Wednesday, January 28, 2015

DEA Planned to Monitor Gun Show Attendees With License Plate Readers, New Emails Reveal

The April 2009 email states that “DEA Phoenix Division Office is working closely with ATF on attacking the guns going to [redacted] and the gun shows, to include programs/operation with LPRs at the gun shows.” The government redacted the rest of the email, but when we received this document we concluded that these agencies used license plate readers to collect information about law-abiding citizens attending gun shows. An automatic license plate reader cannot distinguish between people transporting illegal guns and those transporting legal guns, or no guns at all; it only documents the presence of any car driving to the event. Mere attendance at a gun show, it appeared, would have been enough to have one's presence noted in a DEA database.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Reports strongly suggest that Canadian license plates at gun shows have been harvested for many years.

Canadians attending US gun shows in their own vehicles get special scrutiny by Canadian Customs on their return. (Which presumably means US officials are sharing the data to their Canadian counterparts).

Countermeasure used by the savvy including visiting the show on foot or by taxi :-)

Anonymous said...

OK - I've heard that you can buy license plate covers or devices that prevent red light cameras from getting a picture of your LP.

Does anyone know if these work? If so, are some brands more effective than others?

If they work with red light cameras, would they also work with LP readers?

Mike, I would respectfully suggest that you ask these questions in a separate post. If the technology exists to defeat LP readers at an affordable price, then I believe a lot of people would be interested.

Thanks -

Anonymous said...

Mythbusters tested plate camera covers, none worked that were still legally compliant.

http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2007/03/episode_73_beating_the_speed_camera_exploding_patches.html

Paul X said...

The License Plate War:
http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2013/tle739-20130929-05.html

Cameraman said...

Hell I would Wave to the Bastards as I drove In....!!!

Anonymous said...

Went to a TEA Party a few years ago that was held at the Court House at a nearby large city. I took off my license plate when I pulled into a parking lot and put it back on later. I did notice some dude walking around the parking lot with a note pad while the Tea Party activities were going on but he never got my tag number. I have heard that there are some covers that don't allow the red-light cameras to get your tag number. Was in Hamilton, Ohio a few years ago and noticed cameras mounted on the Po-Po cars for them to scan license plates.

Anonymous said...

anon at 9:04AM,

http://www.nophoto.com/

from what I've read nophoto is only effective means, albeit a little pricey.

of course the James Bond license plate flipper from one plate to next would be cool too

Anonymous said...

This is nothing new, only automated. It has been a know fact in the S.E. Pa area that the B.A.T.F.has prowled the parking lots of the larger shows as they have been seen jotting down license plates and other noticeable vehicle identifying data IE: bumper stickers. This was especially prevalent during the Clinton years.In particular, those run by what is now Appalachian Promotions as well as the Machine Gun shows in York and Valley Forge. Three days and 1500 plus tables and always packed.

937 said...

http://chaosinmotion.blogspot.com/2008/12/spoofing-license-plates.html