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The military keeps losing weapons
In 2018, Alvin Damon used a stolen Beretta M9 during an attempted murder, and later to take a hostage in Albany, NY. The 9mm originated from Fort Bragg and somehow ended up almost 700 miles away.
In 2018, Alvin Damon used a stolen Beretta M9 during an attempted murder, and later to take a hostage in Albany, NY.
The pistol was marked as “in-transit” for two years before it was recovered.
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At least 1,900 other military-issue weapons went missing throughout the 2010s, according to a report by the Associated Press.
Military records indicate that these lost weapons, varying from workhorse pistols to grenade launchers, were misplaced or stolen from Navy warships, firing ranges, armories, and supply warehouses throughout the world.
Regarding the situation, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby observed that, “Though the numbers are small, one is too many.”
These losses are only considered small because the U.S. has millions of similar weapons stockpiled, the majority of which belong to the Army.
The most troublesome of these losses result from theft. To emphasize these cases, AP compiled their report with a purposeful exclusion of weapons lost in combat, and of other cases of haphazard misplacement.
Of the findings in the report, the worst is that stolen weapons are occasionally being used to commit violent crimes.
A tally developed by the FBI’s Criminal Justice information Services claims that only 22 military-issue guns were utilized to commit a felony offense during the decade.
AP claims that the provided numbers appear to be an undercount.
Concurrently with the report, AP analyzed 45 firearms-only investigations from the Navy and Marines. This analysis concluded that 55% of the cases resulted in no suspects or weapons found.
In the cases analyzed, it was determined that either inventory records weren’t completed for long periods, armories lacked basic security, or, records were destroyed or falsified.
Of the over 1900 missing weapons, 1504 instances were attributed to the Army. The remaining number was split between the Navy and Marine Corps. The Air Force declined to provide any information on the matter. Saying they were still processing the Freedom of Information Act request from the previous year.
