Gee, when will the next Carpenter Family-style pitchfork massacre occur?
Posted on 11/22/2005 9:19:56 AM PST by kiriath_jearim
How many guns is too many?
By Caitlyn Kelleher
Chris Tietgens owned 15 different guns by the time he was 15.
Now, at age 66, he has a room full of firearms as part of his personal collection.
The Leominster resident has firearms that date back to the early-1800s, firearms German soldiers used in World War II, original Winchester rifles and a pocket-pistol made in Fitchburg in the early-1900s.
Tietgens collects firearms, hunts and competes in target competitions.
"They represent a whole line of interests," he said. "It's not just a one-thing reason."
Tietgens does not understand why anyone would wonder why he owns so many guns.
"It's the view of the person that knows less and less about firearms," he said.
The ability of people to sit around and casually discuss firearms has disappeared during the last few years, said Tietgens.
His comments come two weeks after Templeton Police arrested Scott Tardiff, 37 , after he turned over 16 firearms, ammunition, and an expired license to police when they served him with a restraining order.
Tardiff was charged with firearm possession without an firearm identification card, possession of a large capacity firearm, improper storage of a firearm, and improper storage of a large capacity firearm.
Tardiff, a former Leominster resident, was arrested within yards of Baldwinville Elementary School.
This concerned many parents, who said they were upset by the fact that the guns were not locked away.
While not talking about this case, area hunters and gun collectors said it is not unusual for a person to have more than one gun.
Different guns are needed to hunt different types of animals, shoot different targets and collected.
Hiding their guns away
"I think the stigma is somewhat caused by the laws," said Jim Wallace, the executive director of the Gun Owners Action League in Northboro. "By law we have to hide our guns away."
State laws require all firearms to be "secured in a locked container or equipped with a tamper-resistant mechanical lock or other safety device, properly engaged so as to render such weapon inoperable by any person other than the owner or lawfully authorized used."
Wallace said he thinks many people have a false sense of security and believe it is someone else's job to "protect me and feed me."
And while state gun laws regulate the sale, the possession, the carrying and the types of guns a person can own, they don't regulate the number of weapons someone can own.
Gun owners, including Tietgens, say many of these law are confusing, poorly designed and cause more harm to legal gun owners than criminals.
"Laws don't always make sense, they don't cover all the what ifs," Tietgens said.
A person needs to have a firearms identification card in order to possess a license in the state.
The cards can be obtained through the local police department. Applications are available in local police departments and a person must submit proof they have completed a safety course.
Police can refuse to issue the cards if someone has been convicted a felony or a misdemeanor that carries a sentence of two years or more or have been confined for mental illness, drug addiction or habitual drunkenness.
Still, many law-abiding gunowners say criminals will find ways to get guns.
"There is no way you are going to stop the average crook from getting their hands (on guns)," Wallace said. "If you are not going to stop the illegal drugs and the gangs, you aren't going to stop the illegal gun use."
Philip A. Madonia, III, the president of the Fitchburg Sportsmen Club, is a hunter.
He said he owns more than one gun but would not specify how many.
The 50-year-old Fitchburg resident said it is important to teach people to respect firearms, both to control their use, but also to remove the stigma attached to owning guns.
"I think it is a misperception of how guns are used by sportsmen and why they are used," he said. "I got introduced to it as a Boy Scout on issues of safe handling and use."
Richard Freel of Clinton agrees older generations did a better job of teaching their children to respect firearms.
"I think that used be something handled by parents years ago," he said.
The Clinton man said he owns about 10 firearms, including shotguns, rifles and pistols, which he uses in competitions.
"I shoot holes in paper," he said describing his interest in guns. "The goal is shooting a perfect target."
The different weapons allow him to perfect his shooting, depending on a variety of factors.
"I am protecting your second amendment to keep and bear arms," Freel said. "I think our forefathers, who wrote our constitution, were wise."
Some days I just sit down and thank God I don't live in a place like Massachusettes.
Excellent.
From the movie "Unforgiven":
"I ain't gonna get shot for lack of shootin' back."
Communist's golden rule: First, take away all of the guns.
ROFL!
Too true.
You can't even own airguns which are moderately powerful.
Now you see there's your problem right there.
"The people have a right to keep and bear arms for the common defense. And as, in time of peace, armies are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be maintained without the consent of the legislature, and the military power shall always be held in an exact subordination to the civil authority, and be governed by it."
Declaration of Rights, Article 17, Massachusetts Constitution.
A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed
Second Amendment, Constitution for the United States.
Nah, that just means you've graduated to a higher level, and need better record keeping tools.
LOL! "You broke into the wrong gosh-darn rec-room!" I love that scene...my wife and kids even started calling me "Burt Gummer" for awhile...
...thanks for the chuckle...
Gee, when will the next Carpenter Family-style pitchfork massacre occur?
I went to the shooting range sunday.I stapped on my holster with my 22 mag.,threw in my 25 auto on my boot,(outside exposed),and acouple of rifles to zero in some new scopes.All the while in full view of everyone in town including the police without a conceald carry permit.No problems at all.Can carry but not concealed.But then again,thats why i live in Texas.
Sure, rub it in Army. I only get dispensation if I'm guarding my still here in WV. :>D
". You have no more room to store them. "
..same rule applies in our home...according to the wife if it won't still fit in your gun safe, you can't have it...my "workaround" has been to transfer various "assets" to the kids' gun safe (they have their own that they share)...to make room for new acquisitions.
...to every problem there IS a solution!
Obviously any number above zero, in the opinion of the dumb, anti-gun parents mentioned in the article.
That would make a truly kick ass tagline. Can I steal that from you at some point?
How many is too many?
The ONE in the hands of a criminal.
All the rest ain't enough.
SARCASM ALERT!
Y'know, I just had me an idea to sell to Kali & MA legislators.
A 'primer lock'. A little piece of metal that clamps over the primer of each round, and has to stay in place intil removed by an itty bitty key, only when ready to shoot, so the round can't be fired by accicdentally by an unauthorized person....
END SARCASM ALERT.
That sentence doesn't make sense.
In MA, you don't need to already hold a FID to apply for concealed carry permit (or License to Carry). If you hold a LTC, you can buy any handgun or longarm not otherwise restricted in the state and ammunition therefor.
But folks who only hold FIDs cannot buy handguns.
As for storage, it's a mandatory minimum of a year in jail if a weapon is improperly stored.
If you need any help guardin it.let me knowHICCUP!!
We really need to get victimless crimes off the books.
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