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Posted on 01/16/2003 6:12:15 PM PST by RCW2001
BETH DeFALCO, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, January 16, 2003
©2003 Associated Press
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/01/16/national1742EST0770.DTL
(01-16) 17:39 PST QUEEN CREEK, Ariz. (AP) --
Federal agents seized more than 200 weapons, including assault rifles, flame-throwers and a rocket-propelled grenade, during a raid Thursday on a self-storage room in this Phoenix suburb, a federal spokesman said.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms learned about the weapons while questioning Scott Segal, a man arrested in Massachusetts on unrelated weapons charges, agency spokesman Tom Mangan said.
Investigators are still trying to find out how Segal got the weapons and what he was doing with them. Mangan said there is no indication of any link to terrorism.
Agents padlocked the room at Power Mini Storage earlier this week but didn't enter it until Thursday, Mangan said. The room was rented in the name of Segal's mother.
The weapons cache included a rocket-propelled grenade with a launcher -- a shoulder-fired weapon that can be used against armored vehicles. It also included assault rifles, hand grenades, flame-throwers and thousands of rounds of ammunition, Mangan said.
Agents also found antique muzzle loaders and other collectible weapons. Some dated back to World War II and the Korean War.
Segal, 40, was arrested Dec. 30 in Worcester, Mass., Mangan said.
He was indicted in federal court on charges of being a felon in possession of firearms -- a .45-caliber machine gun and a 9mm machine gun -- and unlawful possession of machine guns, said Christina Sterling, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney in Boston. He was released from custody following a court hearing earlier this month.
There was no answer Thursday night at a phone number listed under the name Scott Segal in Worcester. Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts wouldn't comment on the Arizona cache.
Jim Power, owner of Power Mini Storage, said Segal never stood out from other people who stored belongings at the business. He said Segal had the storage room for six months and had last been seen there around Thanksgiving.
©2003 Associated Press
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SR
My guess is this is a nice Thompson. I figure that there might be a cache (still sealed in their protective goo, of course) somewheres on my island from the time when the Marines were here during WW II. Hope springs eternal..
In time, we had a tight little group. We once, and only once, accepted an invite from my old militia unit to op-4. It was quite entertaining, to say the least.
My point is, if something did happen where we need to become this "nasty bunch", I hope to God that we are able to group in a manor that's timely without the mentality of the mid to late 90's militia. (Olsen)
SR
"Walk softly and carry a big stick" has its merits, indeed...
OK, I'll bite. So how big is too big? Is there caliber restriction in the Constitution?
If I hold a minority opinion on "no-knock" serches and siezures, do I lose my 4th amendment protections?
Maybe the bloke thinks he needs them for when he gets pulled over for a traffic infraction.
Such as this one?
You noticed that too? I mean, Wow, muzzleloaders from way back then! I think the kids who fill orders at the Taco Bell driveup make fewer mistakes than these so called reporters. Maybe they're the ones who can't hack it in fast-food
It is time to speak plainly for the good citizens and patriots of this nation who believe unbendingly in the Constitution of the United States of America. Though foreign governments may disarm their subjects, we will not go down that road.
We will not disarm and see our freedoms stripped away. The lessons of history are numerous, clear and bloody. A disarmed population inevitably becomes an enslaved population. A disarmed population is without power, reduced to childlike obedience to – and dependent upon – the organs of a parental state. A disarmed population will lose – either piecemeal or in one sweeping act – those basic rights for which the citizens of America risked their lives and fortunes over 200 years ago. We will not disarm.
The right to self protection – the internal directive of every living creature, be it mouse or man – is the most fundamental right of all. It is the right that must be exercised against the predators of the streets, against the predators hidden within agencies of law enforcement, and against the most dangerous predators of all – those to be found in government, whose insidious grasping for power is relentless and never-ending. We will not disarm. Not in the face of robbers, rapists and murderers who prey upon our families and friends.
Nor in the face of police and bureau agents who would turn a blind eye to the Constitution, who would betray the birthright of their countrymen; nor in the face of politicians of the lowest order – those who pander to the ignorant, the weak, the fearful, the naïve; those indebted to a virulent strain of the rich who insulate themselves from the dangers imposed upon other Americans and then preach disarmament.
We will not surrender our handguns. We will not surrender our hunting arms.
And we will not surrender our firearms of military pattern or utility, nor their proper furnishings, nor the right to buy, to sell, or to manufacture such items.
Firearms of military utility, which serve well and nobly in times of social disturbance as tools of defense for the law abiding, serve also in the quiet role of prevention, against both the criminal and the tyrannical.
An armed citizenry – the well regulated militia of the Second Amendment, properly armed with military firearms – is a powerful deterrant, on both conscious and subconcious levels, to those inclined towards governmental usurpations. An armed citizenry stands as a constant reminder to those in power that, though they may violate our rights temporarily, they will not do so endlessly and without consequence. And should Americans again be confronted with the necessity of – may God forbid it – throwing off the chains of a tyrannical and suffocating regime, firearms designed to answer the particular demands of warfare will provide the swiftest and most decisive means to this end.
Any law which prohibits or limits a citizen’s possession of firearms of military utility or their proper furnishings, provides an open window through which a corrupt government will crawl to steal away the remainder of our firearms and our liberties. Any law which prohibits or limits a citizen’s possession of firearms of military utility or their proper furnishings, being directly contrary to the letter and spirit of the Second Amendment, is inimical to the Constitution, to the United States of America, and to it’s citizens.
Now – today – we are witnessing the perilous times foreseen by the architects of the Constitution. These are times when our government is demanding – in the guise of measures for the common good – the relinquishment of several rights guaranteed to Americans in the Constitution, foremost among which is the right to keep and bear arms for our own defense. These are times when our government has abdicated its primary responsibility -- to provide for the security of its citizens. Swift and sure punishment of outlaws is absent, and in its place is offered the false remedy of disarming of the law-abiding.
Where this unconstitutional action has been given the force of law it has failed to provide relief and has produced greater social discord. This discord in turn now serves as the false basis for the demand that we give up other rights, and for the demand for more police, more agents of bureaucratic control to enforce the revocation of these rights. Legislators, justices and law officers must bear in mind that the foundation of their duties is to uphold the fundamental law of the land – the Constitution. They must bear in mind that the unconstitutional act of disarming one’s fellow citizens will also disarm one’s parents, spouse, brothers, sisters, children and children’s children. They must bear in mind that there are good citizens who – taking heed of George Washington’s belief that arms are the liberty teeth of the people – will not passively allow these teeth to be torn out.
There are good citizens who – taking heed of Benjamin Franklin’s admonition that those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety – will surrender not one of their rights.
Those who eat away at our right to own and use firearms are feeding on the roots of a plant over two centuries old, a plant whose blossom is the most free, most powerful nation ever to exist on the face of this planet. The right to keep and bear arms is the taproot of this plant. All other rights were won at the point of a gun and will endure only at the point of a gun.
Could they speak, millions upon millions of this world’s dead souls would testify to this truth. Millions upon millions of the living can so testify today. Now – today – is a critical moment in our history. Will we Americans passively lie down before a government disdainful of it’s best citizens?
Or will we again declare: WE are the government, government functions at our behest, and it may not rescind our sacred rights? Will we place our faith in public servants who behave like our masters? Or will we place our faith in the words and deeds of the daring, far-seeing men and women whose blood, sweat and tears brought forth this great nation? Will we believe those who assure us that the police officer will shield us from the criminal? Or will we believe our eyes and ears, presented every day with news of our unarmed neighbors falling prey in their homes, on our streets, in our places of work and play? Will we bow our heads to cowards and fools who will not learn and do not understand the lessons of human history? Or will we stand straight and assume the daily tasks and risks that liberty entails? Will we ignore even the lessons of this present era – which has seen the cruel oppression of millions on the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and South America – and believe that the continent of North America is immune to such political disease? Or will we wisely accept the realities of the world, wisely listen to and make use of the precautions provided by our ancestors? Will we be deceived by SHAMELESS LIARS who say that disarmament equals safety, helplessness equals strength, patriotism equals criminality? Or will we mark the words of our forefathers, who wrote in plain language: The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed? Let us make known: We will choose the latter option in every case.
Legislators: Do your duty to your country. Uphold the Constitution as you swore to do. Do not shame yourselves by knocking loose the mighty keystone of this great republic – the right to bear arms.
Justices: Do your duty to country. Examine the origins of our right to weaponry and uphold the letter and spirit of the Constitution.
Lawmen: Do your duty to your country. Do not be misguided and misused. Your task is to serve and protect – not to oppress, to disarm and to make helpless your countrymen. To the blind, the ignorant, the apathetic, the safe and sheltered, these may seem to be concerns of another age. They are not. They are as vital as they ever have been through history. For times may change but human nature does not. And it is to protect forever against the evil in human nature that the Founding Fathers set aside certain rights as inviolable. For these reasons we must now make known:
We will not passively take the path that leads to tyranny. We will not go down that road.
WE WILL NOT DISARM.
I believe it is worse than that. Suppose his wife is capable of weilding a gun and is not a felon. She still can't own one. At least not where it will be in the presence of her felon husband. I may be wrong but I don't think a felon can legally live in a house where there are firearms.
It is time to speak plainly for the good citizens and patriots of this nation ...
LOL!
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