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.
This is the key to defeating an idealistic socialistic society, they are brainwashed to believe that they can live in a pain free, worry free society that will support them with socialized health care a guaranteed low wage job and high taxes.
All so they can escape from reality.
A free man or woman that can live off the land, that can think for themselves, can be their own community police when called upon and will question the leaders they elect when they are going in the wrong direction is what America is all about.
Every day we must exercise our true believes, show the weaker liberals that we are better, display to them that they will always lose when it comes down to being self sufficient, especially when it comes to home defense and guns.
Their idea of a perfect society is just a dream, their dream.
Its not mine.
Yes, but this is the dreaded Revolutionary War caliber of .69!!!!!
I heard that will take down the Space Shuttle.
[Civil War rifled muskets were .58]
It’s not a musket - it’s a rifle.
And yes, there is a big difference.
yeah, the detective should definitely have lost his job rather than knocking on this guy's door. get a clue.
A) *HANDGUN* division??!!? This is not a HANDGUN.
2) Nobody gets a handgun permit in NYC. Apply allllll you want. Once they get you to bow to their system, they will deny you with a smile.
iii) This is why I no longer live in New Joke State.
thank you
OOPS...too bad in this case the only enforcement is of local tyranny...
btt
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