>The Citizens and Government workers are not afraid of you in your little
>WWII jeep. But they are afraid of groups who buy tanks and armored vehicles
>and perform combat training with them.
I seem to remember that you have a number of combat vehicles lying about,
John; are you out involved in combat training? What about re-enactors? Is
that combat training? Sure would look close enough to it for a paranoid.
>You can cry and moan about how your freedom is being subverted when they ban
>tanks, and cannons, and other devices. But do you really want them openly
>available to anybody who has a checkbook?
Yep. Come off it, John: You of all people should realize that trying to
take a demilled Sherman or a surplus halftrack into "combat" would be next
to impossible. There is a reason that only nation-states are able to field
armies: they are expensive beyond all reason. Then there's fuel, ammo, a
modicum of training. Hell, if the US Army can't afford to do this on a
regular basis, what nutcase could?
> But how does a Government determine which
>people are 'safe' to own such devices?
That's not supposed to be their job.
> Let's use the Littlefield Scud as an
>example. I don't know Jacques Littlefield, but to my knowledge, he has
>never committed a felony, or belonged to any organizations which openly
>advocate the overthrow of the United States Government. He imports a Scud.
>His intention is to have the vehicle and missile as a part of his
>collection. But is he accompanying the missile and transporter through all
>phases of its movement? No. Does he personally supervise the proper safe
>rendering of the missile (or even know how to do it)? No, and it bites him
>in the ass. How difficult would it be for a 'bad' organization to get hold
>of this non-demilled missile, fill it with anthrax, and send it?
Prohibitively difficult. Warhead aside, it has to be fueled. Rocket fuel
is the closest thing to hell you can get in a chemical--it's corrosive,
volatile, toxic; in short, about the nastiest stuff around. And it's NOT
available at your local CitGO. Then there's actually trying to make work
old, unmaintained equipment with which you are unfamiliar. Let's just say
I'd sleep sound if it were parked ten miles from me with Arab terrrorists
crawling all over it.
> Remember Tokyo? Three ziplock bags of Sarin. 5500
>victims.
Yeah, lots of MVs involved in THAT. Banning the importation of jeeps is a
sure bet to prevent that from happening in New York.
> And if it really bothers
>you, start electing people who really work to resolve social conflicts which
>lead to the proliferation of radical fringe elements in the beginning,
>instead of playing them off against each other in political games.
That's the first sensible thing you've said.
>Let's say this was my 5 cents worth.
Probably over valued.
I'm sorry this comes off so harsh, but this appeal to an unattainable
"safety" is the reason you may soon be out of business. No terrorist is
going to have to rely on picking up a halftrack from you in order to bomb
the World Trade Center or dump disease on the subway. The people in
Washington are confusing the issue. Don't you--who has many reasons to
resist--make the same mistake.
Proabaly not even worth two cents, but I can't stand to see the hobby
community divided on such an important issue.
Steve Allen
===
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