As many of you know, Blackwater's former president and two other executives might be facing federal weapons charges. However, someone else might be facing charges as well in this--Tony Perry, the sheriff of Camden County, North Carolina.
As part of a 2005 purchase financed by Blackwater, Perry became the owner of record of 34 automatic weapons, including 17 AK-47s. However, Blackwater kept the guns at its armory. On the surface, this looks like a straw purchase--which is highly illegal. But even if it isn't, there's another red flag--Camden County is the third-smallest county in North Carolina, with only 6,900 people. How does the sheriff of such a rural county justify buying that much heavy weaponry? I'd really like to know the answer to that question.
One fact in this case, however, weighs heavily against this being a mere waste of resources. According to the AP writeup, none of Perry's 19 deputies ever qualified to use the guns between the 2005 purchase and their seizure in a 2008 ATF raid. This despite the sheriff's department having unlimited access to the weapons and using them mainly for target practice.
All of this makes it look like the three Blackwater officials did an end run around the 1986 law barring private individuals from buying fully automatic weapons--and used Perry to do it, since the law allows law enforcement to have them. Bottom line--unless Perry has a really good explanation for why he bought those guns, he'd better have his lawyer on speed dial.