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| Paul Tucker demonstrates weapon parts that can easily be obtained through the mail. Tucker’s on a mission to keep the weapons out of the hands of terrorists. Brooks Sample/DFWCN photo |
Posted on 06/01/2002 8:20:47 PM PDT by Hotline
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| "I'm for the Second Amendment," the 57-year-old medical software developer and consultant said as he displayed World War II-era British Enfield rifles at his Collin County home. But the terrorism threat looming over the country has led him to campaign against what he considers lax laws governing the importation of parts that can be used to make automatic weapons. Many of these parts can be bought by anyone with a telephone, Internet service, and a credit card. Tucker has done it himself. No background checks are conducted, even though they are required for handgun purchasers under the Brady law. Consequently, Tucker fears that those parts may fall into the wrong hands. "I'm trying to raise a red flag on this," he said. "I think this should be stopped." He has taken his campaign to members of Congress, the Texas Legislature, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. "I've contacted a whole lot of people," Tucker said, displaying a thick sheaf of letters, faxes, and other communications at his home office. But he has not met with any success. Officials of the Dallas office of the ATF suggested the issue is more a policy than an enforcement question. "If it is not illegal, there's not much we can do about it until a crime is committed," Tom Crowley, special agent, said. Others contacted by Tucker included U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Plano, who could not be reached for immediate comment Thursday. Members of Johnson's staff said they would schedule a meeting with Tucker to discuss his concerns. The weapon in question is the Sten gun, a World War II-era British submachine gun that is no longer made. But many have been broken into parts that can be sold. Through one of many catalogues available, Tucker legally purchased a $48.95 kit that provided him with everything needed to assemble a Sten gun except the frame and receiver. Buying frames or receivers is illegal. Under U.S. law, both devices are themselves considered machine guns and possession of them is a felony. But Tucker demonstrated how, using tools and parts available through hardware stores, including a piece of automobile-exhaust pipe, a working machine gun can be constructed. (Poster's note: Isn't demonstrating that considered a felony?) "If you've got any kind of basic skills, you can rebuild it," he said. "The scary part is that anybody can buy it over the telephone with no background check. That is my objection." Tucker questions why such kits are being sold in large quantities -- as cheaply as $15 each if 100 or more are purchased. "If they're selling them in those quantities, somebody is buying them," Tucker said. "Why is there no background check required for sales on such a large scale?" Sten gun parts are not the only automatic-weapons parts available through print and online catalogues. Others include those designed for the Uzi, AK47, and AR-15. Tucker originally asked the ATF for instructions on how to legally assemble a nonworking Sten gun, called a "dummy," for display in his home collection. In a faxed response, Curt Bartlett of the ATF's Washington office said that "a combination of parts from which a Sten gun can be assembled is a machine gun" and is, therefore, illegal under the National Firearms Act. "In order to make a dummy Sten gun that is not a firearm, we suggest you use a dummy receiver made from a solid metal bar that is incapable of accepting any type of bolt or firing mechanism," Bartlett said. Under U.S. law, possession of automatic weapons is illegal. (Poster's note: BZZZZZT! Wrong answer, try again.) For display purposes, as in Tucker's case, the weapons must be rendered useless. This process is called de-milling. Before World War II, the British had been buying U.S.-made Thompson submachine guns but decided they cost too much. In late 1940, the Birmingham Small Arms Company proposed a new weapon designed by Major R.V. Shepherd and H.J. Turpin. After tests, the military accepted the weapon, named for its designers and the Enfield factory where production began, and the first weapons left the factory in June 1941. Ultimately 4 million weapons were manufactured. They were known for affordability and ease of construction, assembly, dismantling, and concealment. British troops called them the Plumbers' Delight, Woolworth gun, and Stench gun. Something of a legend has grown up around them, and the legend lives on through online chat rooms and kit sales. But Tucker hopes the legend does not take a negative turn. "If terrorists were smart enough to use a box cutter, they should have no problem putting these together," he said. |
My response (which, by the way "will be visible upon approval by our System Administrator"):
First they came for the sawed off shotguns, but because I wasn't a criminal and my shotgun was 1/4 inch above the legal limit allowed by my government, I said nothing.
Then they came for the machine guns, but because I wasn't a criminal and I held a Class III license, which made my machine gun A-OK by my government, I said nothing.
Then they came for the semi-automatic SKS and AK-47, but because I wasn't a criminal, and I had one that was non-Soviet marked with the original bayonette, and I had another one that didn't come with a bayonette but I had no intention of attaching one, my government allowed me to keep them, and I said nothing.
Then they came for the Saturday Night Specials, but since I wasn't a criminal, and I only purchase high-end collector's firearms and my government had no problem with my interests, I said nothing.
Then they came for the mail order firearms parts, but because I wasn't a criminal, and had no use for scopes, parts kits, or other accessories that I could get through my well-known acquaintances in my own town, and my government allowed that, I said nothing.
Then they came for my collectible WWII-era British Enfield rifles, even though I wasn't a criminal and had no intention of using it in a crime...and there was nothing I could do, and nothing I could say, because there was no one or nothing left to convince my government otherwise.
This guy is an idiot. So are the thousands of clowns who subscribe to Shotgun News and order boxes full of junk that they might someday make into who knows what. I wouldn't want a Sten even if it was brand new in the cosmoline!
The idea of an Arab actually making anything in a machine shop is ridiculous. Do you remember that guy who shot up a bunch of people outside CIA headquarters and then fled to Pakistan. Before he bought his rifle he bought an AR-15 and then returned it to the gun shop because he couldn't figure out how to put it back together after field stripping it. And these guys are going to machine receivers out of pipe and then build it into a Sten? Give me a break!
This guy is an idiot. So are the thousands of clowns who subscribe to Shotgun News and order boxes full of junk that they might someday make into who knows what. I wouldn't want a Sten even if it was brand new in the cosmoline!
The idea of an Arab actually making anything in a machine shop is ridiculous. Do you remember that guy who shot up a bunch of people outside CIA headquarters and then fled to Pakistan. Before he bought his rifle he bought an AR-15 and then returned it to the gun shop because he couldn't figure out how to put it back together after field stripping it. And these guys are going to machine receivers out of pipe and then build them into Stens? Give me a break!
It is already against the law to build, re-build, restore or in any manner fabricate a functional machine gun for non law enforcement use. Has been since 1986. The 1/4 million machine guns that were legally transfered to citizens prior to 1986 were 'grandfathered" and can still be transfered to other free citizens (if you reside in a free state). Some are and some are not.
It's a shame that the NRA doesn't have the means to terminate the membership of any 'member' who is clearly opposed to the 2nd Amendment and uses that membership simply to add credability for his agenda.
LOL!-Bump for that.
Would these latter two items be hard to acquire or manufacture?
America's Fifth Column ... watch PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
Download 8 Mb zip file here (60 minute video)
Actually, they do have that means, and have used it many times against one particular anti-gun activist who keeps joining under different names and then using his NRA membership to say "I'm an NRA member and I'm for gun control."
Yes, that's right. Thousands of Americans are buying them.
Maybe Tens of thousands of Americans.
They are buying them up while they still can, and burying them in their back yards.
I been thinking of making an Art piece out of mine.
Sten kit and receiver tube with template mounted under glass with appropriate tools, and a sign saying,
"In the event of Confiscation, Break Glass."
It's like plumbing. It sounds simple but actually doing it is another thing altogether. And when you test it out you're not using water at 40psi but hot gasses at 30,000 cup. I hope some of these guys actually try it because it will thin their ranks some.
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