At 11:16 AM -0500 1/9/02, JaxInCalifornia@aol.com wrote:
>This is no way a reflection on your intentions Buzz, I'm sure you
>had no idea of this device's dangerous potential in the drug world.
>But, maybe this is worth mentioning for future consideration.
Jax, Firearms are dangerous in the drug world. Surplus Pyrex is
dangerous in the drug world. Body armor is too. So are wireless
cameras, night vision, and a whole host of other things.
When you are dealing with an entrenched opponent you don't just walk
in. You gather intelligence on them.
>A few years ago I was with a law enforcement raid team and we
>encountered one of the early warning systems in the hills where we
>have a lot of drug trouble. In this case it allowed the bad guys to
>escape from a crank lab with some of their product, but it could
>have just as easily been to arm themselves (we did find weapons on
>scene). If they had stayed around to make a fight of it no doubt
>some people would be dead now. Around this part of Northern
>California and in many rural areas of the US, the marijuana growers
>and people operating clandestine drug labs are desperate for this
>kind of equipment and pay top dollar.
Would dogs have been any different in warning the bad guys someone
was coming? What about cameras or something similar? What about an
X10 system with a few remote units? None of this system is something
than can't be emulated by someone with a bit of electronics
knowledge. The drug lab people already have some chemistry knowledge.
>This is exactly the kind of equipment used as the "bad example" when
>debating surplus sales to civilians. Results in the big net being
>cast that affects our hobby like we saw in the recent vehicle and
>parts embargo in the US. Like I said Buzz, no reflection on you
>personally, just food for thought.
Its all in how you paint the straw man Jack. Everything military and
surplus can be painted as being dangerous except for maybe stainless
steel mess tins. Law enforcement needs to move away from the "make it
illegal because it makes our job harder". If we did that to all that
law enforcement had a problem with, Hunters wouldn't have real tree,
we wouldn't have our MVs and the constitution would have been tossed
out entirely years ago.
I don't intend this as a flame, but I really have a problem with the
"its not fair for us, make it illegal..." mentality.
-- -- ---------------------------------------------------------------- - Ryan Montieth Gill '01 Honda Insight - - rmgill@mindspring.com '76 Chevy Monte Carlo - - ryan.gill@turner.com '72 Honda CB750 - - www.mindspring.com/~rmgill '60 Daimler FV701H Mk2/3 - - I speak not for CNN, nor they for me - ---------------------------------------------------------------- - C&R-FFL - / Protect Freedom AND Security \ - - NRA / http://www.indefenseoffreedom.org/ \ DoD #0780 - ----------------------------------------------------------------
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