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Raid Of Blackwater Seeks Automatic Assault Rifles

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The Associated Press

Published: June 27, 2008

RALEIGH, N.C. - Federal agents raided Blackwater Worldwide this week as part of an investigation into whether the private security company sidestepped federal laws prohibiting the private purchase of automatic assault rifles, the company said Thursday.
Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searched Blackwater's armory at its corporate headquarters in Moyock, N.C., on Tuesday as part of the investigation. Court documents show agents seized 22 guns from a vault as evidence.

The company signed agreements in 2005 in which Blackwater financed the purchase of 34 automatic weapons for the Camden County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff Tony Perry became the official owner of the weapons, but Blackwater was allowed to keep most of the guns at its armory.

Federal laws prohibit private parties from buying automatic weapons, but allow law enforcement agencies to have them.

One of the 2005 agreements says the weapons will be kept under "lock and key" and doesn't describe whether Blackwater would use them.

"We believe all aspects of our contracts with the sheriff's office are lawful and proper," Tyrrell said.

Tyrrell also said federal authorities have known about the weapons for years and that investigators got a complete look at the company's cache in 2005 after two employees were fired.
Blackwater is the largest private security firm in Iraq, and it has been under scrutiny as a federal grand jury in Washington investigates the company's involvement in the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians.

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