[QKRTHNU]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Southwest/01/16/atf.gun.bust/index.html

Bazooka seized in huge gun bust
'Staggering amount of weapons'
Thursday, January 16, 2003 Posted: 8:32 PM EST (0132 GMT)

Federal agents placed the ammunition and military firearms in neat rows on the ground.

QUEEN CREEK, Arizona (CNN) -- A "deadly" weapons cache was uncovered in an Arizona storage facility Thursday by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, an agency spokesman said.

"There is a large cache of military firearms, including explosives, machine guns, a bazooka, a flame thrower," said a spokesman for the ATF in Phoenix. A Russian rocket-propelled grenade launcher also was seized.

"Some of the weaponry is vintage but it's still quite deadly," the ATF spokesman said.

"This is an arsenal of weapons, it's a staggering amount of weapons we're pulling out. It's frightening the amount of firepower we found in this place."

Authorities said the unit belonged to Scott Segal, 40, who has an arrest record for illegal possession of a machine gun and silencer.

The ATF spokesman said there is no indication at this time that the weapons have anything to do with terrorism.

Dan Kumor, spokesman for the Boston field division of the ATF, said Segal was the subject of an ATF investigation that originated in Boston.

"It's an ongoing criminal investigation," Kumor said.

Following the seizure, federal agents took inventory of ammunition and shoulder-held weapons-stands placed in neat rows on the ground. They are conducting tests of the weapons to determine if they are functional.

The spokesman said agents arrived at the facility at 11 a.m. MT (1 p.m. ET) with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department and a warrant.

CNN Justice Department Correspondent Kelli Arena contributed to this report.

:scrutiny: :fire:

[Robert inOregon]

Authorities said the unit belonged to Scott Segal, 40, who has an arrest record for illegal possession of a machine gun and silencer.

Another story of a felon in possession. Nothing to get mad about.

[QKRTHNU]

Well, according to this story his only crime was "possession of a machine gun and silencer. "

[PATH]

SShhhhh! You'll confuse the Press!

[Robert inOregon]

Law is the law.

Possession of an unregistered machine gun and silencer is a FELONY.

He made a choice and got caught. Not very bright and not a positive image for the gun community.

[AR-10]

I agree that what he did looks to be illigal and does not portray gun ownership in a good light, but Using the word FELONY to describe his actions has little impact on me.

Lots of things are a felony offense. The number of actions termed felony offense grow larger every year and the term no longer denotes a serious crime to me.

[Ed Brunner]

The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

[bedlamite]

Law is the law.

There are several contradictory laws on the books that you are guaranteed to be breaking right now. Go turn yourself in.

[Beren]

Law is the law.

An unjust law is not a law. No free man is obliged to respect such a so-called "law."

I obey out of fear alone - fear of what men who lack honor and respect for our Constitution would do to me if they discovered I did not obey their unjust mandates.

[tyme]

The article says he had an arrest record, not a criminal record. Did they drop the charges, or was the guy found innocent? Or is it just poor reporting?

(edit) The guy was arrested and indicted last month, and has a weapons conviction from a decade ago. Not "clean," but no evidence of real criminal record either.

http://www.arizonarepublic.com/news/articles/0117weapons17.html
http://www.arizonarepublic.com/arizona/articles/0117segal17.html (picture)
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/local_regional/ap_weapons01172003.htm

[Master Blaster]

Is a Flame thrower an Illegal weapon?

Its not a Firearm, but a tool that throws fire.

Did he have any grenades for the grenade launchers?

[Chris Rhines]

Interesting piece of triva - flamethrowers are not considered firearms. In fact, there are no regulations concerning the sale and ownership of flamethrowers at all, to the best of my knowledge. I've seen old WWII ones for sale, cash and carry, at the Indy 1500 gun show.

On the law - here's an interesting little Supreme Court ruling on the topic.

"An unconstitutional act is not law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; affords no protection; it creates no office; it is in legal contemplation as though it had never been passed." - Norton v. Shelby County, 118 US 425

- Chris

[Tamara]

There's a picture of this "staggering amount of weapons" in this thread (http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4364). :rolleyes:

[ctdonath]

Law is the law.

"...the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" IS THE LAW!
Now, which part of that law did he violate?

[2nd Amendment]

Law is the law

sigh :banghead:

[Tamara]

"Law is the law." -Robert inOregon

"For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced." -Albert Einstein

[12-34hom]

Flamethrower, hell everybody needs one of them. great topic for conversation at local BB'Q, when asked "where's the grill at?"

:fire:

12-34hom.

[Tamara]

Actually they used to see fairly widespread use for brushclearing out West.

They're not firearms, and they're easier to make than any homemade firearm this side of the crudest zipgun. Trying to ban something like that would be as silly as, well, trying to ban a plant that grows wild in the US.

Er, wait... :o

[Henry Bowman]

Smuggling Bibles to China is a felony, too. Does that make the law right? or in our case Constitutional? It used to be legal to possess (and not misuse) machine guns and illegal for a black person to marry a white or to dirnk from the wrong fountain.
:banghead:

[Don Gwinn]

Charlie, I think we've been around this fence post before once or twice, so I'm not going to put a big argument here. I'm sure you know everything I'm going to say and still disagree with most of it, so I'm just going to point out the following:

You say that we don't "need" flamethrowers. So what? Why is your stance on what should be legal based on your perception of need? Mine isn't. I have a lot of things I don't really need, and I'm poor by most peoples' standards.

[Blackhawk]

"Staggering amount"!?

I saw the picture.

They were not quite a load for a Suburban, but they would cause me to stagger if I had to hump them all at once.... :rolleyes:

[Sergeant Bob]

Nobody needs more weapons than they can keep in a self storage unit!!!;)

[4v50 Gary]

He's a felon and he broke the law. What else is new?

[Bainx]

You call that a cache? Man I'm impressed;)

Henry Bowman, how the heck are ya?

[JohnBT]

Anybody know this guy? Is he smart enough to come in out of the rain?

John

[12-34hom]

Don, with the price of gas it's a wonder anyone could aford the ammo!

12-34hom.

[AR-10]

The Arizona Republic (http://www.arizonarepublic.com/arizona/articles/0118gunfolo18.html) has written an interesting article critical of the way the BATF has handled and sensationalized this case so far.

Worth reading. No charges have been filed to date.

[hammer4nc]

Ahh, yes...the media presentation. Remember the David Hudak case in Roswell, New Mexico last August? Wasn't it the Phoenix ATF office that originally broadcast that the suspect Hudak possessed some 2,000 "shoulder fired missiles" worth $54million, when in fact he had bought some factory reject warheads (4 ounces each), that they used to break rocks for construction projects?

No matter, the technique works. Last I could find out through the internet, Hudak was denied bail, sits in fed lockup somewhere, no information of trial, hearings, etc. Perhaps some AZ/NM members have better information on that case? C'est toujours la meme chose.