Not the exact one but this is a Brown Bess from that era.
Posted on 07/29/2009 6:49:22 PM PDT by greatdefender
Like America's first soldiers at the Battle of Brooklyn, Michael Littlejohn is fighting for his right to bear arms.
The Revolutionary War buff charges the Bloomberg administration with tyranny for trying to seize his handmade flintlock rifle - a dead ringer for the weapon once used against the redcoats.
"This is the last legal gun that you can have without registration in New York," Littlejohn said. "And yet Mayor Bloomberg is driven crazy by my flintlock gun - the one that won the American Revolution."
Littlejohn fired the first shot when he hired a Tennessee blacksmith to recreate the vintage rifle. It arrived at his Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, apartment in June - followed quickly by city cops.
Police claim it's illegal for Littlejohn to keep the flintlock without a gun license.
Littlejohn, 50, cites the earliest American patriots as his inspiration while refusing to surrender his firearm or apply for a license.
The social worker is also clinging to a little-known exemption in the city's strict gun laws.
The loophole allows license-free ownership of "antique firearms" - defined as rifles that require the bullet and gunpowder to be loaded separately.
Littlejohn's rifle appears to fit the bill.
Loading the weapon, he explains, is a multistep process that takes several pokes with a ramrod and up to a minute to complete.
To fire, the rifle relies on a sharpened piece of flint that produces a spark when the trigger is pulled. That point is moot, Littlejohn says: He doesn't own gunpowder or bullets.
That's not enough to make the NYPD retreat.
The cops visited Littlejohn's apartment and sat down this month with the Tennessee blacksmith who forged the rifle.
The lead detective on the case told Littlejohn's lawyer that he had orders "from higher-ups" to pursue the case, according to an e-mail the lawyer sent to Littlejohn.
Littlejohn's interest in the Revolutionary War dates to his childhood. He grew up playing tag outside the upstate Newburgh house used in 1782-83 as Gen. George Washington's headquarters.
As an adult, he joined in Colonial American reenactments in Virginia and Georgia.
The NYPD learned about Littlejohn's $825 rifle when he left a receipt inside a Staples copy center, prompting a call to the cops.
Cops aren't threatening to arrest Littlejohn - yet. Lawyer Joyce David, who represented Littlejohn until it became too expensive, says her ex-client could wind up with a summons.
A police source says the war could end peacefully if Littlejohn applied for a permit with the NYPD handgun license division.
Littlejohn would rather fight. The Brooklynite says he's willing to sue for his rifle rights.
He should go to the U.S. Attorney and file a federal criminal complaint against the cops for violating his constitutional rights under color of law.
Okay, that was funny!
ROTFL!!
Hah! Good one!
Not the exact one but this is a Brown Bess from that era.
I have always heard that muzzle-loading antiques are PERFECTLY legal, and exempt as firearms, in New York, as they also are under fed.gov law. WHY are the “police” PESTERING this man???
If he does not give in, are the “police” going to attack him with flame-throwers, as at Waco?
Yep he could shot the first one then it would become a lethal club to beat them to death with.
Because he is exercising a right without getting permission first. What's wrong with this picture? ( ^: }
Caution: do not take this seriously.
Fear the Tyrant that fears your Gun!
When I was in college at SUNY @ Stony Brook, I was the photo editor of the school newspaper, "The Statesman." One night we got a frantic call from someone at the "public safety office" that someone on campus had possession of a handgun and high explosives! When we finally got the report, the writer taking down the information reported that the confiscated weapons was a colt pistol and kit, stolen from the US Navy, and the suspect was in possession of explosive blasting caps and a pound of a high explosive known as "Pyrodex."
Having previously been a long-time shooter at the "Bullet Hole" range in Shawnee, Kansas, right next to Hodgens (the maker of Pyrodex!) I had to talk to the writer...
For anyone who doesn't know, Pyrodex is a synthetic black powder made by Hodgens. It's cleaner and easier to work with than "real" black powder. The "blasting caps?" They were percussion caps. And the Colt pistol and kit, stolen from the Navy? It was a replica Colt 1851 Navy Revolver, disassembled and in kit form! The box was still sealed! It turns out that a guy from out of state was going to give it to his girlfriend's father, and he had checked the laws and saw that it was legal.
But the public safety office confiscated all the stuff and expelled the student. Happily the writer agreed to rewrite the article before it went to print!
Mark
where’s the picture
yep that makes about as much sense as The lead detective on the case told Littlejohn's lawyer that he had orders "from higher-ups" to pursue the case,
lemme just go ahead and write 'cop hater' to save time for all the dillholes who will surely squeal when I say that this POS *detective* is a bottomfeeding pr!ck that is truly part of the problem, NOT part of the solution...
we are very soon to be the 21st century version of 'I wuz just followin orders'...
I think contempt and revulsion are probably more appropriate than fear.
Caution: do not take this seriously.”
Ohhhh I won't.. I have had the privilege to shoot a Brown Bess reproduction musket and a Barrett .50 Rifle.. I do know the difference.. LOL
There’s a word for these people... and it aint nice.
Happilly, yes, except for that gun-owning student who was scholastically raped!
I think guns is my favorite subject with lefties. Nothing makes them more crazy and act and say stupid and outrageous things than the subject of guns. Only a statist lefty could have a problem with a freakin’ Revolutionary War replica flintlock musket. One wonders if a matchlock or wheel lock would make them just as crazy.
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