Ok, I just spoke with a Staffer from Senator Levin's office. A fellow
by the name of Jonathan (sp?). Jonathan seemed amazed at the number
of people (NRA, etc) that are concerned with this section. According
to the staffer, the intent of the bill is to allow the DoD to
retrieve mistakenly "surplus'ed" equipment that is in current
inventory. Specifically things like guidance sections and such from
missiles and other weaponry.
I attempted to stress the reason for the general concern and panic
over section 1062. Jonathan seemed annoyed by the panic the bill
caused as he states the reason is not to take collectable vehicles or
guns from civilians but rather to enable the DoD to recover lost
equipment. He stated that the Senate had a report filed somewhere
explaining the intent of the law and why it wasn't directed at
civilian owned firearms and vehicles, rather directed at current
military equipment.
Sadly he kept stating that he was annoyed that so many people were in
such a panic over a law that was designed to increase US security.
I'm hoping that the whole thing is just a misunderstanding.
Re-reading the USC covering the 'list' still seems to mean any tank,
any amphibious vehicle, any military truck.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Dec 07 2001 - 00:36:24 PST