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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/18/national/main6219663.shtm
- Federal law enforcement officers don't always secure their weapons while they're securing the homeland and end up losing their guns on the job, according to a report from the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general. (AP)
(CBS) Federal law enforcement officers don't always secure their weapons while they're securing the homeland and end up losing their guns on the job, according to a report from the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general.
Nearly 200 weapons - including handguns, shotguns and military rifles - were misplaced from 2006 through 2008, left behind in such places as a fast-food restaurant's restroom, a bowling alley and on a car's bumper, as explained in
]http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-02-17-lost-guns_N.htm]a USA Today article[/url] on the report.
At least 15 of those weapons got into the hands of gang members, criminals, drug users and teenagers, inspector general Richard Skinner found. He listed the total number of guns lost at 289. Some were lost during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina or were stolen from safes.
The inspector general's report doesn't say whether any of the lost guns were used in crimes, USA Today reports.
The department "took immediate action" to correct problems, spokeswoman Amy Kudwa told the newspaper. Homeland Security is giving workers additional training and improving how guns are tracked and inspected, Kudwa told the newspaper.
"The department is strongly committed to ensuring that weapons ... are kept secure," Kudwa told the newspaper.
