Posted on 10/17/2003 10:29:17 AM PDT by FourPeas
Militia member 'filled with rage,' plotted ambush Friday, October 17, 2003 By Ed White
It was a rural arsenal fit for war. After the peaceful arrest of a Cadillac-area man, authorities who searched his 40-acre compound discovered a stunning collection of firepower, including an anti-aircraft gun capable of firing 550 rounds per minute up to four miles away. A van and a Jeep Cherokee, described by the suspect as his "war wagons," had machine guns inside, with one "locked, loaded and ready to go," Assistant U.S. Attorney Lloyd Meyer said. Agents found an underground bunker, thousands of rounds of ammunition, hundreds of pounds of gunpowder and manuals on guerrilla warfare, "booby traps" and explosives. There were chilling pictures of President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with the cross-hairs of a high- see MILITIA, A4 powered rifle scope drawn over them, Meyer said. Norman Somerville, 43, was arrested last week on federal gun and drug charges as he shopped at Home Depot in Cadillac. Authorities then spent the weekend combing his property in Wexford County's Antioch Township, about 20 miles northwest of Cadillac. Details of the search were disclosed in a court document filed Thursday in federal court in Grand Rapids, four days before a judge will decide whether Somerville should remain in jail while his case is pending. Somerville was "filled with rage and intended to ambush people, mowing them down in a hail of machine-gun bullets," Meyer said, quoting informants. He belongs to a "self-styled radical militia unit" whose members are upset over the death of Scott Woodring, the prosecutor said. Woodring was the Newaygo County man fatally shot by state police during the summer, days after a trooper died while trying to serve him with an arrest warrant. State police were told in September that Somerville wanted to cause a car accident, then "ambush and kill" any responding officers with a machine gun mounted in his Jeep, Meyer wrote in the court document. An unidentified source, described as one of Somerville's "trusted associates," feared he had become "mentally unbalanced and would kill an innocent person or be killed," Meyer said. Somerville may face additional charges linked to the search of his property, although Meyer declined to elaborate. Two years ago, Somerville moved to Wexford County from elsewhere in northern Michigan. He served in the Army from 1978 to 1984 and was trained as an intelligence analyst assigned to the elite Special Forces. During a brief court appearance last week in Grand Rapids, Somerville said: "The people will have their day. ... There's a quiet civil war going on in the country." In Antioch Township, five miles outside Mesick, neighbors said he is not the type to share a cup of sugar. "We told our kids to stay off his property. There was gunfire a lot," said Lynda Sherburne, a former township clerk who lives nearby. "Who knows where the stray bullets are going. "He got angry very easily. No contact with him was the best contact." Sherburne said her nephew's house shook as state and federal authorities detonated explosives found on Somerville's property. "I don't think anyone realized he was stockpiling back there," she said.
The Grand Rapids Press
In the colonies, your average Joe was expected to be ready to serve, bringing his own gun and ammo ( although provision was made in many places to supply arms who did not have those of their own ) at a moment's notice.
In this manner, an armed force could be called up in a moment's notice ( aka Minutemen ). In the main, this would be infantry.
If you look to the writings of David Kopel, the Founding Fathers may have been impressed by experience, and also the cantons of Switzerland, when the 2nd Amendment was drafted.
If you read further into the Federalist and Anti-Federalist, the common theme is that an armed populace would be a strong deterrent to ursupation.
Is there an upper limit on how much destructive force a private citizen should be allowed to have?
My never-humble opinion is that when you can't employ said force in self-defense or the defense of innocents without risking violation of others' rights to the quiet enjoyment of their liberty and property, that's where the 2nd Amendment ends.
You must have the expanded version of the 2A. Mine isn't that precise.
Strategic weapons have no value if the population turns hostile against those who attempt to usurp authority ( two reasons: 1. Destruction of assets and resources that those attempting to usurp are trying to control, and 2. If said control of strategic weapons falls in 'hostile territory', or with those who sympathize, they are useless to the usurper ).
Crew served weapons are in a grey area. Obviously cannon were crew-served. So were armed sloops. However, the historical record shows that these were also owned by private interests at the time of the Revolution.
Not so in the sense of a "well regulated" militia. IF the militia is activated the constitution is clear that it is the responsibility of the Congress to train, regulate and EQUIP the militia. If you want to argue the constitution at least read the darn thing.
Crazy assed Democrat Socialist evidently.....so much for the right wing is nuts rant from the Clintonistas.......:o)
Stay Safe Joe !
Please read the following very slowly for comprehension:
The militia was considered to be all males capable of bearing arms, excepting those whose religion proscribed against such. Such citizens were EXPECTED to bring their own arms when called.
If you want to argue about 'National Guard', I can point you to the reservations in the Federalist about 'select militia'.
Unless it's the Slob School of Advanced Conservative Copy And Paste, which postulates that President Bush is a socialist for not wanting to burn down public schools or nuke a billion peaceful Muslims.
Section 8. The Congress shall have power
To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
Not so in the sense of a "well regulated" militia.,
Not at issue, bozo. My cannon is privately owned ..
IF the militia is activated the constitution is clear that it is the responsibility of the Congress to train, regulate and EQUIP the militia.
Yep, Art I Sec 8.. What's your point?
If you want to argue the constitution at least read the darn thing.
If you want to argue the constitution tex, at least ~try~ to outline a logical issue.. Otherwise, you look like a clown.
Go buy a cannon then but try viagra first. It may be cheaper.
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