Crowdsourcing stories on gun sales in Massachusetts

Even for weapons dealers who have flouted state laws, there is major money to be made by selling munitions to police in Massachusetts

Try to donate free ammo - not politically correct. Walmart was shamed into taking back their last ammo donation to a PD in MA

I have witnessed the press/police relationship deteriorate from a time when seasoned reporters and photographers could walk into any police station or barracks, have a cigarette with the cops and be allowed access to reports, files and just about anything they wanted. Then a beer at Foley's after work as the Globe and Herald trucks dropped off bundles of the first edition. Now it appears from the syllabus that our student journalists are taught that the "police are always wrong" is a foregone conclusion.

The purchase of goods by the state, local governments and quasi-public agencies (MBTA, Massport, MWRA) is strictly regulated in this state. I'm not sure what the current minimum dollar amount is for competitive bidding and posting of "invitation to bid" in the local newspaper but I see these postings all the time in the legal notices.

If these are inexpensive purchases then they may be exempt but I know supplying something like a police car (or a whole fleet for State Police or a big city) often switches among the three or four vendors in MA who are licensed Ford dealers but specialize in a seamless installation of the lights, siren, radios, on board computers etc. Those contracts are watched like a hawk by the vendors that specialize in that stuff. Same for when a large department is outfitted with new sidearms every ten years. Glock, Sig Sauer, Smith and Wesson and many others are eager to bid. The state and any decent sized city/town has a purchasing agent or procurement officer so blame them. The police have little say in what they get for equipment.