From: owner-utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com (utah-firearms-digest) To: utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: utah-firearms-digest V2 #105 Reply-To: utah-firearms-digest Sender: owner-utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk utah-firearms-digest Tuesday, October 13 1998 Volume 02 : Number 105 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 10:39:24 -0600 From: chardy@ES.COM (Charles Hardy) Subject: [Vin_Suprynowicz@lvrj.com: Oct. 14 column - gun letter] - ----BEGIN FORWARDED MESSGE---- FROM MOUNTAIN MEDIA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATED OCT. 14, 1998 THE LIBERTARIAN, By Vin Suprynowicz Opening the October mailbag Though I usually distrust mail written under pseudonyms, the author of a letter which poured in recently in response to one of my columns on firearms rights is probably correct to worry that his musings might attract the unwanted attention of sundry G-men. So I withhold his name while reproducing the following, sobering missive: # # # Vin -- Your Oct. 2 commentary "And every other terrible implement of the soldier" hit home with me. I am deeply bothered by the felony penalties hinging on trivial features of a rifle. I am currently assembling an StG58, an obsolete and beautiful Austrian rifle that is a member of the FAL family. Austria no longer has use for the things, and is selling them off to U.S. importers. I bought a complete rifle, minus the receiver, which had been sawed off prior to importation as required by the BATF. Its stub was left attached to the barrel. I bought a brand new U.S.-made receiver in compliance with all local, state and federal laws. So far, so good. But it gets complicated once I mate the receiver to the rest of the rifle. here is a minefield of laws and regulations, and my future well-being hinges on their trivialities. I must remove the flash hider. And then I must either saw the threaded end off the barrel, or cover it with a "muzzle brake"... but only if I solder the muzzle brake in place with solder having a melting point of 1100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If I use solder with a melting point of 1000 degrees F, for example, it's off to jail with me. Or, I could pin the muzzle brake in place. But only if the pin is in a "blind" hole that doesn't reach through to the other side. And only if the pin is strong enough to withstand the shearing torque specified by the BATF, who will try to unscrew the muzzle brake to see if it is attached in a "legal" manner. If it unscrews with 120 foot-pounds of torque, I'm a felon. If it unscrews with 130 foot-pounds, I'm free. (I made up the torque numbers - I haven't been able to find out what the real ones are. They weren't in the "assault weapon" ban that Clinton signed. Nor was anything about muzzle brake attachment methods). Also, the muzzle brake must have a diameter greater than 22 millimeters. Why, you may ask? Because back when Austria used this rifle, they had grenades that would slide over the flash hider. A blank cartridge was then fired in the rifle, launching the grenade. So, depending on the diameter of my muzzle brake, I may, or may not, have replaced the original "grenade launcher" with a brand new "grenade launcher." Please don't ask where I might possibly obtain an obsolete Austrian grenade. And please don't ask why I am allowed to put a muzzle brake of "grenade launcher" diameter on any other rifle but the StG58. And I must replace many of the original, authentic and beautifully-made parts on the rifle with U.S.-made equivalents that look and operate just like the old ones. Why? Because if I don't, I will have assembled a "non-sporting" (start ital)imported(end ital) rifle and could be thrown in jail. By substituting enough U.S.-made parts, it becomes a "non-sporting" (start ital)U.S.-made(end ital) rifle and is perfectly legal. How do I tell if this rifle, or any other, is "non-sporting?" Simple. According to the law, if it is "not particularly suited for sporting purposes." No ambiguities there. The list of issues goes on and on. I am in communication with other collectors and shooters who are in similar fixes. We agonize over the legal details, sharing hearsay and rumors in valiant attempts to remain in compliance with the BATF's shifting and largely undocumented interpretations of the laws. What constitutes a pistol grip that "protrudes prominently" from the gun? What counts as a "thumbhole stock" and what doesn't? What if I put a plain, unthreaded barrel on the rifle, and its (outside) diameter happens to be the same as that of the illegal "grenade launcher"? We don't know. My opinion is that we are fools. The only reason I wade through the morass of obscure legalities is that everyone else does so, too. If we all simply ignored the absurdities, we would be free. They can't jail us all. For that matter, I wish they (start ital)would(end ital) try to jail someone. But they never do. Given a feeble excuse of the sort mentioned, the BATF will break into your home and confiscate anything resembling a firearm, firearm accessory, and probably your computer and filing cabinet to boot. But they will press no charges. They (start ital)know(end ital) the laws are absurd. They (start ital)know(end ital) there is no jury in the country that will send you to jail because one part on your rifle was attached with 1000 F solder instead of 1100 F solder, or because the rifle had one too few U.S.-made parts on it. They'll just ransack your house, seize your property, and ruin your life. You will not get your day in court. We should ignore them, but who will be the first to show up at the rifle range with a "flash hider"/"grenade launcher" on his rifle? Not me. I could lose my property and my life could be destroyed. Who, then, will lead the way? No one. What are the odds of (start ital)everyone(end ital) defying the laws, en masse, starting on a pre-arranged date? Zero. And that is the beauty of the system. The screws are tightened gradually, so people are pushed over the edge and into defiance one at a time, and are thus easily vanquished. We see the news items in the paper. "Illegal weapons cache seized." Perhaps he was the guy that had a muzzle brake with the wrong diameter, and lost everything. "Assault Weapon Found in Home." Was he the poor guy who had a bayonet lug on a rifle whose serial number implied that it was probably built the day (start ital)after(end ital) Clinton signed the celebrated Feinstein "assault weapon" ban? His neighbor, whose rifle was built the day before, was left unmolested, being a fine law-abiding citizen, you see. It's more than the technicalities of gun regulations. Think of "standoffs." One person hits the limit of tolerance for bull and quits playing the game. He starts living in defiance of the crushing burden of the laws and regulations under which we are all groaning. Now he's a "criminal" and his place is surrounded by the thin blue line for a few days until he's hauled off, shot, or burned. Each person has a different limit, and we hit them at different times, easily taken out by the authorities singly or in tiny groups. There will never be widespread open revolt. Modern bureaucracies have learned how to avoid that. I have never spoken my mind in public on this subject. I don't talk about this on Internet bulletin boards, or in e-mail. I am afraid to. I'm worried about sending this letter to you, even under a pseudonym. I'm not a newspaper editor. If my words attract the attention of the wrong people I could be the next faceless owner of an "illegal arms cache" that ends up as a news item at the bottom page 31. ... Please feel free to use any of this material in any way you see fit. "Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of their arms." -- Aristotle, "Politics" Vin Suprynowicz is the assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Readers may contact him via e-mail at vin@lvrj.com. *** Vin Suprynowicz, vin@lvrj.com The evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it. -- John Hay, 1872 The most difficult struggle of all is the one within ourselves. Let us not get accustomed and adjusted to these conditions. The one who adjusts ceases to discriminate between good and evil. He becomes a slave in body and soul. Whatever may happen to you, remember always: Don't adjust! Revolt against the reality! -- Mordechai Anielewicz, Warsaw, 1943 * * * - ----END FORWARDED MESSAGE---- - -- Charles C. Hardy | If my employer has an opinion on | these things I'm fairly certain 801.588.7200 (work) | I'm not the one he'd have express it. "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not infringed; a well armed, and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country: but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person." - [This was Madison's original proposal for the "Second Amendment" -- James Madison, I Annuals of Congress 434 (June 8, 1789). - - ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 11:25:01 -0600 From: chardy@ES.COM (Charles Hardy) Subject: [Vin_Suprynowicz@lvrj.com: Oct 2 column - take them shooting] - ----BEGIN FORWARDED MESSGE---- FROM MOUNTAIN MEDIA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATED OCT. 2, 1998 THE LIBERTARIAN, By Vin Suprynowicz 'And every other terrible implement of the soldier' One of the great pleasures of collecting and restoring old firearms is hauling them out to the range and letting a visitor find out just how good some of our grandfathers' military engineering really was. It can be an even greater pleasure to introduce someone who's previously been a "Second Amendment agnostic" to the exhilaration that comes with learning how to safely and effectively handle these historic tools of freedom. Suddenly some appreciation dawns of what it must have been like to stand with the Minutemen on that town green in Lexington, or to dig the mud or snow out of your action, slam in a clip, and carefully squeeze off eight aimed rounds of 30.06 from the unstoppable Garand. These old-timers aren't dainty target rifles. You slam them closed with the butt of your hand. The weight of steel across your arms, the crack of bullets breaking the sound barrier (even through modern ear protection) are sobering. Then, once the newcomer develops that cake-eating grin that comes when you confirm it was him -- not the wind -- that really knocked down those cans at 60 yards, you point waaaay down the wash, and explain that the average infantryman was expected to hit a man-sized target over there, at 300 yards ... that a marksman was expected to do so at 800. "You mean you can hit something out (start ital)there(end ital)? I can't even (start ital)see(end ital) what's out there." "Yes. And I also mean that any trained soldier out there ... can hit you." Suddenly all this talk about banning "assault rifles" with "magazines that hold more than 10 rounds," or rifles with bayonet lugs or flash hiders (yes, that's why that collector's piece you're holding has been emasculated with a hacksaw, like an antique table imported with only three legs) start to come into focus. "They made them import this SKS without a bayonet? But they're obviously designed to carry the folding bayonet, like this older one here. Without it the cleaning rod rattles around and falls out. And how the heck does taking off the bayonet make the weapon any less deadly in a shoot-out? Who thinks up this stuff?" Any American can still learn to shoot safely, and then teach one more person, and then another. It's wonderfully subversive. Recently, a fellow who I took out was moved to recall that his father had qualified as a marksman in the army, but had died before he was able to teach his son that skill. So pleased was he to start re-learning his father's skill that he insisted on buying me dinner, to compensate me for my ammo costs. Two weeks later, the lad who grew up without a father won the Republican primary, and now stands a good chance of becoming our next congressman. Good luck selling your victim-disarmament bill of goods to him now, Ms. Feinstein, Mr. Schumer. # # # Of course, the downside of hauling a collection of arms out to the range always faced you that evening, when a half-dozen rifles leaned waiting against the wall, and you started figuring how long you were about to spend with cleaning rods, powder solvent, jags and patches. (And if you find a woman who loves the smell of Hoppe's powder solvent in her living room, fellows, marry her straight off.) Since this has been the fate of the rifleman for centuries, I will admit it was with the standard "Yeah, right" that I first noticed an ad in one of the firearms tabloids a few months back for a new product modestly named the "World's Fastest Gun Bore Cleaner," a patented rayon pull-through cord with phosphor-bronze bristles braided right into the front. Everyone knows the only way to clean a rifle barrel is to brush it out with a cleaning rod, run through cotton patches soaked in solvent, and then run through dry patches to remove the black soot, repeating again and again in a semi-hypnotic ritual of devotional labor. Pull some fancy cord once through the gun and rack it away? Ha! Then I dropped by the Soldier of Fortune Expo here in Las Vegas last month, and spotted a table full of these things, manned by the inventor, who explained how he got to wondering -- as he was clearing out some varmints in the frozen wilds of Idaho, cold enough to freeze your fingers to the barrel -- why in this day of space-age materials no one had invented a device that would clean a rifle barrel with one pull, no bent or broken steel rods to haul around, no gouging of the rifle's delicate crown, no chemicals. I bought one of the things -- which you can roll up and carry in your shirt pocket -- and Bruce Hedge made me a gift of a second one to fit my pistols (the Bore Cleaner is sized precisely by caliber), my total "compensation" for this rare and unsolicited product endorsement. Because, you see, they work. After that precision-sized brush stutters through (you want it to stutter -- that means the bristles aren't lying over sideways because they're too long), the braided cord swipes your lands and grooves with a surface area equivalent to 160 cotton patches. And when the cord is dirty, you just wash it out in soapy water, to the tune of 200 to 500 uses. Mr. Hedge's biggest problem? Other than finding enough salesmen to move his product, and butting up against some out-of-date military specs that are so far keeping our men in uniform from capitalizing on this breakthrough, that would be "setting aside the $100,000 we figure we're going to need to protect the patent." As the man said, "This changes everything." The "World's Fastest Gun Bore Cleaner" is from National Tech-Labs, 5200 Sawyer, Suite H, Boise, Idaho 83714; tel. 208-345-5674. If you shoot, you want some. # # # "Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, (start ital)and every other terrible implement of the soldier(end ital), are the birth-right of an American." -- Tench Coxe, prominent Federalist and friend of James Madison, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788. Vin Suprynowicz is the assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Readers may contact him via e-mail at vin@lvrj.com. *** Vin Suprynowicz, vin@lvrj.com The evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it. -- John Hay, 1872 The most difficult struggle of all is the one within ourselves. Let us not get accustomed and adjusted to these conditions. The one who adjusts ceases to discriminate between good and evil. He becomes a slave in body and soul. Whatever may happen to you, remember always: Don't adjust! Revolt against the reality! -- Mordechai Anielewicz, Warsaw, 1943 * * * - ----END FORWARDED MESSAGE---- - -- Charles C. Hardy | If my employer has an opinion on | these things I'm fairly certain 801.588.7200 (work) | I'm not the one he'd have express it. "The care of every man's soul belongs to himself. But what if he neglect the care of it? Well what if he neglect the care of his health or his estate, which would more nearly relate to the state. Will the magistrate make a law that he not be poor or sick? Laws provide against injury from others; but not from ourselves. God himself will not save men against their wills." -- Thomas Jefferson- October 1776 - - ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 08 Oct 1998 17:22:07 -0600 From: "David Sagers" Subject: Fwd: Official Petition to Impeach Received: from wvc ([204.246.130.34]) by icarus.ci.west-valley.ut.us; Thu, 08 Oct 1998 17:14:08 -0600 Received: from fs1.mainstream.net by wvc (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4) id RAA03145; Thu, 8 Oct 1998 17:01:48 -0600 Received: (from smap@localhost) by fs1.mainstream.net (8.8.8/8.7.3) id TAA02166; Thu, 8 Oct 1998 19:12:47 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 19:12:47 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost(127.0.0.1) by fs1.mainstream.net via smap (V1.3) id sma001928; Thu Oct 8 19:08:18 1998 Message-Id: Errors-To: listproc@mainstream.com Reply-To: KGrubb@carnival.com Originator: noban@mainstream.net Sender: noban@Mainstream.net Precedence: bulk From: "Grubb, Ken" To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Official Petition to Impeach X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Anti-Gun-Ban list Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline You may add your name to The Official Petition to Impeach the President on Tuesday, November 3, 1998. Please note this on your calendars. Ken Grubb Miami, FL - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Oct 98 20:57:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: Man shot to death at Taft gun shop - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 08 Oct 1998 10:45:20 -0700 From: American Patriot Friends Network Reply-To: APFN@netbox.com To: apfn@onelist.com Subject: Man shot to death at Taft gun shop http://www.bakersfield.com/top/i--1304325052.asp The Bakersfield Californian Man shot to death at Taft gun shop Filed: October 7, 1998 By FRED LUDWIG Californian staff writer e-mail: fludwig@bakersfield.com Kern County sheriff's officials refused to release details about a gun shop owner apparently killed Wednesday in Taft by police. Taft residents contacted by The Californian identified the victim as Darryl Howell, although that could not be confirmed. Law enforcement officials refused to confirm the identification. The fatal shooting was connected with an attempt by U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents to serve a search warrant, said Sheriff Carl Sparks. The Sheriff's Department is the lead agency investigating the shooting, Sparks said. Sparks said officials were withholding comment because details of the incident were unclear. Police officials typically release preliminary conclusions and available facts while investigations are ongoing. "There will be enough suspicion about this incident without releasing information that was not really correct," Sparks said. A press conference will be held at 2 p.m. today to provide details of the incident, Sparks said. "ATF is bringing in some of (its) high-level people," Sparks said. "They want to be there when the press conference is done." Eunice Howell, Howell's mother, said about 7:30 p.m. she was disappointed because officials had given her no official notice of the incident. "I just know my son is dead," she said. Taft resident Doug Benc said he has been a customer of Howell's store, and has known him informally for about a year and a half. Benc said he didn't know what happened Wednesday, but Howell seemed like a nice, law-abiding man. Bakersfield resident Kerry Bulls teaches corrections and firearms classes for Taft College and refers students to the gun shop. Bulls said he has seen Howell check firearms regulations if not sure about their provisions. "He was the type of person that was very meticulous on regulations regarding the sale of firearms," Bulls said. ### **COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Oct 98 20:57:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: BATF RAID IN TAFT, CA - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1998 07:14:26 -0700 From: BRENDALYLES To: gardener@southtech.net Subject: UPDATE ON BATF RAID UPDATE ON OCTOBER 7, BATF RAID IN TAFT, CA.: In a news conference held at 2 PM on October 8, 1998, the Kern County Sheriff's Department stated that they had entered the gun shop of Taft resident Darryl Howell to serve a search warrant. They were trying to restrain Howell when he broke free, got a .45 revolver from his counter and put it in his mouth and committed suicide. Thereupon, Taft Policeman (?) Whiting shot Howell three times. NO ILLEGAL GUNS AND CERTAINLY NO MACHINE GUN WAS FOUND. SO, we are to believe tha Howell was just waiting for them to raid his shop so he could commit suicide?????? IF YOU BELIEVE THAT ONE, THEN YOU MUST BELIEVE THAT LEE HARVEY OSWALD SHOT KENNEDY ALL BY HIMSELF. Howell had patriotic signs and bumper stickers displayed in his shop. Please don't let his death be in vain. Call and write to everyone that you can, where will we draw the line??? Blockbuster Video has an old film starring Spencer Tracy, called "THE SEVENTH CROSS" about a pamphleteer who escapes from a concentration camp in 1937 0r 38. He goes back to his neighborhood to tell the people what's going on and no one wants to hear or believe that the impending tragedy of the NAZIs is coming.......does this sound like us patriots??? GOD BLESS THE REPUBLIC, DEATH TO THE NEW WORLD ODOR BRENDA LYLES Bakersfield Californian http://www.bakersfield.com/ Friends skeptical of official account October 8, 1998 http://www.bakersfield.com/top/i--1304241419.asp By CHRISTINE L. PETERSON Californian staff writer e-mail: cpeterson@bakersfield.com Disbelief permeated the tight-knit communities of Taft and Ford City Thursday as residents and friends of Darryl Howell questioned law enforcement's account of his death in his gun shop. The Kern County Sheriff Department's version of the events -- that the gun shop owner grabbed a loaded .45-caliber handgun Wednesday, struggled with officers and then placed the barrel in his mouth and pulled the trigger -- just didn't fit with what they knew of the father of two. Sheriff's officials said a Taft police officer, not knowing where the expended round went, immediately fired three rounds that struck Howell, 45, on the right side of his body. He died at the scene. "Everyone in Taft knows this is stupid," said Shannon Ong, 34, Howell's niece. "They think the police officers are trying to make it seem like he was a criminal." Ong believes there could be nothing further from the truth -- that the man who grew up in Taft and graduated from Taft Union High School where yearbooks say he played football and was in the band was a wonderful man who ran an upstanding business. While at least one family member and friends said Howell was vocal in support of gun rights, they did not believe he would condone any illegal behavior or sell illegal firearms. "The way that press release makes him sound, well, he just would have never done anything like that," Ong said after reading a copy of a sheriff's news release on the incident. ATF agents went to Alpha Omega Surplus and Supplies Store as part of a four-year firearms trafficking investigation, said ATF special agent Tracy Hite. She said ATF was assisted in serving a warrant by the Taft Police Department and Kern County Sheriff's Department. "This was a lengthy investigation that led us to several locations," Hite said, explaining that there were search warrants for five locations and arrest warrants for three people in Kern County. Ong estimated her uncle had the business for 15 to 20 years, first within Taft city limits and then in the county. At the business Thursday, some family members and friends gathered at the shop. A bumper sticker on a window bore the message: "Only tyrants and criminals fear honest armed citizens." Recorded programs blared from speakers outside the shop. "I just don't understand it," said friend Jamie Walchock. She said that while she didn't share Howell's support of guns, she respected him because he looked on the bright side of life, listened to and worked with people on their problems and was satisfied with making ends meet. She said Howell talked about moving. "In the 12 years I have known him, I have never seen him upset," Walchock said. To her, Howell was a law-abiding citizen; she said he didn't like helmets so he stopped riding his motorcycle when the helmet law went into effect. "I know in a million years he wouldn't ever shoot himself or lunge at a police officer," Walchock said. Ken Bishop, who would sometimes visit Howell at his shop, said Howell was "somewhat of a patriot" and would share his opinions about guns. He said that law enforcement's statement that Howell had illegal firearms seems "off the wall." Mike Hodges, the publisher of Golden Empire Review, said Howell asked to have a column printed in the paper titled, "Notes from Moron." Taft was called Moron in 1908, according to "Kern County Place Names." The city changed its name to Taft in 1909. In the column, Howell quotes several passages from the Bible. The column Hodges attributed to Howell states, "It is not an honor to be in the Militia! It is our God-given duty! We are commanded to be his soldiers. It is time to lay aside our 'daily' jobs and return to duty! R&R is over! To arms, to arms! Where are His soldiers? "Right now, where are your squad members? Right now can you honestly state that you are aware of their location and their ability to respond to duty?" Hodges said after Howell died, he reread the column. "It gave me an eerie, shaky feeling," Hodges said. He said he didn't believe Howell would ever resist arrest. While Howell didn't agree with some gun legislation, he abided by it, Hodges said. "I know Darryl wouldn't kill himself and he wouldn't hurt someone else," Hodges said. "My personal experience is he was a real giving person." 10/07/98 Article Man shot to death at Taft gun shop http://www.bakersfield.com/top/i--1304325052.asp More info on ATF RADID: 10/08/98 Gun shop owner dead after ATF raid http://www.msnbc.com/local/KGET/16560.asp Without Justice, there is JUST_US! American Patriot Friends Network (APFN HOME PAGE) http://www.freeyellow.com/members5/apfn/ APFN EMAIL LIST SUBSCRIBE/UNSCBSCRIBE IN SUBJECT LINE TO APFN@netbox.com APFN ONELIST: http://www.onelist/subscribe.cgi/apfn APFN CONTENTS PAGE: http://esotericworldnews.com/apfncont.htm American Patriot Friends Chat Room - Message board preview: http://forums.delphi.com/preview/main.asp?sigdir=apfnchat [APFN] MEDIA & PATRIOT WEB PAGES: http://home.rica.net/CaptainNemo/pers/patsites.htm The congressional switchboard phone number is (202) 224-3121. For e-mail addresses of Members of Congress, see the Electronic Activist at: (This URL also gives State email contacts) http://www.berkshire.net/~ifas/activist/. **COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml - - ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Oct 98 18:03:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: Dying For Our Rights - Howell Update - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1998 00:24:22 -0700 From: Ed Wolfe To: pi@involved.com Support your local gun store owner - with arms. -Ed 3-year gun probe led to Taft shooting Filed: October 9, 1998 By JONATHAN NELSON Californian staff writer e-mail: jnelson@bakersfield.com Dana Lee, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, sat across from Mark L. Reed Feb. 2, 1995, and stared down the barrel of a Beretta .22-caliber pistol. "The Israeli Mossad carries the same weapon," Reed reportedly told the undercover agent. "With light subsonic ammunition and with a rag or pillow over the barrel you can't hear the muzzle report." The weapon lowered and Lee eventually walked from Reed's photo shop in Bakersfield with a $400 FEG 9-mm pistol he had just purchased illegally. The exchange three years ago began a long and detailed investigation into three gun enthusiasts who bought, sold, and built illegal guns, according to documents filed against the men in federal court. The investigation ended Wednesday and so did the life of 45-year-old Darryl Howell, owner of Alpha Omega Surplus and Supplies Store in Taft. As ATF agents wrestled with Howell, the gun dealer grabbed a .45-caliber handgun and fired a single fatal shot into his mouth, according to a report from the Kern County Coroner's office. Sgt. Ed Whiting of the Taft Police Department fired three more shots into Howell, an act that has angered the Taft community and drew comparisons to other ATF operations, such as Waco, Texas, and Ruby Ridge, Idaho. Whiting is on administrative leave and declined to comment. Police Chief Bert Pumphrey was out of the office Friday and unavailable for comment on Whiting's actions. A sheriff's official confirmed that Whiting did not pass a one-year probationary period to be a deputy with the Kern County Sheriff's Department in 1983. He joined the Taft department in 1985. Howell's shooting occurred as ATF and local police departments were serving several search warrants in Kern County. The investigation began with Reed and widened to include Howell and Richard M. Spielman. All three men are charged in federal court on a variety of weapon violations. The investigation began in August 1994 when an informant contacted ATF officials and claimed Reed was violating several gun laws, the documents state. The informant and Lee met several times with Reed to arrange the purchase of machine guns. Lee states in court papers how he bought a machine gun from Reed in 1996 and how the informant purchased two machine guns in 1995. During a meeting at Reed's photo laboratory on July 3, 1995 between the informant and Reed, Howell was also present. Reed told the informant he didn't need to worry about Howell. The investigation then expanded to include Howell and eventually Spielman. Between 1995 and 1998, an informant purchased two machine guns and several handguns from Howell, the federal documents state. The handgun sales were done without Howell filing the proper federal and state paperwork or the informant observing the required five-day waiting period after buying a handgun. Spielman's charges stemmed from his use of illegal gun dealer documents to buy 20 cases of Chinese ammunition and his purchase of a machine gun kit from 52-year-old Alvin Seal, court papers allege. Spielman then built the machine gun and sold it to the informant. Seal, who owns the War Bunker memorabilia and gun store in Oildale, was arrested in September for investigation of several weapon violations when ATF agents raided his store and seized more than 250 firearms. Along with the specifics of when gun sales occurred, the federal documents portrayed a world where guns are easily bought and sold by people who often espoused anti-government statements. During one conversation with informants and Lee, Howell called himself a militia member and Reed complained about a ban on assault weapons and the actions of President Clinton, Attorney General Janet Reno and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Californian staff writer Christine L. Peterson contributed to this story. - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1998 13:34:53 -0600 From: chardy@ES.COM (Charles Hardy) Subject: [Forwarded mail] A little humorous, and downright good advice all in one... - ----BEGIN FORWARDED MESSGE---- > > Facts of Life > > 1. Big companies don't do business via chain letter. Bill Gates is > not giving you $1000, and Disney is not giving you a free vacation. > There is no baby food company issuing class-action checks. You can > relax; there is no need to pass it on "just in case it's true." > Furthermore, just because someone said in the message, four > generations back, that "we checked it out and it's legit," does not > actually make it true. > > 2. There is no kidney theft ring in New Orleans. No one is waking > up in a bathtub full of ice, even if a friend of a friend swears it > happened to their cousin. If you are hellbent on believing the > kidney-theft ring stories, please see: > > http://urbanlegends.tqn.com/library/weekly/aa062997.htm > > And I quote: "The National Kidney Foundation has repeatedly issued > requests for actual victims of organ thieves to come forward and tell > their stories. None have." That's "none" as in "zero." Not even your > friend's cousin. > > 3. Neiman Marcus doesn't really sell a $200 cookie recipe. And even > if they do, we all have it. And even if you don't, you can get a > copy at: > > http://www.bl.net/forwards/cookie.html > Then, if you make the recipe, decide the cookies are that awesome, > feel free to pass the recipe on - sans the Neiman Marcus story. > > 4. We all know all 500 ways to drive your roommates crazy, irritate > co-workers and creep out people on an elevator. We also know exactly > how many engineers, college students, usenet posters, and people from > each and every world ethnicity it takes to change a lightbulb. > > 5. Even if the latest NASA rocket disaster(s) DID contain plutonium > that went to particulate over the eastern seaboard, do you REALLY > think this information would reach the public via an AOL chain-letter? > > 6. There is no "Good Times" virus. In fact, you should never, ever, > ever forward any email containing any virus warning unless you first > confirm it at an actual site of an actual company that actually deals > with virii. Try: > > http://www.norton.com or > http://www.nai.com/services/support/hoax/hoax.asp > > And even then, don't forward it. We don't care.[* Check out my > personal favorite at:*] > > http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html > > 7. If you're using Outlook, IE, or Netscape to write email, turn off > the "HTML encoding." Those of us on unix shells can't read it, and > don't care enough to save the attachment and then view it with a web > browser, since you're probably forwarding us a copy of the Neiman > Marcus Cookie Recipe anyway. > > 8. If you still absolutely MUST forward that 10th-generation message > from a friend, at least have the decency to trim the eight miles of > headers showing everyone else who's received it over the last 6 > months. It sure wouldn't hurt to get rid of all the ">'s" that begin > each line. Besides, if it has gone around that many times - I've > probably already seen it. > > 9. Craig Shergold in England is not dying of cancer or anything else > at this time and would like everyone to stop sending him their > business cards, Christmas cards, post cards and anything your version > of this story asks for. He apparently is also no longer a "little > boy" either, I think he's about 21 or 22 now. > - ----END FORWARDED MESSAGE---- - -- Charles C. Hardy | If my employer has an opinion on | these things I'm fairly certain 801.588.7200 (work) | I'm not the one he'd have express it. "The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his." -- General George S. Patton - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Oct 98 22:58:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: Today's real victims - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1998 22:46:52 -0400 From: Leroy Crenshaw Subject: Today's real victims MONDAY OCTOBER 12, 1998 WorldNetDaily file:///D|/eudora/attach/Geoff Metcalf's' weekly column in WorldNetDaily.htm Today's real victims by Geoff Metcalf Alexis de Tocqueville once observed, "Americans are so enamored of equality, they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom." Gee, was the man a mere observer of contemporary 18th century values, or a prophet? With the pending impeachment of a United States president, global economic catastrophe, crises in the Mideast, Korea, Russia, Y2K threats around the corner and a myriad of other assorted annoyances looming, it is easy to overlook the impact of incrementalism and government abuse of power under the color of authority on we the people. It is far too easy to focus on the macro-disorders and overlook the impact of bad/unconstitutional policy on individuals. In other words, the individuals--people, like you and yours, me and mine--are vulnerable to the myopia of those to whom we entrust our safety. Saturday morning I received an email from a victim of incrementalism. He noted, "Up until this week, I was only an observer as the government turned the Constitution on its head in its effort to crack down on what it perceives to be dangerous weapons. Now, this insanity has caught up and engulfed me." This self-described "average hard working stiff" who has been married to the same woman for 28 years and raised two sons to adulthood, now finds the same government he and his sons served, says he should be labeled a criminal--a felon. He is at risk of a year in state prison. He could be denied the right to vote, to possess a firearm, or have his wife own a firearm. What did this husband and father do to become entangled in the criminal justice morass? He broke the law. First, he failed to buckle his seat belt. That started the chain of events which put him in handcuffs and earned him a court date. The young female California Highway Patrol officer who stopped him saw and seized what she said was a "billy club" from inside his car. He tried (unsuccessfully) to explain it was a "Tire Thumper." In fact the name of the tool was stamped on the handle. He told the young officer that 32 years ago he had driven trucks and had kept his tire thumper as "both a still useful tool and a reminder of my experiences." "The officer claimed that unless I possessed a valid class A truck driver's license, that it was a felony to carry such a tool." I need to search the criminal code for that exemption. When he asked her if it would be a felony to carry a hammer instead, it approached absurdity. "She replied that, yes, if I wasn't a carpenter (apparently without sufficient documentation of trade), I would have some serious explaining to do!" - - ------------------------------ End of utah-firearms-digest V2 #105 ***********************************