UPLAND, CA. – A smorgasbord of cops from every possible level of government have been patting themselves on the back for taking 900 high dollar collectors firearms from a local man.In the mix were hundreds of engraved cowboy action six shooters along with exotic WWI relics. There were allegedly machine guns and silencers in the collection that may be worth more than a million dollars.
Collectors generally don’t sell transfer firearms except to close friends and other collectors. Of course the cops are claiming that the six shooters were being provided to local gang members. Okay, I refuse to believe that bogus story I’ve heard so many times before.
The cops arrested a homeowner, Robert Ferro; a 61-year-old retired Army Special Forces officer. I always thought that kind of military service was a rather honorable asset? I guess not in the Bolshevik Republic of California. I almost forgot about getting eggs thrown at me as a young Army draftee during a parade I was required to march in the city of San Jose back in 1968. I'll bet those egg tossers are now California's elected officials.
It turns out that in the 1990’s Ferro was caught up in a plot to overthrow that Communist Dictator of Cuba. I would like to think that all real Americans that love this country would consider that an honorable effort. That program bought Ferro a two-year prison stretch and a felony conviction. Along with that came a lifetime ban on the possession of firearms.
I think it would have been a better idea for Ferro to deal with the over-population of Communist politicians in his own state before taking on Castro. California's Communist politicians are a much more significant threat to the freedom in America anyway.
The cops spent hours taking the firearms out of their boxes and laying then all on concrete for a media gun-haters- love-in-photo-op. The raiding cops made it clear we were all in grave danger until their heroism made us all safe.
Had the United States Supreme Court done their duty to uphold the Bill of Rights with the Second Amendment a raid like this would not be allowed to happen in America.
What’s next for Ferro? Enough gun violation penalties to take away his liberty for all of what’s left of his life. The Ferro family will be bankrupted and destroyed.
The courts could do the right thing here but the judges were appointed by the Left Wing, gun-rights hating politicians. It just won't happen. This is yet another government action that makes me ashamed to be an American.
Update: Aug 27, 2007
How can you support a felon with 900 guns Paul? He broke the law! Cops have a duty to arrest him!
ReplyDeleteMy real point here is that this raid on its face does not seem to me to be an issue of public safety but rather one of political policy that I can’t support.
ReplyDeleteCops are caught in the middle here. I’m sure we’d all rather be stopping murder, rape and armed robbery than going after old soldiers with gun collections. Is this a case of cops being used for political rather than public safety issues? I say yes!
The real issue is figuring where to draw the line. When do we say no, we’re not doing that? What part of our oath comes first? I say the U.S. Constitution should come before state and local laws.
In the most technical sense, this guy violated laws that I believe are un-American and Un-Constitutional. Absent a court ruling that protects people who wantonly keep and bear arms we are stuck with what they give us.
I also say discretion allows us to overlook otherwise law-abiding people in possession of “unlicensed” firearms. I see it the same way as our government has turned a blind eye to many millions of illegal aliens.
I will also submit that illegal aliens are a far larger threat to public safety than old soldiers who collect or carry firearms!
With a full third of our prison population being criminals who unlawfully came here from other countries I’d say the evidence speaks for itself!
I am a little too pro-gun and pro-2A for my wife's tastes, and I have the misfortune of living in the People's Demokratik Republik of Kalifornia.
ReplyDeleteWe were watching the local news out of Los Angeles this morning. While I was busy doing something else, my wife suddenly said, "They arrested a felon who had 900 asault weapons hidden in the walls of his house! There were so many, they had to lay them out in a gym to show them all!" ABC had presented the story to us as if someone really dangerous, and his super-duper destrucive weapons, were "taken off the streets". I thought, "I want to know more about this."
Now I find out the truth (on the net, of course!) Once again, ABC has taken a story of unConstitutional persecution of a citizen and perverted it into an anti-gun fiction. Unfortunately, my wife bought it, lock, stock, and barrel.
I see now that his only crime was plotting to overthrow Cuba (as you said, something that should be lauded, not treated as a crime.) He served his time, but because of GCA68 he had his 2A right stolen, and has been a sub-citizen for all this time. Now, because he broke a "We say so" law, ("we say so" = malum prohibitum--no real crime committed, no one else's rights violated, just illegal because some legislature said so.) the PDRK is gleefully creating a circus where they will try, convict, and incarcerate this man, and destroy his family, just to show what a great job they're doing against terrorists. Or didn't you know, gun owners and those who think the Constitution means what it says are now considered terrorists?
Most of his weapons are valuable guns that now will be gleefully destroyed by the jack booted thugs of our government (But I'll bet a lot of them find their way into the collections of some of those JBTs!)
Nowhere did I see any mention of the violation of his 4th Amendment rights. Did they have "probable cause"? Where was the warrant? I guess as a sub-citizen, though, he has no rights at all anymore.
Anonymous, in the case of Marbury vs. Madison, it was decided that "All laws which are repugnant to the Constitution are null and void." That's how Paul can support him. However, there's not a legislative, executive, or judicial body in the Nation that cares about the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, or that decision anymore, so this man is going to be railroaded into prison.
My feeling is, he's going to die in prison. It would have been better to have made a stand, and taken as many of them as he could with him.
Death to tyrants!
Molon Labe!
I've been an NRA member almost 30 years and a Life member for almost 25, so I understand the position and have empathy.
ReplyDeleteHowever....shame on him for not protecting himself. If he's a convicted felon, then he's not allowed to possess firearms without relief from the Secretary of the Treasury and/or a pardon. Shame on him for not having the weapons placed with a trusted non-felon friend, or maybe pass them along to relatives or even sell them.
It's the law, plain and simple. I'm sorry to see antiques destroyed by zelous gungrabbers, but there isn't any wiggle room here.
A 1st generation Colt SAA, engraved in excellent condition to you or me is something priceless...something to be kept in a case and polished with a soft cloth every once in a while. To a gungrabber, it's a case of paperclips!
It's a shame, it is, but what else could be done?