Report: Former Addyston police chief indicted in machine gun scheme pleads guilty

WLWT (NBC Cincinnati) is reporting that a former Addyston police chief accused of conspiring with gun dealers to acquire 200 fully automatic weapons and reselling them at a profit has pleaded guilty to charges.

From the article:

Dorian LaCourse, 65, was indicted by a federal grand jury for his role in a scheme to use his position as chief of police for the Addyston Police Department to help two federally licensed firearms dealers in Indiana acquire hundreds of machine guns.

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According to the indictment, LaCourse and the two Indiana firearms dealers exploited a law enforcement exception to the general federal ban on fully automatic machine guns.

The Village of Addyston has approximately 1,000 residents, and the Addyston Police Department has up to 10 officers, most of whom were part-time.

However, according to the indictment, between 2015 and 2019, LaCourse signed multiple letters and other official documents as police chief falsely claiming to the ATF and others that the Addyston Police Department was interested in purchasing or receiving demonstrations of machine guns.

The Addyston Police Department and Village of Addyston had no intention of purchasing machine guns or receiving demonstrations of machine guns. Instead, these allegedly false statements were a pretense to gain ATF approval for [two Indiana gun dealers] Marcum and Petty to acquire machine guns, which they re-sold to other federally licensed firearms dealers at a profit—of which LaCourse got a portion.

According to the indictment, LaCourse received 11 checks payable to him totaling over $11,500.

According to the indictment, LaCourse’s false statements and representations induced the ATF to approve the purchase or importation of approximately 200 fully automatic machine guns. The types of guns acquired ranged from smaller submachine guns to automatic assault rifles, to belt-fed machine guns for military use.

One of those guns was an M2 .50 caliber belt-fed heavy machine gun, which according to the indictment, is a vehicle- or ship-mounted weapon that is effective against lightly armored vehicles and low-flying aircraft.

Crimes like these, committed by current or former members of law enforcement, draw the attention of Second Amendment advocates who are forced to spend too much of our time pushing back against law enforcement bureaucrats from groups like the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) and Ohio Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) union who oppose the passage of better gun laws.

One has to look no farther than the recently-signed Senate Bill 215 ("Permitless Carry") which was opposed by both the OACP and Ohio FOP. This kind of opposition goes back for more than two decades.

In 2002, House Bill 274, a concealed carry bill which had been worked on for the past two years, died at the end of session in part due to the FOP's unwillingness to lend support.

In 2003, the FOP refused to support HB12, the bill which eventually became Ohio's first concealed carry law, even after legislators amended it to address their every concern.

In 2008 the FOP opposed Senate Bill 184, the bill which brought Castle Doctrine to Ohio.

In 2010, the FOP opposed SB 239, our first attempt at allowing concealed handgun license (CHL) -holders their right to carry in restaurants that serve alcohol, and getting rid of the egregious rules for carrying concealed in a motor vehicle which were forced into the original concealed carry law. A spokesperson claimed such a law would allow licensees to "drive around twirling guns on their finger" and require those going to restaurants to have "designated shooters." They continued to opposed these measures in the bill that eventually became law in 2011 via SB 17.

In 2012, the FOP opposed HB495, which made reciprocity with other states' concealed carry laws automatic, removed the requirement that CHL-holders seek recurrent training, and fixed the definition of a "loaded gun" to match the commonly accepted definition. A spokesperson claimed concealed handgun license-holders are hoping to mount quick-draw holsters on their dashboards (specifically suggesting that it would be law enforcement officers who would be the target of the "quick draw").

In 2013 the FOP opposed HB 203, our first attempt at removing the "duty to retreat" from Ohio's self-defense law, and proposed the idea that legislators should strip from local Boards of Education the ability to arm staff to protect students

In 2014 the FOP opposed SB 338, which contained language eventually folded into another bill, and changed Ohio's law to recognize other states' concealed carry laws even if they do not have reciprocity agreements.

In 2017 the FOP opposed HB 201, which sought to bring Constitutional Carry to Ohio, HB 142, which would have removed the requirement that CHLs "promptly" inform law enforcement that they are licensed and carrying a concealed handgun, and HB 233, which intended to allow concealed carry in the state's many so-called "no-guns" victim zones.

In 2018 the FOP opposed HB 228, which shifted the burden of proof in self-defense cases from the person claiming self-defense back to the state, strengthened Ohio's statewide preemption of local gun control laws, and corrected the state's definition of "shotgun" to align with federal law.

And, as mentioned, in 2021-2022 both OACP and the Ohio FOP opposed the Buckeye Firearms Association-endorsed and recently signed "permitless carry" bill.

What these groups have NOT done, of course, is comment on former Addyston police chief Dorian LaCourse's guilty plea.

Chad D. Baus served as Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary from 2013-2019, and continues to serve on the Board of Directors. He is co-founder of BFA-PAC, and served as its Vice Chairman for 15 years. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website, and is also an NRA-certified firearms instructor.

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