8 Roughly half … Anthony Fleming, interview.
9 My ATF printout … Printout of Maryland Federal Firearms Licensees. ATF, May 12, 1992.
10 A Los Angeles Times … Los Angeles Times, May 18, 1992, A1.
11 Any consumer who … Title 27, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 178: Commerce in Firearms and Ammunition, Section 178.128 b and c.
12 ATF traces its … “Facts,” ATF.
13 On January 16 … Robert T. Schoenberg, Mr. Capone (New York: William Morrow, 1992), 56–57.
14 What ATF neglects … Ibid., 58.
15 Eliot Ness urged … Ibid., 252.
16 Indeed, Schoenberg … Ibid., 297.
17 The real hero … Ibid., 298.
18 By the fall … Ibid., 139.
19 In 1969 … William J. Helmer, The Gun That Made the Twenties Roar (New York: Macmillan, 1969).
20 The Thompson … John Ellis, The Social History of the Machine Gun (Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1975), 149–51.
21 In a 1922 magazine ad … Auto-Ordnance Corp., advertisement, 1922; Ellis, Social History, 151.
22 An article … Ellis, Social History, 77.
23 In 1923 … Ibid., 79.
24 The first recorded … Schoenberg, Capone, 139.
25 That day … Helmer, Gun That Made, 84.
26 Capone first … Ibid., 84–85.
27 One of the dead … Ibid., 85; Schoenberg, Capone, 150.
28 The attack triggered … Helmer, Gun That Made, 87.
29 The Thompson submachine … Ibid., 88.
30 On February 14 … Ibid., 88.
31 As other massacres … Ibid., 100.
32 You’ve read … Ibid., 111.
33 One result … Ellis, Social History, 160.
34 On October 14 … Schoenberg, Capone, 322.
35 A more significant … “Facts,” BATF.; Sherrill, Saturday Night, 58; “BATF: Management Improvements Needed to Handle Increasing Responsibilities,” GAO, March 1991, 10.
36 In 1938, Congress … GAO, Ibid., 10.
37 It boosted … Ibid., 11; Sherrill, Saturday Night, 295.
38 “When our law-enforcement …” Rex Davis, former director, BATF, interview.
39 In 1968 the NRA’s … Osha Gray Davidson, Under Fire: The NRA & The Battle for Gun Control (New York: Henry Holt, 1993), 30.
40 Gradually, the hard-liners … Ibid., 31–41.
41 “To the NRA faithful …” Ibid., 31.
42 “That was a well-known …” Rex Davis, interview.
43 In March of 1978 … G. R. Dickerson, director, BATF, testimony. Firearms Enforcement Efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms hearing, Subcommittee on Crime, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, July 2, 1980, 69.
44 “We didn’t feel …” Rex Davis, interview.
45 It cited … G. R. Dickerson, director, BATF, testimony, Firearms hearing, 70–71.
46 The NRA, however … Rex Davis, interview.
47 Davis, delighted … Rex Davis, interview.
48 The NRA went so far … Davidson, Under Fire, 50; Representative John D. Dingell, testimony. Proposed Dissolution of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms special hearing, Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Senate, February 23, 1982, 245–46.
49 “We often hear …” G. R. Dickerson, director, BATF, testimony, Firearms hearing, 72.
50 At the same hearing … Firearms Enforcement Efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms hearing, Subcommittee on Crime, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, July 2, 1980, 139–50.
51 That month … Davidson, Under Fire, 50.
52 At a February … Representative John D. Dingell, testimony, Dissolution hearing, 245–47, 249, 252.
53 The Gun Owners … Lawrence D. Pratt, testimony. Proposed Dissolution of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms special hearing, Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Senate, February 22, 1982, 146.
54 Neal Knox, head … Neal Knox, testimony. Proposed Dissolution of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms special hearing, Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Senate, March 8, 1982, 324.
55 The NRA’s turnabout … Representative William J. Hughes, testimony. Enforcement Efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms hearing, Subcommittee on Crime, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, May 4, 1982, 2.
56 “The NRA realized …” Davidson, Under Fire, 52.
57 “Some of the things …” Bernard La Forest, BATF, interview.
58 The bill banned … “Congress Relaxes Federal Gun Control Laws,” Congressional Quarterly Almanac (1986): 82–85.
59 Before the act … Ibid., 84.
60 Representative Hughes said … Ibid., 84.
61 “I don’t know …” Rex Davis, interview.
62 From 1988 … “Firearms and Explosives: Information and Observations on ATF Law Enforcement Operations,” GAO, June 1993, 44–45.
63 “These are safe …” Rex Davis, interview.
64 From 1975 through … “Firearms Program License Application Data,” BATF, 1975–1990.
65 In 1990, for example … “Firearms Program Inspection Activity,” BATF, 1990.
66 But revocation can be … Al’s Loan Office vs. U.S. Dept. of Treasury, 738 F. Supp. 221 (E.D. Mich. 1990), May 7, 1990.
67 In fiscal 1991 … “Cases in Select Categories: Firearms Enforcement,” BATF, fiscal year 1991.
68 On July 1, 1989 … Special Agent Edward Wetterman, affidavit. U.S. vs. Carroll Landis Brown, U.S. District Court, Baltimore. Case: HM-91–0010, 2.
69 He advertised … Ibid., 5.
70 Beginning September 20 … Ibid., 4.
71 On November 16 … Ibid., 4.
72 On December 10 … Ibid., 6.
73 As of January 1991 … “Memorandum in Opposition to Defendant’s ‘Notice of Appeal.’ ” U.S. vs. Carroll Landis Brown
, U.S. District Court, Baltimore. Case: HM-91–0010, 3–4.
74 Hunt and an associate … Baltimore Sun, December 29, 1991, 1D.
75 “Dear Judge …” Mykia Brown, letter (undated). U.S. vs. Carroll Landis Brown, U.S. District Court, Baltimore. Case: HM-91–0010.
76 Rev. James Ross … Rev. James Ross, letter, May 30, 1991. U.S. vs. Carroll Landis Brown, U.S. District Court, Baltimore. Case: HM-91–0010.
77 Soon after … M. Dion Thompson, “A Gun Dealer’s Legacy.”
78 Among the guns … List of distributors and guns. U.S. vs. Carroll Landis Brown. U.S. District Court, Baltimore. Case: HM-91–0010.
79 The remainder … Project Detroit, BATF, Detroit, April 19, 1991, 2.
80 In its report … Ibid., 7.
81 Yet of the five … Ibid., 12; Special Agent in Charge Bernard La Forest, interview.
82 Project Detroit also … Bernard La Forest, interview.
83 “We’re not in …” Ken Jorgensen, interview.
84 “The wholesalers thought …” Bernard La Forest, interview.
85 “What would the results …” Project Detroit, BATF, Detroit, April 19, 1991, 7.
86 Early in 1989, two … Cox Newspapers, “Firepower: Assault Weapons in America,” 1989.
87 ATF wasn’t able … Gerald A. Nunziato, Special Agent in Charge, National Tracing Center, BATF, interview.
88 In fiscal 1990 … Los Angeles Times, May 20, 1992, A1.
89 “If they’ve got …” Bernard La Forest, interview.
90 Raymond Rowley, an agent … Special Agent Raymond Rowley, interview.
91 The ATF’s Urgent trace … G. R. Dickerson, testimony. Dismantling of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms hearing, Subcommittee on Crime, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, April 30, 1981, 34.
92 But Stokes eventually … Thomas W. Stokes, interview.
93 “We’re always looking for …” Raymond Rowley, interview.
94 “We don’t make …” David Troy, interview.
Chapter Eleven: Nicholas
1 Forensic investigators … Det. Donald Adams, interview.
2 Cutter was splayed … (Billy Cutter), testimony. VA-NE, February 28, 1989, 94.
3 “It looked …” Ibid., 87.
4 “I was probably …” Maurice H. Matteson, testimony. VA-NE, February 28, 1989, 123.
