with the crime. the investigation could find kmetz should have never had that gun. he would have never passed a federal background check. he had a history of mental illness and the trouble with the city of new hope. yet raymond kmetz was able to buy three guns illegally through a straw purchaser, a friend pretending to buy the three guns for himself. and in a shocking twist, all three guns were being sold by the police department of duluth, minnesota. very surprised. being a sheriff of a large midwestern county, one of the largest counties in the country to learn a law enforcement agency actually sold these guns online instead of destroying them or keeping them for their own purposes. reporter: across the country, police chiefs and sheriffs are finding themselves in an ethical dilemma. over the same issue, in hennepin county, minnesota, guns from
stanic, the shock wouldn t end with the crime. the investigation could find kmetz should have never had that gun. he would have never passed a federal background check. he had a history of mental illness and the trouble with the city of new home yet raymond kmetz was able to buy three guns illegally through a straw purchaser. a friend pretending to buy the guns for himself and in a shocking twist, all three guns were being sold by the police department of duluth, minnesota. very surprised. being a sheriff of a large midwestern county, one of the largest counties in the country to learn a law enforcement agency actually sold these guns online instead of destroying them or keeping them for their own purposes. reporter: across the country, police chiefs and sheriffs are finding themselves in an ethical dilemma. in minnesota guns from crimes are seized almost every day. good guns worth money.
going through a background check. that is illegal in the state of california. right. so what happens good morning carol, good morning evan. it could be that these are charges that just are predicated upon the purchasing. and he s a straw purchaser. you are purchasing with no intent to use but you are giving it to someone else. and remember the person you give to, you can gift firearms. it s complicated. i wouldn t recommend it. gave gift card and let the person purchase it on their own. remember, as evan spoke though, he s been questioned by the fbi for a period of time. so we don t know specifically what he s been telling the fbi concerning his knowledge. they are childhood friends. he himself converted to muslim. fine, people do that. but what was his intent in doing it? and what did he know with regard to the purchase of the firearms how they will be used? he spoke to the issue of the
government s focused on, number one, the firearm. he was what we call a straw purchaser. he purchased the weapons not for the intent of having them himself but the intent of ultimately transferring them over. looking at the form right here, it says you have to indicate on that form, are you the buyer? it says, if you misrepresent that, you face up to ten years. so that s a misrepresentation. now, obviously, what the debriefing of him, they ll get other information. you mentioned, started out with the material support. could it lead to that? of course. in the event that he knew. and if he didn t know, does it matter? well, it could matter. because, you know, look, he knew, when he was purchasing those guns, they weren t for him. in addition of that, we know of the plot that happened around the same time. he knew he was supplying guns to someone who wanted to do bad at one time. exactly. they apparently had a plot which they aborted based upon a
investigators that he purchased these weapons because he felt that if farook did it would draw attention or he couldn t pass the background check, he s a straw purchaser but i would be surprised if that were the sole issues he has to contend with legally. it sounds like there s a lot more risk in terms of his exposure. congressman, explain this. it does sound from investigators as though this guy could be a gold mine. he told them about the pipe bombs and how they did it and what they were capable of and he supplied the weapons. what happens then? does he get charged and does he go to prison or is he seen as a key witness? i think he very well may be charged and the prosecutors would look at a range of charges and a negotiation about whether he would be willing to plead and will to continue cooperating. i have to imagine if he checked himself into a mental