---
title: William Downing
aliases:
  - William Downing
  - Bill Downing
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-05-17
category: "Organized Crime"
tags:
  - Person
  - ContraWar
  - DarkAllianceInvestigation
  - 1980s
summary: "Ronald Lister's partner in the Mundy Security Group who designed a laser sighting device for AR-15 assault rifles and was involved in procuring weapons sold to Danilo Blandón and crack dealers in Los Angeles."
---
William Lee Downing was a partner of [[Ronald Lister]] in the [[Mundy Security Group]], the Laguna Beach security company Lister incorporated in mid-1983. Through this "security business" in high-class Laguna Beach, Downing and Lister procured weapons for [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]], who resold them to [[Ricky Ross]] and other crack dealers in South Central Los Angeles.[^1]

### Laser Sighting Device

Downing designed a laser sighting device for AR-15 assault rifles that the Mundy Security Group attempted to market. The device used a tiny laser beam to put a small red dot on a target, facilitating kills at night. [[Chris Moore|Christopher W. Moore]], a director of Mundy Security Group, said this gadget was one of the company's only known business activities aside from a few burglar alarm installations.[^1]

### Weapons Supply Network

The weapons Downing helped procure included the full spectrum available to Lister's network. Blandón told [[Central Intelligence Agency]] inspectors that Lister had access to such a wide variety of weapons that in 1983 or 1984, he arranged for Lister to give a sales presentation to Contra leadership. The Mundy Security Group was licensed with the [[State Department]] in 1983 to export U.S. Munitions List items to other countries, receiving three temporary export licenses (DSP-73s) to export laser components and spare parts to "various countries."[^1]

### Footnotes

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 10: "Teach a man a craft and he's liable to practice it"