State trooper pleads guilty to possessing machine gun

Belleville News-Democrat ^ | Jul. 26, 2006 | ASHLEY TUSAN JOYNER

[bad company]

Illinois State Police trooper Gregory Mugge pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing an unregistered machine gun in federal court on Tuesday, according to an announcement from the U.S. attorney's office.

Mugge, 52, of Jerseyville, was indicted in January, along with Illinois State Police Sgt. James Vest, 39, of O'Fallon, and John Yard, 36, an Illinois State Police special agent assigned to the Collinsville office, each face separate charges of illegal gun possession.

Mugge faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and a maximum three years of supervised release.

He is scheduled to reappear in court for sentencing on Oct. 27.

On Dec. 29, authorities seized Mugge's unregistered Colt .2234 caliber rifle from his home in Jerseyville. In his plea, Mugge admitted to knowing his possession of the rifle was unlawful.

In February, a group of 12 local police chiefs and sheriffs, and two state senators, Sen. Bill Haine, D-Alton, and Sen. James Watson, R-Greenville, endorsed a letter of support for the three state troopers.

At that time, the backers pushed for administrative punishment for the three troopers rather than prosecution.

[looscnnn]

If the person is willing to pull the trigger the first time, the person is more than likely to pull it again and again and again. All actions are thought out, regardless of the type of firearm. It takes less thought and effort to release the trigger on a full auto than it does to pull the trigger, so don't give me that crap. Also, look at the gang-bangers with their 9s they just keep pulling the triggers without thinking about the next action.

"When in full automatic mode, the gun tends to jump with each shot; causing unanticipated rounds to go where they weren't intended."

Same for a semi-auto when you repeatedly pull the trigger in rapid succession. The gun does not get a chance to get back on target, even a .22 will wander a little if you do that.

Stop the crap postings, a criminal is not deterred by any law that bans them from getting guns of any type. Look at the number of felons that get busted for being in possession of a firearm. Did they go to the local store and buy it? No.

[looscnnn]

Good, now what is your take on the "mental health issues" part of the law?

[Lazamataz]

unregistered Colt .2234 caliber rifle

No no no, you silly uneducated reporter. It's a .2234567890 rifle!

[tcostell]

Well again... I wasn't talking about specifics here... just my general feeling that the lines need to be left as clear as possible to avoid liberal obfuscation and additional erosion of existing gun rights.

See my post #317

[Lazamataz]

What did they intend, indeed? Machine guns weren't invented yet. They certainly wanted the citizens to be able to defend themselves with guns. But machine guns and WMDs aren't easily classified as defensive weapons.

Cannons were. Cannons are WMD's of the time.

Cannons were owned privately and there was no indication from the Founders that they wanted those restricted.

[ovrtaxt]

I agree. In the original context of the late 18th century, the second amendment is about military weapons as much as hunting rifles.

[exnavy]

I wonder if anyone in Ill. has heard of the 2nd ammendment.

[looscnnn]

BTW, do your neighbors that you fear so much have shoestrings? Yes, then they own machine guns per the ATF. Time to kick your paranoia into overdrive.

[exnavy]

Actually, we are entitled to own a thermo nuclear device per the second amendment. Many people have mistaken the intent of the constitution, that document protects us, the people from gubment. In order to do that, one must be able to respond in kind.

[Still Thinking]

Many people have mistaken the intent of the constitution, that document protects us, the people from gubment.

I agree. No one seems to understand that. It also infuriates me whem people assume that we have only the rights spelled out in the Constitution. I heard BJ one time giving a lecture where he said that a lot of people (he studiously avoided mentioning whether he agreed) felt that the founding fathers had "given us" to manu freedoms in the Constitution. I nearly crashed my car yelling at the idiot in effigy.

[Tokra]

He was talking about MGs in particular. About 100 victims per day for cars, about 2 for legal MGs in the last 75 years.

That's true if you are only talking about machine guns. That's like saying we will only talk about Maseratis when discussing auto fatalities.

100 people die each day from auto accidents out of 20 Billion miles driven each day in the US.

Firearms kill 30 people every day. Do you honestly think 6 Billion guns shots are fired every day? There would have to be that many for the gun deaths to equal the same ratio of auto deaths.

I still say there is no comparison at all.

[Peisistratus]

"Firearms kill 30 people every day."

A firearm, of its own volition, can't kill anyone.

Those statistics usually include criminals shot by police and criminals shot by other criminals. It also doesn't include the millions of defensive gun uses every year that deter crime.

[Tokra]

A firearm, of its own volition, can't kill anyone.

Neither can a car.

[Peisistratus]

"Neither can a car."

An "auto accident" involves a driver by definition.

[Tokra]

I was responding to the post that said since more people die in auto deaths than from firearms - maybe we should ban cars.

I was responding saying that proportionally more deaths occur from firearms than from autos.

Semantics doesn't change that fact.

[Peisistratus]

"I was responding saying that proportionally more deaths occur from firearms than from autos."

I've pointed out the inclusiveness of those statistics.

[BobS]

"I do wonder how many RPGs have been smuggled into our country? I live in Texas and the border is a sieve..."

I am of the opinion that a few cars blown up by them will shut the border down faster than a woman puts her little knees together.

[BobS]

"I was responding saying that proportionally more deaths occur from firearms than from autos."

Really? I got hit by an illegal alien that ran a red light as a simple passenger in a little car. Many injuries and a lawsuit.

Now I drive a big truck. Anybody that runs a red light into it will die. I will engage in public urination on the bodies if it does happen. And the cops or sherrif's deputies will encourage me. They know.

[spunkets]

"Firearms kill 30 people every day. Do you honestly think 6 Billion guns shots are fired every day? There would have to be that many for the gun deaths to equal the same ratio of auto deaths."

Your grasp of logic and statistical comparisons needs a lot of work.

[Tokra]

I've pointed out the inclusiveness of those statistics.

Your grasp of logic and statistical comparisons needs a lot of work.

How so?

For argument sake say that 10% of the US population fires a gun at least once a day ( I doubt it is that high - but we'll use that as a base line):

100 auto deaths a day / 20 billion miles driven each day = 1 death for every 200 million miles driven.

30 firearm deaths a day / 30 million shots fired = 1 death for every 1 million shots fired.

No matter how you slice it - firing a gun is at least 200 times more dangerous than driving a car. And I have been very generous with the firing number - I really doubt that 30 million gunshots are fired every day - but we KNOW that 20 billion miles are driven every day.

If you can't grasp those figures - maybe a remedial math course might help.

Sorry if the facts don't fit your beliefs - but you know how pesky facts can be.