Police Find Cache Of Weapons, Bomb Materials
WORCESTER (WBZ) ― Police officers later recovered over 100 firearms, blasting caps and other devices, including artillery simulators.
Police have arrested a 54-year-old Worcester resident on charges of illegal possession of military-style explosives and assault weapons. Sgt. Kerry Hazelhurst said on Sunday that Paul Mateiko was arrested Saturday after firefighters responding to a medical emergency at his home noticed a large cache of unsecured weapons.
Well, other than the obvious PSH that permeates any story in MA with any attachment to firearms, this section's not too bad. However, what got me was this one:
Police officers later recovered over 100 firearms, blasting caps and other devices, including artillery simulators. "A total of approximately 150 handguns, revolvers, semi-automatic machine guns… thousands of rounds of ammo and three-quarters of C4 explosives," said Hazelhurt as he described the scene.
Hmm... Let's see. Apparently revolvers are not handguns (since they're listed separately); machine guns are now semi-automatic; and C4 is sold by the "quarter". We'll ignore the scare-mongering "thousands of rounds of ammo (I typically have anywhere from 4-5K rounds of .22LR on hand; each box of 550 rounds costs about $12 - do the math, that's less than $50 for 2,000 rounds).
Now, don't get me wrong. If you want to collect machine guns (and this guy's father was a WWII vet, so it wouldn't surprise me in the least if the machine guns were bring-backs long forgotten) and explosives, power to you. Seems to me that's exactly the kind of thing the 2A intends for us to own. However... Ignorance - or outright avoidance - 0f the law doesn't make you any less arrested, booked, and most likely forever banned from owning firearms again, though.
That's the rub; quite often the true intent of the Second Amendment is so thoroughly and completely choked with red tape, roadblocks, and other bureaucratic impediments to actual ownership of such items. Fully automatic weapons are very tightly controlled, subject to both the 1934 Federal Firearms Act requiring an NFA stamp and tax be paid for each machine gun as well as the Hughes Amendment to the Firearms Owner Protection Act of 1986, which banned the transfer of all new machine guns to civilians regardless of whether the stamp was obtained or not. Blatantly unconstitutional, as it direct impinges on the ability of the citizenry to own the very same weapons our soldiers are using, but good luck trying to convince Everyman that ZOMG!!! teh NRA WANTZ TEH MACHINE GUNZZZZZ!!!.
For lack of a tax stamp, the right to keep and bear arms is lost. Just doesn't seem right, does it?
That is all.
4 comments:
I heard over the weekend that some guy was caught with a hand grenade and had been charged with "possession of a weapon of mass destruction".
WTF?
In the most literal of senses, it's correct - when that grenade goes off, it will cause the destruction of any mass within the blast radius.
I doubt that's what they were aiming for, though. PSH (Pants-Shitting-Hysteria) is the Occam's Razor-friendly guess...
Ironically, NRA is completely useless in supporting NFA causes.
The last they said on it was in 1986 when they let Hughes roll past, saying it was so unconstitutional that it would be repealed in 6 months.
Hughes (922o) states that the govt can't collect tax for MGs made after 1986. If the tax code says they can't collect tax, that can be interpreted as saying the govt is not intested in tax and and activities would go on w/o the feds caring. Several areas have had rulings in agreement with that interpretation. I could go on for hours, but NFA caselaw is crazy and apparently argued only by people unfamiliar with the basic definitions.
23 years later, a $80 drop in auto sear sells for $13k - assuming the papers are all current and legit.
The fellow in the story could be ok, federally, with MGs assuming they have good paper back to the Nat'l Firearms Transfer Registry or to a GI's CO clearing them as war trophies.
There are few LAWS but a million POLICIES enforced by ATF. Basically, you can do what you like as long as you keep it quiet. Directly ask ATF, advertise, post pics on the net, and they'll tell you what you are doing is wrong, per thier brandy-new policy.
NFA isn't a black art, but those in the know tend to keep it quieter than CCW in eastern MA.
Buck,
That is a case here in NC... State law here has a stipulation for weapons of mass death and destruction that includes:
1. bombs of all sorts;
2. grenades;
3. rockets having a propellant charge of more than four (4) ounces;
4. a missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter (1/4) ounce;
5. mines;
6. any type of weapon (other than a shotgun or a shotgun shell of a type
particularly suitable for sporting purposes) which will expel a projectile using an explosive, or other propellant, and which has a barrel with a bore of more than one-half (1/2) inch in diameter;
7. any firearm capable of fully automatic fire;
8. any shotgun with a barrel length less than eighteen (18) inches or an overall length of less than twenty-six (26) inches;
9. a rifle with a barrel length of less than sixteen (16) inches or an overall length of less than twenty-six (26) inches;
10. any muffler or silencer for any firearm, whether or not such firearm is included within this definition; and
11. any combination of parts either designed or intended for use in converting a device into any weapon described above, and from which a weapon of mass death and destruction may readily be assembled.
NC GS § 14-288.8
I have only ever seen this used as a charge in addition to other charges... in the case you mentioned, the guy waved a handgun in a threatening manner at people... when his trailer was searched they found the grenade...
I have also seen this statute used for people that committed crimes with the Taurus Judge as it is technically a shotgun with a barrel less than 18 inches under that specific law.
NFA stamps and FFL's are exempted as are LEOs
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