Italian police intercept 800 of these on way to Belgium

That sure is one amazing story about those 800+ Winchester Defenders found it the back of a truck on their way from Turkey to Belgium.

The story doesn’t seem to be getting much traction. Maybe that’s because these are “hunting” guns and would therefore be of no interest to the ISIS terrorist types we’ve been hearing so much about in Belgium? Or maybe it’s because Turkey is in the throes of a much bigger ISIS gun-running scandal? Official government spokes-people claim the sale was entirely legit, but those folks say a lot of stuff…

Does anybody wonder why a legitimate dealer would buy these guns in Turkey when Winchester’s corporate owners, the Herstal Group, also has factories in Belgium?

I’d like to see some enterprising investigative reporter in Turkey connect the dots on this tale, but that would ensure a very premature retirement in the current climate.

You don’t imagine the wily Erdogan shipped these off with a shrug and a wink knowing they were headed to Belgium’s renowned black market in illegal firearms, do you?