Criminals cash in on COVID-19 relief funds to stock up on guns and drugs
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Criminals cash in on COVID-19 relief funds to stock up on guns and drugs
(Newser)
This morning, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced that gun dealers could sell guns to anyone, as long as the purchasers can prove they had enough money to pay for the guns and the dealers don’t face consequences. He said California law allows for this “emergency relief,” and he urged lawmakers and people on the street to take advantage of it.
“I encourage anyone who possesses a firearm, for personal, recreational or legal reasons, [to] sell it if they can prove they have the funds to pay for it,” he said in a press conference earlier today. “The same applies to dealers who sell guns to people who can’t pay for them, as long as they don’t get charged with a crime.”
Becerra said he wants to take the money collected from sellers of guns to help people who have lost money in the coronavirus shutdown. The money is being used so far to buy food and medicine, and to pay for hospital and ambulance bills.
The news comes after California’s attorney general criticized gun dealers Tuesday for selling guns to anyone who could pass a background check. Earlier today, he said the guns should be sold only to people “with no criminal history, no criminal record, no warrants for their arrest, and no pending charges of any kind.”
(Read more gun stories.)
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