ATF seizes weapons from Blackwater

Investigation concerns how they were obtained

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives seized nearly two dozen automatic rifles from Blackwater Worldwide this week, apparently part of an investigation into whether the private security contractor obtained them illegally.

ATF agents confiscated the guns Tuesday, two days after a story in The News & Observer raised questions about Blackwater's deal to buy 34 guns for the Camden County Sheriff's Office -- nearly two automatic weapons for each of the department's 19 deputies.

Camden County Sheriff Tony Perry said Blackwater kept 22 of the guns at its Moyock headquarters, which is thought to be the world's largest private firearms training facility. It used the guns to train law enforcement officers and members of the military, and also may have used them to train foreign troops in anti-terrorism maneuvers financed by the State Department, officials said.

Half the guns were Romanian-made AK-47 assault rifles, and the others were Bushmaster XM15 E2S rifles, according to contracts between Blackwater and the Sheriff's Office. None of the deputies, though, was qualified to use AK-47s.

Generally, only government agencies, including local law enforcement, can own automatic weapons, according to federal law. Many police departments and sheriff's offices buy them for SWAT teams. The AK-47, however, is regarded as a poor choice for police work, in part because it's too powerful.

When an automatic weapon is properly registered to someone in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, it's illegal for someone else to receive or possess it. The 34 guns are registered to the Camden County sheriff.

Blackwater President Gary Jackson, in a meeting with N&O editors and reporters last week, said the deal with Camden was legal. The company also issued a statement Thursday defending the gun deal.

"Some of the same ATF agents involved in the current inquiry have long been aware of this arrangement as a result of visits to our facility and audits of our firearms programs at Blackwater's request," Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell wrote in an e-mail release. "As a company that is fully licensed to sell, provide training on, or even manufacture weapons -- including machine guns -- we have worked closely with the ATF to ensure we are in compliance with all applicable federal firearms laws. We look forward to cooperating with the government to resolve this allegation."

Perry, the Camden County sheriff, said last week that he couldn't remember who had suggested the deal with his office and that he was cooperating with the ATF on the case.

He was traveling Thursday and couldn't be reached for comment on the confiscations.

The Raleigh ATF office referred questions about the case Thursday to the U.S. Attorney's Office. A spokeswoman there declined to comment, saying that she could not confirm or deny any investigation that might be pending.

Tyrrell said the ATF agents came to the company's headquarters Tuesday and took all the Camden County rifles stored there without giving an explanation.

"They came and asked to speak to someone from our legal department and asked to see the Camden County locker," she said in a telephone interview. "Our lawyer gave them access, and they took the weapons."

Jackson, the Blackwater president, signed two agreements in 2005 with Maj. Jon Worthington of the Sheriff's Office, who also has moonlighted at Blackwater as a firearms instructor, according to Perry. One was for the AK-47s, the other for the Bushmasters.

Blackwater paid for the guns, and the terms said the Sheriff's Office would have unlimited access to the rifles "for training and qualification, and state of emergency use."

The deal could be illegal, a law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said last week in an interview. When one person fills out the federal firearms registration form to get a weapon for someone else's use, that can be an illegal "straw purchase," said Richard Myers, adding that he had prosecuted several such deals while working as a federal prosecutor.