Posted on 08/19/2009 2:37:52 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
To everyone who knew him, Ronald Struve was not the kind of man who would one day be arrested by federal agents and, at age 67, be sent off to prison for four years on weapons charges. ....
But during the decades of the Cold War, Struve also sincerely believed that it was only a matter of time before the Soviets or the Red Chinese came storming onto American soil to conquer our way of life. So quietly, Struve collected an arsenal and stuck it away in rented storage lockers in Bellevue and Spokane: grenade launchers, dozens of grenades and machine guns, plastic explosives, silencers, blasting caps and detonator cord. ....
This morning in Seattle, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman sentenced Struve to 48 months in prison, three years of probation and mental health counseling, saying, "The bottom line is people simply should not have these things and that's why we have laws against them."
"Your collections have put other people at risk for decades," she said.
Struve pleaded guilty in March to one count of possessing plastic explosives and four counts of possessing unregistered firearms. In return, the government dropped more than 100 other counts against him.
When agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms first searched the Bellevue locker in November, 2008, one veteran agent said, "In all my years, I've never seen this sort of firepower in one place." ....
The agents also found more weapons in a locker Struve rented in Spokane. When they arrested Struve at his Spokane home, they said he told them he might use the weapons "some day," against "the enemy."
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
Nice.
Is this all he had?? //SARC//
It was the commies in this country he had to worry about
I am betting that they are already on their way to Mexico!
ATF guy “In all my years, I’ve never seen this sort of firepower in one place.”
That is some high praise....
New tagline...
Gotta pay that storage rental! This was a well connected nutcake. How else could he get or steal himself all that military stuff? He could have sold that to gang bangers for a fortune.
Why can’t these weapons hoarders understand that the weapons need to be spread out among numerous people to be effective?
That many in one place is guaranteed to be your undoing some day.
THAT’S ALL???!!!!
That FBI agent should consider a new career. Whatta wuss.
Sorry, FBI folk, that was a BATF weenie...
...quite a bit on money sitting on that table....a quick check of the latest Gun Digest shows the German MP-40 running $9-12,000....BARs are so rare that they are not quoted...I’ve never seen a sawed off M-79 before.
And I'd love to have that BAR and the MP40
That's a pretty broad statement. And the government wonders why freedom loving people hate them?
The man understood what it would take and did what he thought was right. He understood perfectly that some of it crossed the line but made his choice. Some part of me respects him for that and another part respects the judge.
Funny how they can find this stuff in some obscure location like Ruby Ridge, outside of Waco, or Bellvue, yet they cannot find the machine guns, grenades, and explosives that the local drug dealers have in their arsenals and use on a regular basis. I am always amazed at this.
“In all my years, I’ve never seen this sort of firepower in one place.”
There’s the problem right there.
In the 1990’s after WACO they were called the BATF!!! Burn all toddlers first!
Some of these weapons are pretty old and Some are broken!!!!
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