To be level headed about this... if the MV was not registered and insured
according to state regulations, then the driver was a fool for taking it
out on a public way. If this guy's vehicle (what was it, a M2A3 75mm
halftrack?) was driven on a public way without prior permission from
local authorities, I have no sympathy for the man any more than I would
have sympathy for a 16 year old that drove some junker on the road
lacking the same paperwork. Sorry folks, but in a civil society no one is
above the law, and that means no one is allowed to decide which laws do
and do not apply to himself. Period. Otherwise we have chaos and the
rule of law gives way to the rule of "survival of the fittest".
As for the dummy guns, he should have had large florecent barrel plugs in
the barrels or kept them covered if this was not some sort of organized
public event (like a parade, MV rally, etc.). Especially in a densely
populated, regulated state like CT. The police are obligated to ensure
the safety of the people they serve, so why is it such a shocker that
they might be a little curious about a guy driving around with a couple
of machineguns (how are they to know they are fake without checking?).
Do the police have no right to be curious unless there happens to be a
rash of mass killings by MGs around town?
The last time this discussion came up (Ferret in Canada) I used this
analogy:
If I suddenly walked along the sidewalk of my your downtown in full
battle camo battle gear including a facemask, kevlar bulletproof vest,
kevlar helmet, and dummy assault gun would that be any different than
what this guy did above? Not in my opinion. I mean, everything I just
described is perfectly legal and there are no laws that I know of
specifically prohibiting me from owning (and I own a LOT of this stuff)
or wearing these articles in public, singularly or as a combo. So in
theory my stroll downtown would be 100% perfectly legal.
But how many of you gun totting MVers out there would have drawn a bead
on me if I was walking around in your town uninvited like this? How many
of you would have shot first and asked questions later while I was
exercising my "rights"? Or at least put a hand a lot closer to whatever
you were packing? How many of you with law enforcement training can
seriously tell me that you would not have been "suspicious" and
"concerned" about my intentions? And how many of you would honestly be
totally unconcerned and just continue about your business without giving
my presence a second thought? If someone lives in a place where a
stranger could walk into town as I described, and people don't even bat
an eyelash, that is a place I never so much as want to visit. This is
one of the many reasons why I live in the US, not some sub-African
hotspot.
Please, before I get a torrent of hate emails from "Patriots" and other
pro gun people, I live in the state of Maine which has the HIGHEST number
of firearms per capita in the US from what I understand. Getting a
concealed weapons permit is a piece of cake too. We also fight tooth and
nail against regulations in general, and anti-gun legislation in
particular. I myself have many firearms, MVs, and a ton of military
uniforms and accessories. I love the fact that I can own and use all of
these things, and am not happy about things like it being such a pain in
the arse (and expense!!) to own full auto weapons. I do not want to see
my rights eroded any more than the next guy on this list. But I am
against thinking that such rights come without any responsibility to use
them wisely and potential consequences if they are not.
Not using common sense leads to these types of problems in Connecticut
AND threatens to feed the negative atmosphere surrounding these issues
which allows the goody-two-shoes organizations and feel-good politicians
to push forward MORE restrictions on what we can and can not do. We
shouldn't be giving these people any more excuses to clamp down on our
hobbies. If every MVer went around town like this guy did, I bet you
there would be a lot fewer MVs in private hands faster than you can say
"but...". That is reality and a reality that is not going to change any
time soon. So unless you want to screw up the ride for everybody else
(like what happend in England with that Abbot SPG guy IIRC), use some
common sense. It really isn't that hard to do.
Steve
> Just read this in the Union News New England Briefs:
> West haven, Conn. - Police made a motor vehicle stop near the town beach
> that was anything but routine.
> Philip Roklen, 51, of Woodbridge, was pulled over Saturday while driving
his
> antique military vehicle that came complete with a cannon and three
machine
> guns. The weapons didn't work, bout police and bystanders didn't know it.
> "It's not a normal occurrence on our beautiful shoreline," said police
> spokesman Dominic Vinci. Police later learned that Roklen collects vintage
> military vehicles - such as tanks and jeeps. His ride near the town beach
> had some folks thinking they were under invasion, said Vinci. Roklen was
> charged with operating an unregistered and uninsured vehicle, breach of
> peace and displaying a fake firearm."
> I did not make this up! Does anybody know Philip? Is he on this list?
Would
> like to know more about what happened! Anybody know more about this?
> Skip Woods
> 1954 M37
> Shrewsbury, MA.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jul 05 2001 - 00:40:36 PDT