Animal Rights Group Had Big Guns

For nearly 40 years, Mercy Crusade Inc. has earned accolades as a tireless advocate of animals.

Now, however, reports that it stockpiled more than $100,000 worth of weapons, including rifles and assault pistols restricted under federal gun control laws, have raised serious questions.

Records show that group members bought or ordered at least 34 guns in the past year, including several rifles such the AR-15, a cousin of the military M-16.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is holding 12 Heckler & Koch SP89 pistols seized from the group’s leader last year, and agents are investigating why an animal welfare group would need such powerful weapons. The guns were among the 34 ordered in the past year.

The 9 mm semiautomatics are on the federal list of banned assault weapons, but it is not illegal to own one manufactured before the ban.

“It’s hard to understand why they have so many guns,” said Madeline Bernstein, executive director of the Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

State and federal officials both have launched investigations into the organization’s activities; no charges have been filed.

Mercy Crusade’s leader is James McCourt, an associate professor of economics at the University of La Verne.

McCourt has said he bought the guns for the group’s 12 humane officers, unpaid and unregulated volunteers who wear uniforms and badges and have powers of investigation and arrest in animal abuse cases.