Excitement at the Gun Show
All,
An interesting story developed this past weekend at a gunshow North of here. As I was strolling past the entrance, I happened to overhear a conversation between the gun safety checker (a uniformend LEO) and a man whom he and his family were about to come in. I heard something to the effect " this slot on the side is for the M2 switch". Of course, that turned my head.
I stopped immediately and stood behind the LEO. Sure enough, they were talking about a carbine... The sponsoring club's "expert" was there looking at the rifle in his hands, and explained to all who were listening that the slot was common on late carbines and the wood could be fited to either a M1 or an M2. M1 carbines, he further expostulated, simply did not have the switch. He then handed the rifle back to the owner.
The carbine's owner was a pretty affluent appearing man, shock of steel grey hair, with teen or early twentys male offspring in tow, complete with female accompanyment. He proudly explained that he had the M2 switch parts in a zip-lock bag at home.!!
When the LEO handed the man back the rifle, and he started to come in the show, I asked him if I could have a quick look. He immediately handed me the carbine. One look was all it took. On the receiver it was plainly marked "M2". :move eek:
I handed the rifle back to him and begged him not to bring the rifle into the show. That it was plainly marked M2, and even without the switch assy., it was a machine gun, and unless he had the proper license, a federal offense to possess either the gun or the parts kit.
He promptly asked one of his sons for the car keys, and took it away. Later, he and his entourage passed by our table, and he thanked me for keeping him out of possible trouble. He further explained that he had inherited the rifle from his father, who had brought it back from WWII. That all he was wanting to do was find out about what it was worth, as he would be passing it down to his sons.
I told him I admired his wanting to pass the gun along, but assurred him that he was doing them no favors. It was indeed a "hot potato". There was no way that he could legally own, sell, or pass along an unlicensed machine gun. He or his heirs would do federal time if caught.
Well, he said, they had it at their ranch, and had killed many a hog with it. He thought he'd just take it back and continue to use it as before. I cautioned him that he needed to be very careful about who knew he had the gun. :cool:
Just shows to go ya', you never know what'll show up, nor who will be the bearer of the next --- collectable. In this case, collectable by the feds...
jim
Ignorance of the law is no excuse
Let's see: in Calif it is a felony to possess a single tracer round, of course very, very few people know this and there are probably tens of thousands of tracer rounds out there mixed up in hardball, or in grandad's drawer from the war. I sometimes think that these laws are just done for something to use at a later date on some guy that they really want to throw the book at. In both of these cases, the law would be poorly applied if this guy got nailed for not knowing. It boils down to stupid laws poorly written by uninformed politicians (who should be jailed).
Charlie: I totally agree about the situation
Around here, staring down a million dollar prosecution bill as opposed to a plea bargain, the plea wins every time. I personally look at prison as a vocation for these fools and I say make it as bad as possible inside so they won't choose to come back. The whole LE situation makes little sense here. The cities continually have drunk stops that catch a very few drunks and 20-35 llegals with no license or insurance. These are real money makers for small towns ( the city of Petaluma has demanded HALF of towing and storage fees associated with these crimes from the towing agency ), and with MAD and the like, the public doesn't say anything. I think that the public would be better served by having those officers on the street catching gang bangers and burglars, but there's no money in that so they fleece the guy who had 3 glasses of Pinot Noir because he has the ability to pay. It has become a giant game of GOTCHA, with huge parking fines, speed traps, drunk stops, while ignoring the fact that the gangs have taken over the streets. God bless LE, but when they put revenue over crime, we all lose. And I guarantee that the average officers prefers to get the criminal.
