---
aliases:
- William Downing
- Bill Downing
category: Organized Crime
created: 2026-05-17
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.
tags:
- Person
- ContraWar
- DarkAllianceInvestigation
- 1980s
title: William Downing
updated: 2026-05-17
---

William Lee Downing was a partner of [Ronald Lister](/people/ronald-lister/) in the [Mundy Security Group](/organizations/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 Blandón](/people/danilo-blandon/), who resold them to [Ricky Ross](/people/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. [Christopher W. Moore](/people/chris-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](/organizations/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](/organizations/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]

[^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"