How do criminals get their guns? They’re not filling out 4473 forms at the counter of your local gun store. Depending on the source you look at, over 200,000 firearms are stolen each year. One thing that gun owners can do to reduce that number is to make it harder for would-be thieves to get at their guns. That’s a lesson the Miami Heat’s Hassan Whiteside learned the hard way over the summer.
As something called Slater Scoops reports,
According to exclusively-obtained police reports, Whiteside bought a $50,000 Colt M16 assault rifle, ammunition, a rifle bag, and a silencer at Johnson’s Firearms in Miami on July 5.
Whiteside went directly from the gun store to the University of Miami for a workout.
As he practiced in the Hurricanes gym for about an hour, Whiteside left his Rolls Royce unlocked.
The next day when Whiteside got home, he noticed that his rifle bag and weapon were missing.
Because why bother to lock your $400,000 ride?
About two weeks later, Whiteside and his attorneys spoke with detectives. During that conversation, Whiteside remembered that he had left the just-purchased rifle unattended in his unlocked car when he went back inside the gun store.
It was determined that the gun was stolen at that time, and not on UM’s campus.
The good news is that Whiteside’s gun and suppressor were later found in a stolen car.
So there’s no mystery as to how or why the gun was stolen. A long gun visibly stored in an unlocked flashy car is a juicy target for any thief.
No, the only real mystery here is…$50,000 for a Colt M16 and a suppressor?
OK, Whiteside makes over $23 million dollars a year so fifty grand is virtually pocket change to someone in that tax bracket. Still, assuming it isn’t full-auto, if you somehow pay twice the going price for a Colt M16A1, that would only be about $5,000. Buy an insanely-priced Jesse James can? Another $3,000. Plus the “rifle bag” and ammo…maybe you’re talking ten grand total? Maybe.
But if the report is accurate and Whiteside really did plunk down fifty grand for the items described, It seems to us that the most noteworthy robbery in this case happened inside the gun store.
I was wondering the same thing when I first read about the theft. I thought I’ve seen auctions where the starting price for the M16 can be from 20,000 to 25,000.
If it’s burst fire maybe, I’ve seen those go in the area of $30K. Full giggle switches cost a lot more from what I’ve seen as a spectator to the auctions.
I just checked gunbroker and you can get a 4-way trigger kit for under $400. Just the SFB models are about $500. Once you have a registered MG, you can drop in whatever trigger you want. I’m not sure how thus could add $5k-$10k to the price unless there’s a particular OEM you’re looking for.
Hmm, I can’t argue with you there. In fact now you mention it, even brownells.com sells all the fixings (minus the receiver obv) for fairly cheap. So I don’t know, if it’s not the OEM thing then maybe the price difference was something else that I didn’t appreciate at the time.
There is no place where this basketball operator operates that does not have video surveillance.
Typo, perhaps?
Lord knows he would have been in a world of hurt if he actually brought the firearm on to University property.
Two weeks later, with his attorney, it was determined that the firearm never left the parking lot and our better will not be charged for any crime.
The mystery as to how that money was spent is a little fishy as well.
Gold plated. Hope this guy has a good retirement plan because it’ll be for sale in a few years if he doesn’t.
Another AAleat that has trouble with firearms. Didn’t know to lock the door cause he ain’t ever had a car. IF it was an M16A1 How did he get it? How was he able to walk out the door? Sounds weak to me. Or VERY not legal. Where is BATF(And Guns)? Anti-gun people where is you outrage? Oh yeah, he donates to the approved group, charity, politician, etc, so it’s ok. Does he take a knee (or two)?
The short answer to how he obtained a select fire M16 is with a tax stamp. It would also explain how he paid 50k for the thing.
Really does sound like a kid who never had any reason to learn how to take care of his things.
Make your gun unavailable to crooks. Lock them up in gun safe then they are not available to you. Please wait so I can unlock my safe so I can protect my self! It is like caught a thief in my shop. Called the police and said no officers available. be at least half hour. We set here over hour. I called 911 back and said shot the Bastard. A officer was here in 4 minutes. He was setting in front of Fire Hall one mile from my home filling out paper work. He said you said you shot him! I said they said no Officers was available! Next day the D.A. turned him loose because he had not taken anything that night. No because I caught him. In last 6 months he had taken my upright compressor and sold it for drug money. One of the kids owned up to it. Nothing happened. I lost about 5,200 dollars worth of power tools and nothing happened. Broke $7,500 of windows. Cop said he had some cuts on him where he fell into blackberry bush. Nothing Happened. tried to get them to do a DNA on him. Cop said D.A. would not approve. Told him I would pay for it and Cop said D.A. said I could not pay for it. Told little bastard next time would shoot and ask questions later. Never came back!
One of the top three reasons why I pack heat around the farm. Protecting livelyhood is grounds for shoot.
You have no idea if the officer “seating at city hall” was on duty, if he was there because of a subpoena for a trial or deposition (is there a court near your city hall?), or working an off duty detail. Also, unless he created a b.s self dispatched screen, dispatch is going to send him to you if no other units are available. Finally, if your defense was “you said no cop was available so I shot him”, you’d probably be in jail or prison. Next funny story please.
NOT being “Stinking Rich”, I’ll never fit into that Category of Loosing Something worth ~$50-K and NOT giving it a Second Thought. But I heard an Actor “Totaled” a $500-K Car without Insurance and going back to the Dealer and buying another one with CASH…
That’s their money and I don’t care. The main issue is many of these rich celebrities cannot care less about other people. A fool who lives a firearm in an unsecured car, and another fool who probably drove in a careless or reckless manner, are dangerous to the safety of others.
Well, to walk out with a suppressor means he submitted his info a year ago. I would be willing to bet that it was full-auto, and the 2x Form 4s were recently approved…
And then he became an irresponsible gun owner…. 🙁
It’s the natural explanation and I was surprised it wasn’t mentioned in the article and then had to scroll through dozens of comments before finding yours. Smh.
It wasn’t mentioned in the article because no one who had anything to do with the article either knew nor cared about that kind of stuff (after all, we all know you can get a gun easier than you can get a book; buying a silencer and walking out with it the same day is totally reasonable to these people). And if they did, they didn’t want to explain how that stuff works, because you have to be a gun nut to care.
this sort of thing happens…I can think of a class 3 guy who left a truckload of mg’s unsecured while eating lunch after returning from a gun show…and had them stolen…I actually know this guy….fortunately they were recovered…
Damn homie good thing no one’s died YET…😄😎😏
I’m assuming it’s a real full-auto. He was already waiting for the stamp on the can . . .
The only thing I’ve got worth that much is my house. Just sayin.’
So many weird things about this story. The guy gets a ridiculously expensive gun and a can that he has likely been waiting for for a year, and he doesn’t go straight to the range? Then not only is the gun stolen, but the thief leaves it in a stolen car? WTF? Doesn’t anyone want to give a home to that poor homeless rifle? Might as well leave it in the gutter for the street cleaner.
I’ll guess the gun has been seized and destroyed, if it didn’t end up in another officer’s personal collection.
Seized and *reportedly* destroyed.
How Can You Lose a $50,000 ‘Assault Rifle’?
By being a stupid reckless meathead.
HAS to be a selective fire M16 or the rest of the reporting is way off.
Fake news and shit.
still too much money…the “real thing” actually goes for a lot less than that…
I was just taking it on faith that it was indeed a registered machine gun. $50k for the right and pre 86 m16 is probably not too crazy. The nfa made any registered machine gun that isn’t a post sample just crazy expensive. You know thousands of dollars for a mac10 that in stock form isn’t exactly cheaply made, but it isn’t exactly sophisticated technology or craftsmanship.
“A fool and his money are soon parted.”
I am profiling, but there is a possibility he reported it stolen while the truth is he gave it to some gang banger.
It is common for people born rich to be very careless about what we see as expensive. However, when you were not born rich like this guy, you usually keep at least a bit of the cautious mindset. So, a $50k rifle in the car left unlocked, AND he only finds out the next day, I am very skeptical folks.
I was waiting to see if someone caught it…he buys, and waits 9 months or so for, a select fire assault rifle with a suppressor, and a bag, and likely a pile of mags and ammo, and then leaves it on the back seat, not the trunk of his (unlocked) half million dollar car…and conveniently doesn’t report the theft of the weapon until the following day. Doesn’t take it in at night, doesn’t play with it or show it to friends, doesn’t shoot it and doesn’t miss it for 24 hours …
Applying Occams Razor here, what is more likely:
That after sourcing this relatively rare weapon, filling out forms, likely hiring someone to run down the CLEO sign off, selecting a suppressor undergoing the back ground check, waiting many months, driving to the gun shop and finally getting the 50k toy he now has hours or days of effort acquiring and months of waiting for, he tosses it on the leather seat of his 500k car that he supposedly, I guess, routinely leaves unlocked everywhere he parks and doesn’t think of it again until the next day when he finds its been stolen.
OR
He delivered the weapon and accessories to someone he knew to be a prohibited person, likely a serious felon, and on top of that gave the guy a 24hr head start?
The story he’s telling isn’t remotely believable and fails the smell test. This was a high end straw buy for some hoodrat friend from before he made it big, or a drug dealer who was much more interested in the weapon than cash, or someone who is black mailing him, or something similarly nefarious. That this person isn’t under investigation is tragic.
I am in the Tampa Bay area. There are some pro athletes (NFL etc) when they come back in town hang out with their hoodrats buddies in da street. Many of them keep the same bad habits and questionable friends, there is just more money so probably even more problems.
It is also possible as someone wrote that it got blown out of proportion by the “journalist”. But I still believe there is a good chance he purposely, intentionally gave/sold it to a brotha from the hood.
I agree 100% with Ardent
I agree, and I’ll go farther; I am who he is talking about, I absolutely did not get it until he posted it. Duh.
Is that what that POS Jesse James is doing? I wouldn’t buy anything off that clown no matter how nice or what price.
I’m going out on a limb here by suggesting perhaps, maybe, possibly that Hassan Whiteside is not a member of Mensa.
It’s be the gun Rambo.
That’s way too much for a full auto M16 with a suppressor.
Unless it bling out and Gucci name was attached.
Maybe the media added a zero to the price by accident or stupidity.
An all original Colt M16, fully transferable, can get up there. They are very hard to find. And therefore very expensive. There is currently one on gunbroker for $74,000.
Call me iggorunt. Why do you care about “all original parts” BS? What you are buying is the registration. Once you have it (for $50,000) you can spend another $1500 to have every part replaced with brand new, including the lower, simply by transferring the registration. Now you have a brand new pre-’86 M16A1 or whatever. Plan on shooting it to death, then selling it (with registration #) for $100,000 to someone who will invest another $1500 in a brand new in box one with the same # transferred.
Only if the lower receiver casting remains intact, it is the serialized part registered. If damaged or destroyed, you are out $50k or more. The last M16A1 sold went for more than $75K I believe.
This entire saga shows that IQ has no bearing on income, nor on personal responsibility…
If he wants something else cool I could sell him an H & K Mk 23 for about 10 grand, 20 with the Knights Armament suppressor. I’ll throw in a few extra 12 round magazines.
Well, you;d have to go through the ATF, et al. I wouldn’t…
Another leftist gun control scum bag heard from. Crawl back under your rock, hillary.
The first “athelete” to make bad headlines with a firearm was a fairly talented basketball player/student, back east, sometime in the last century. He tried to board a plane while packing in his carry-on. This was way before TSA. He couldn’t understand why he got arrested. He kept telling the guards at the metal detector that he had a, “farm” in his bag, when they figured out what he was trying to tell than they got all kinds of upset. He also got quite a bit of ink by hitting by hitting a team mate with a tire iron and busting his cheekbone. He played “pro” for a couple of Italian teams, then faded out of sight. -30-
Another irresponsible gun owner: Drugged up SWAT operator commander guy in his work vehicle with his kit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Az9ZsrtFUo
As irresponsible as losing a $50,000 rifle due to his unlocked car is. This cop had his full auto MP5 with him when he took drugs and drank. Of course he got better treatment than the rest of us. It appears he was able to keep possession of his gun when they charged him and…
Apparently you ignore the fact that many persons caught on a DUI get a “business purposes only” driver’s license, not just that 1 cop.
“Of course he got better treatment than the rest of us”, “of course”? lmfao
How many cases (criminal, traffic court…) involving cops as defendants, have you followed? Probably just those where the cop get a better treatment, actually you would also have to compare the ruling of the very same court, for a similar case where the defendant is not a cop, but I am sure you have done that already.
It is also interesting how you do not mention he got convicted of operating under the influence, and according to the PD Commander “Marche was on prescription medication for two shoulder surgeries, and drank a limited amount of alcohol, misjudging the effect the combination would have on his faculties.”. I am not saying it is true or not, but it’s there in the news. His DL was suspended with privileges, again in some cases non LEO drivers convicted are given the same privilege. Marche was given a 30 day suspension without pay. what do you think they do to non cops busted for being drunk behind the wheel, waterboard them, throw them in jail without bond until the trial?
Did your ex leave with a cop? Or did you get a bunch of tickets for “doing nothing wrong”?
His law enforcement credentials were’t valid either. State law mandates officers must do continuing education every 12 months, which if they fail to do, their law enforcement credentials are invalid and they can’t practice law enforcement, because they aren’t cops. Well guess what, Dick Tracy ignored all of that as did his police chief.
Ohio’s operating a vehicle while under the influence law makes it a mandatory felony for a person to be drunk, driving and armed. But the gun specifications for the multiple weapons Marche carried was missing from his mayor’s court charges. So were charges for the narcotic drugs Bratenahl cops found on him.
https://ericjonathanbrewer.com/8506/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqQK6sag6oo/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=qpdfloy9z2pe
Whitesides has already come out and said it has been very exaggerated. His car wasnt unlocked and it wasn’t a 50k rifle
Why bring up the truth? It doesn’t make for sensational headlines. Heaven forbid that any online “journalist” do full research and follow up with their articles these days!
I got a 8 year old Kel Tec to sell this guy. $8,000 firm or I’ll consider a trade for a NIB Colt Python.
Obviously he got robbed at the gun store if the price was correct. Miraculously, he remembers the he must have lost it at the gun store when his lawyers remind him it is a felony in Florida to take it to UM (a school after all). When guns are outlawed, the rich will be outlaws?
Come on, I live in Miami also and I never lock my Rolls either, my Rolls has never been stolen, implicit conclusion. Existential fallacy. Reality, I do own a rifle and that has not been stolen because it is locked up.
Leaves a $50,000 fully automatic weapon in unlocked $400,000 car? He obviously is too stupid to be able to fill out the 4473 form himself so he needs to be charged with a crime… Being able to dribble a basketball doesn’t qualify him for anything that requires intelligent thought.
This is who Wayne LaPierre is fine with owning a fun switch.
I wish you were wrong. But I don’t think you are.
Very sad.
Another rich man who will always be able to buy a real machine gun.
But no rapid fire weapons for the poor.
Perhaps he can afford to be stupid? No not really.
a lot of stolen guns actually started out as a straw purchase….it tends to throw the stats off a bit
He is amazingly stupidly careless. Its hard to believe, but its true.
Registered receiver M16s from Colt (factory) run from 25 to 30 thousand right now. Property-marked m16a2s will go for 30 to 35 thousand.
However, a registered steel DIAS does sell for around 42 thousand all by itself. Add in a new Colt host for about 1300, then the 5k can – not impossible to reach the 50,000.
Insert joke about buying gun from Firearms Concierge here.
mub da mo bidda te dat tum muhfugen BIX NOOD cof bin dub ho muhfugga
I wish I was able to walk in and buy a rifle and suppressor with out having to wait almost a year for approval from the crown.
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