Task force seizes guns, armor from felon

A Galveston County task force arrested a Texas City woman after seizing guns, a suppressor and body armor from a home tied to a convicted felon. (galvnews.com) The Galveston County Daily News identified the defendant as Margaret Jones and reported she was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and unlawful possession of body armor by a felon. She was being held Wednesday in the Galveston County jail. (galvnews.com) Texas law makes it a third-degree felony for a person convicted of a felony to possess a firearm in most circumstances, and a separate third-degree felony for a felon to possess body armor designed to stop gunfire. (statutes.capitol.texas.gov, statutes.capitol.texas.gov) A suppressor is a device attached to a gun barrel to reduce noise, and federal firearms regulators treat illegal gun possession by prohibited people as a core violent-crime enforcement target. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says it works with local agencies on those cases. (atf.gov, galvnews.com) The case also shows how Galveston County agencies are pooling officers across city lines. League City police list joint operations with outside task forces in recent arrests, and the county’s organized-crime unit has been used in other Texas City warrant cases this year. (leaguecitytx.gov, kgtx7news.com) For now, the immediate result is a jailed defendant, felony weapons charges and a case that moves next through Galveston County court proceedings. (galvnews.com)