O.C. man faces assault weapons charges

The Orange County Register ^ | JOHN McDONALD

[An Old Man]

Tuesday, November 25, 2003 O.C. man faces assault weapons charges Gun seizure is reportedly the largest in California since a 1989 ban

By JOHN McDONALD The Orange County Register

A raid on a Laguna Niguel shooting range and gun shop has yielded the largest haul of illegal assault weapons ever seized in California, officials reported today.

Ilya Yampolsky, 38, of Laguna Niguel was arrested on 58 felony violations of state firearms laws. He is the son of Valentina Yampolsky, owner of On Target Shooting Range, 27692 Camino Capistrano.

The son is accused of illegally offering to sell the assault weapons at the shop and on the Internet.

The seizure was the largest since the state banned assault weapons in 1989.

The case started with an anonymous tip that led state investigators to inspect On Target on Nov. 19. They found two assault rifles, with price tags attached, offered for sale inside a display case, officials said.

The subsequent search and investigation led to the seizure of 79 assault rifles, three assault pistols, seven assault shotguns, one rifle packaged with two grenade launchers and 19 illegal tracer rounds, said Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for the California Attorney General’s Office.

Tracer rounds are used for aiming automatic fire at night and are illegal in California.

Also found was a grenade with a fuse and pin. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad determined that the grenade was inert.

Yampolsky is accused of 33 counts of possessing unregistered assault weapons, 21 counts of possessing destructive devices and four counts of offering assault weapons for sale. He was released on bail andbut could not be reached for comment.

A woman who identified herself as Valentina Yampolsky hung up on a reporter today.

"The illegal sale of firearms is the No. 1 reason criminals are able to become armed and dangerous," California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said at a Los Angeles news conference held to announce the seizure. "Anyone who witnessed the North Hollywood shootout in 1997 knows that when placed in the wrong hands, these military-style assault weapons represent a tremendous threat to officers and public safety in California."

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said after the news conference that many of the weapons seized are supposed to be only in the hands of military and law enforcement personnel.

"Dangerous weapons mixed with equally dangerous people create and explosive time bomb," Rackauckas said.

The district attorney said that he has a deputy authorized to prosecute gun cases in either state or federal court and that the latestcase will go where the offenses carry the toughest sentence.

Investigators found evidence that 59 assault weapons registered to Yampolsky have not been accounted for and may have been sold, Dresslar said. There is no information on who may have purchased the weapons.

Anybody with information on the whereabouts of the weapons is asked to call the attorney general’s firearms hot line at (916) 263-4887.

Some of the weapons seized had been registered to Yampolsky, but 33 were unregistered. The registered weapons can be legally possessed in California but cannot be sold within the state or on the Internet.

Yampolsky is not licensed to sell guns, officials said. His mother has a license to sell firearms but not assault weapons.

A few customers were at the shooting range this afternoon and a team of Boy Scouts was booked to shoot later.

The shop had hundreds of guns for sale, including rifles, pistols and shotgun,s but nothing that appeared to be an assault rifle.

Employees declined to comment.

One customer, Jake Beagle, 28, of Dana Point, said he shoots at the range three times a week to improve his hunting aim.

"Even if anything suspicious was going on here, I’d still come as long as they let me shoot," said Beagle, explaining that On Target is the closest range in the area.

Posted for discussion purposes Copyright 2003 The Orange County Register

[An Old Man]

This was printed in Tuesdays Paper. Two things caught my attention: one was that the investigation began when soneone reported the activity to the local officials. the other was the report that many of the guns were registered to the son of the range owner.

Every time I see or hear of actities like this, images of my early childhood are refreshed. In this case I can recall being warned about the people in Nazi Germany turning in their neighbors for violation of the local laws. I believe that this law in California is in direct conflict with Article 2 of the US Constitution, and have only scorn for the people who enforce it.

[Vaduz]

california and law is like water and grease.

[SSN558]

Also found was a grenade with a fuse and pin.

Inert grenades with pin and inert fuse are illegal in CA too and get you sent to prison. They are harmless novelty items that can be bought and owned in the other 49 states. I had one chrome plated and use it for a paper weight. Scheesh!

[An Old Man]

Look what I found Right in your own back yard!

[sport]

It is soon going to be illegal to breathe without a permit.

Common sense went out the window a long time ago.

[Osage Orange]

I got to this guy's name.."Jake Beagle"..and his comment and burst out laughing..........

[epow]

The subsequent search and investigation led to the seizure of 79 assault rifles, three assault pistols, seven assault shotguns

More propaganda designed to scare the wits out of lame-brain soccer moms and emasculated wimps. There are no such animals as assault pistols or assault shotguns. Furthermore, I'm almost sure that NONE of the firearms which Mr. Yampolsky had in his shop are true assault rifles. If they were assault rifles, i.e. dual mode semiauto and full-auto midrange rifles, it would be a federal NFA violation and ATF would be handling this case instead of the local cops.

I would bet that every firearm seized would be prefectly legal in GA where we have more reasonable, yet still unconstitutional, gun laws. IMHO any law which restricts possession or ownership of any firearm in any way is a violation of the 2nd amendment.

[An Old Man]

"any law which restricts possession or ownership of any firearm in any way is a violation of the 2nd amendment"

I wholeheartedly agree with you on that!

[Wilhelm Tell]

It is horrible the indoctrination going on in California. When you hear the term "destructive device," for example, one would think of a live grenade or a bomb of some sort. Actually, a "destructive device," according to our socialists, is a handgun or rifle magazine that can hold more than 10 rounds. An "assault rifle with a grenade launcher" sure sounds scary, doesn't it? All that means is that the gun has flange at the end of the barrel. One could put a grenade in the flange and fire the gun with a special blank cartridge. This would make the grenade fly farther than you could throw it -- maybe 100 yards or so instead of the, I don't know, 30 yards you could throw one. The socialists make it sound like a gun with a grenade launcher is some sort of bomb that will explode.

There are Yugoslavian and French semi-auto rifles that have grenade launchers. These guns are popular with collectors and are legal in most states. They shoot like other guns, and they do not make bullets explode or anything, sheesh! They also come with bayonets, but that has not caused any drive-by bayonettings that I know of. You might as well ban sling-shots because they could be used to throw grenades.

It is all about banning as many guns as possible by giving them scary names and making people think that these are machine guns or some sort of bombs. First they say that no one "needs" a semi-auto rifle with a grenade launcher. Then, no one "needs" a semi-auto rifle, either. Next, no one "needs" any sort of rifle. Finally, if no one "needs" any sort of rifle, then no one really "needs" any sort of gun.

[An Old Man]

Those damn gun grabbers woulden't know a machinegun if one were to run right up to them and spit in their eye.

In my younger days, we used to shoot beer cans off a fence with one of these.

Semper Fi

[epow]

I wholeheartedly agree with you on that

Well since I'm also an old man, there are probably lots of things we agree on.

[an amused spectator]

The subsequent search and investigation led to the seizure of 79 assault rifles, three assault pistols, seven assault shotguns, one rifle packaged with two grenade launchers and 19 illegal tracer rounds, said Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for the California Attorney General’s Office.

An assault tricycle, a cupboard full of assault coffee cups, assorted assault plastic spoons & forks, and a box of assault Taco Bell Fire Sauce packets were also found. :-)

[an amused spectator]

"The assault illegal assault sale of assault firearms is the No. 1 assault reason assault criminals are able to assault become assault armed and assault dangerous," California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said at a Los Angeles news conference held to announce the seizure. "Anyone who assault witnessed the North Hollywood assault shootout in 1997 knows assault that when assault placed in the wrong assault hands, these assault military-style assault assault weapons assault represent a tremendous assault threat to assault officers and public assault safety in assault California."