This may be true but selling a converted semi auto to full auto to an undercover agent is bad ju ju.
Trying to douse terror label
BACKGROUND | Stan Ford was arrested for alleged illegal gun sales. But the firefighter argues he's not a domestic terrorist, as a federal task force has claimed.
By Alicia Caldwell
Denver Post Staff Writer
"My friends are firefighters and cops. That's my community. That's my family." Stan Ford (Post / Karl Gehring)
Gun shows were his passion. The foundation of his 70-plus gun collection was competition weapons inherited from his grandmother. And he strongly opposes illegal immigration.
All of this Stan Ford admits. But he is offended that federal investigators are trying to make him out to be a domestic terrorist or subversive.
In an hour-long interview, Ford, a suspended Denver firefighter, spoke about what he says are outrageous allegations that he has sympathies with hate groups or others who would overthrow the government of the United States.
"This kind of insanity wouldn't have happened if 9/11 didn't happen," he said. "I think this is a sign of things to come."
Ford, who is facing federal charges of selling illegal, fully automatic machine guns, agreed to be interviewed with the understanding that he would not speak about facts of the alleged illegal gun sales.
Ford, 35, a seven-year veteran of the Fire Department, answered vehemently when asked if he was a "domestic terrorist."
"Hell, no," he said.
Ford said he belonged to a community of firefighters and police officers, many of whom socialize at gun shows, firing ranges and designated shooting areas in national forests.
He talked about some of his pristine, collectible guns as "unfired examples of history." He spoke of his politics - Republican. And he said he doesn't support the U.S. war in Iraq.
"If I don't believe in the war, does that make me an anti-U.S. person?" he asked. "I love my country. We are the greatest country in the world."
Ford was arrested Nov. 22 and charged with two counts of illegally selling a fully automatic machine gun.
The transactions began when Ford met a man who was an FBI informant in February 2004 at the Tanner Gun Show at the Denver Merchandise Mart, according to arrest records.
After several conversations and meetings, Ford in April 2005 sold the man a machine gun illegally modified to make it automatic, records show. Ford is accused of selling another fully automatic machine gun to the informant in August 2005.
In the affidavit for his arrest, a member of the Joint Terrorism Task Force wrote that the FBI had obtained
Denver firefighter Stan Ford has been charged in illegal weapons sales. The affidavit for his arrest also says he "holds anti-U.S. sympathies." Ford refutes this: "I love my country. We're the greatest country in the world." (Post / Karl Gehring)
information from the El Paso County Sheriff's Office in 2003 that implicated Ford.
"Stan Ford was described as a Denver firefighter who holds anti-U.S. sympathies and has ties to an unknown domestic terrorist organization," according to the affidavit.
Ford said prosecutors have never offered any proof of those allegations.
"I don't even know anybody of that kind of caliber," Ford said. "My friends are firefighters and cops. That's my community. That's my family."
While the allegation that Ford has anti-U.S. sympathies is in his arrest paperwork, it doesn't form the basis of any charges against him. Federal prosecutors are pursuing only weapons charges and declined to comment about the case.
"We'll litigate this in the courts," said William Taylor, chief of the major-crimes section at the Colorado U.S. attorney's office.
In hearings, prosecutors have introduced transcripts of recorded conversations in which Ford talked about illegal immigration.
He said, "People should be hunting down these people," according to a transcript.
In an interview Friday, Ford
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said he has been allowed to see only a portion of the transcript so he can't be sure of the context. But he said he thinks he was talking about the illegal immigrant who is alleged to have shot and killed Denver police Detective Donnie Young in May 2005.
"I take it pretty personal that they can kill a cop and run across the border," Ford said. "That doesn't make me a racist."
Raul Gomez-Garcia was extradited from Mexico to the U.S. in December to face murder charges.
Ford also spoke about how he became immersed in gun culture. He said he grew up outside Colorado Springs and learned gun safety from his mother. His grandfather was a hunter.
His collection began with his grandfather's 1897 12-gauge shotgun and his grandmother's competition rifles.
Ford was a member of Regis High School's shooting team but didn't start serious collecting until after college. In 15 years, he acquired more than 70 guns, many of them small-caliber weapons or collectibles.
Gun shows, he said, were like yard sales - places to find treasures.
He described with glee the time he found a Walther PPK, a small pistol used by movie character James Bond. The gun's serial number ended in "007," which is the code number for the fictional British secret agent.
"What a cool thing to put in my collection," he said.
When authorities searched Ford's home, along with his gun collection they found an estimated 40,000 rounds of ammunition, prosecutors said at a recent hearing.
Ford said he liked to shoot small-caliber guns, such as .22-calibers, at legally designated areas.
In explaining why he had so much ammunition, he said he would routinely use 500 to 1,000 rounds in two to three hours, shooting at cans and other targets.
Ford, whose trial is set for April 17, said that regardless of what happens, his life will never be the same.
He said he has received hundreds of calls of support, and he's grateful for them. People who know him would never believe he has ties to any subversive group, he said.
But for others, the label of "domestic terrorist" will be a difficult one to explain.
"I've worked 35 years to build my relationship in this community," Ford said. "It will take away the things I've worked so hard to achieve."
Staff writer Alicia Caldwell can be reached at 303-820-1930 or
[email protected]
This kind of horsehockey makes me sick. Pehaps we can use this to start reapealing the infringments on our rights.
