Nearly 900 Assault Rifles, Handguns Seized From Home

[odysseus]

Ajax,

I think others here have pretty well addressed why many here don't agree with you - I am not going to jump on the bandwagon but will submit to you your comparisons are not logical - and reek of Brady group properganda.

Did you read recently of the multiple killings using a hammer? That's not wacko? A wacko is going to do whatever they want to do, as defined by their definition as wacko. There are plenty of legally owned supressors out there, so guess what, it's about the person. Guns don't kill Ajax, people do. The banning of items does only one thing, prevents legal honest people from using them.

For example I was asked to give up my drivers license to a pharmacist yesterday to get some Tylenol Sinus and Cold that I could usually have gotten before with my groceries. Now I have to "register" to get it. Mind you, I am only talking about buying one small box of over the counter cold medicine. I had to wait in line and be "processed". Guess what? It doesn't stop methamphetamines from being produced and used by those wackos. However I, Mr. Joe Legal am having to deal with that, and we all get to pay taxes on staff, database management, computer systems, and paper work to support this useless system. Guess what, I bet the prices for those products are going up too.

Are you getting the picture?

 

[MTMilitiaman]

Initially i planned on staying out of this discussion but a few statments have made me want to throw in my 2cents. If you own silencers your a fool. No one will ever make me believe there is a good reason to own one. You want to protect your hearing buy some ear protection. Also as much as I hate the statement "their made for killing" that is the primary use for firearms. Military weapons are made with the express purpose of killing people. The last time I checked the Uzi is not a firearm I would hunt with but if I wanted a compact weapon with a high rate of fire and I planned on killing a few people it would then become a choice firearm. I hate some of the laws on the books because their only purpose are to remove firearms from law abiding folks but they are still laws and if your dumb enough to break them.......! Just tell me where to send the soap on a rope because you will need it more than I. Also when you hunt your killing so in a way those weapons are created for the express purpose of killing also!

To add to oldfarts history lesson, it appears you, ajax, are unaware that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.

Today is April 20, 2006. That means 231 years and two days ago our forefathers housed a collection of arms that they too were not allowed to own. When British General Thomas Gage sent 700 soldiers to confiscate these arms, the colonist resisted. The first shot of the resulting firefight was said to be heard around the world. It started the American Revolutionary War that resulted in our independence as a country--a country with a Constitution that expressely guarantees you the rights that they were willing to fight and to die for. If only you...if only I...had half the courage and fortitude that they had, this country would be much better off. But the fact remains, both of us and about 290 million other people should be eternally grateful that some with vision more than ours were brave enough to stand up for what they believed in and knew to be right. Thank who or whatever it is that you worship or hold sacred that some men broke the law and made no apologies for doing so.

Yes, some guns may be made for killing, but that doesn't mean they have to be used for that purpose, and lest we forget, some people desperately need to be shot.

 

[oldfart]

If I may (in return) add a bit to what MTMilitiaman said... This was passed around awhile back. I've highlighted the pertinent part.


A Father’s Dream
I can see it now…

By Tony Woodlief

Like many fathers, I find myself gazing at my sons and dreaming about what they will become. I have a vision for the most important parts — that they become strong, gentle husbands and fathers, servants and leaders, better men than me. But I wonder what they will do for a living, especially since we expect them to be out of the house by the time they are 21 18 16 12.

Perhaps it’s wishful thinking, but sometimes I think I can see in their mannerisms glimpses of their future professions. Take the newest addition to our home, William Isaac, a few months short of a year old. Some of you may scoff, but I think he is destined to be a sniper for the Navy SEALS.

I know, I know, we all imagine our sons will be NFL quarterbacks and our daughters nuclear physicists, and nobody ever envisions that his child will grow up to head the janitorial-services division of the local community college. But hear me out on this.

I have to begin by acknowledging that the thought of her son becoming a Navy SEAL sniper fills my wife’s heart with dread, as it probably would many mothers. She can’t understand why I would encourage fate by giving voice to such an idea. But I nurture my dream nonetheless. Let's face it, the number of people around the world in need of a match-grade round between the eyes is on the increase, and you and I aren’t up to the task. I’m proud to think of my son filling that niche in the job market.

Why do I think Isaac is headed for this profession, you ask? First, he’s a natural-born jumper, which is key if your future job requires you to occasionally bring silent death from the skies. We have a seat suspended from springs that we attach to a door sill, and he can spend an entire hour in it, hopping about like a frog, without, I might add, tangling the gear overhead. He’s still working on the silent part, but the boy's a natural parachutist.

An even better predictor is the fact that Isaac can hit the weak point in his diaper with amazing accuracy. As every parent knows, when babies get fatter, they create vulnerabilities in their undergarments. This child exploits them without mercy. If he can be that accurate with his butt, imagine what he'll be able to do with a .50 caliber M88 from 300 yards.

At first I thought the destruction was just coincidence. But once you've got a whole drawerful of onesies with permanent mustard-colored waist-high stains, you realize that either the Lord hates you, or you've got a natural marksman on your hands. Since I know Jesus loves me, that leaves Explanation B.

I've actually gone to change the boy after hearing one of the intestinally generated explosions that are his hallmark (explosions: another SEAL specialty!), only to find…an empty diaper. Somehow, he's able to fire a whole payload of poop over the rim of his diaper, and up his own back. The Defense Department pays, what, $2 billion for a Stealth bomber? I say this to our nation’s military leaders, with all due respect: you folks don’t know from Stealth bombing. I’ve got a Stealth bomber right here under my roof, and he only cost one dinner, half a bottle of wine, and nine months of misery to make.

It’s not easy raising a lean, mean, pooping machine. As an ESPN announcer might say, you cannot stop such a Hazmat disaster, you can only hope to contain it. Lately I've taken to stripping us both naked and getting in the shower after he makes mockery of his diaper. This has the dual-benefit of letting me enjoy his happy wiggles at being both naked and in a shower (he likes water — another trait of a good SEAL), while muting the distressed cries of my wife as she struggles in vain at the sink to scrub indelible stains from cotton.

I try to explain to her, just like making a cake entails breaking a few eggs, making a warrior means we're going to ruin a few sets of multicolored Gap baby clothes. And truth be told, most of the Gap line doesn’t suit my tastes anyway; their clothing makes the boy look like he was dressed by a band of juggling circus gypsies. Since most of the clothes come from her side of the family, this silver-lining argument tends to fall on unreceptive ears.

The final bit of proof I have about my son’s destiny can be found in his hand-to-hand combat skills. With the drool and the goofy grins Isaac may look like he’s destined to ride the short bus, but just put your face within striking distance of one of those chubby little grabby hands and you’ll find that he’s a ruthless master of pain. His specialty is the lip-pull. One second you’re making stupid baby talk to him, and the next he’s got your bottom lip stretched down over your chin. If you don’t retreat to a safe distance while you recover from that indignity, he’ll get you with a Chinese finger-through-the-brain-by-way-of-the-nostril kung-fu move he’s been practicing on his mother. I pity Osama bin Laden when my son finds him cowering in a Pakistani cave in 20 years.

The wife and me, we don’t see eye to eye on Isaac’s future. Though she is too kind to say so directly, I suspect she thinks my SEAL dream is farfetched. It's one of those tom-A-to/to-MAH-to things. Were I French, I might be inclined to say "vive la difference." But then, were I French, I probably couldn't have sired a son with such deadly skills in the first place.

— Tony Woodlief is president of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and he lives in Virginia with his wife and three sons. More of his writing can be found at www.tonywoodlief.com.

 

[KC&97TA]

So a M2 on a tripod ... isn't a sporting rifle ?

 

[gunsmith]

Ajax, my friend uses silencers on his machine guns

all the time, this way we can stay up late shooting without
keeping the neighbors up.

you would prefer we woke up
the whole valley?

 

[NineseveN]

Don't get me wrong I am Republican, and conservative as well as being a member of the NRA, but my God what purpose on this Earth does anyone need that many firearms for. For me it can only be for evil intentions. That guy was wrong and he deserves what he got.


Situations like this do not help one bit in the securing of the 2nd Amendment, however in situations like this I tend to believe that there are too many stupid people out there with guns and it should be a priviledge not a right to own and operate them.

Another gun-owning anti-gunner.

Do us a favor, get a clue, or sell your guns and take up knitting. Thanks.

 

[NineseveN]

Oh, and another one! Wow, 2 in one post and only on page 4!

Initially i planned on staying out of this discussion but a few statments have made me want to throw in my 2cents. If you own silencers your a fool. No one will ever make me believe there is a good reason to own one. You want to protect your hearing buy some ear protection. Also as much as I hate the statement "their made for killing" that is the primary use for firearms. Military weapons are made with the express purpose of killing people. The last time I checked the Uzi is not a firearm I would hunt with but if I wanted a compact weapon with a high rate of fire and I planned on killing a few people it would then become a choice firearm.

/school is in session
The Second Amendment has absolutely, positively nothing at all whatsoever to do with hunting. Period. It does not protect your right to hunt, thus disqualifying a firearm's legitiamate use with hunting as the benchmark is a poor argument.
/class dismissed

 

[NineseveN]

Waterhouse let me throw a hypothetical your way and then ask me if you find it disturbing. Say for instance im a wack job and i decided that i didn't like some people at the end of the street anymore and i hashed out a plan to remove them. I could just send off for abook that would teach me to make a surpresser so i could shoot someone a little more quietly to help me try to get away with this crime. I personally dont like the idea that some one with half a brain could pull this off. Granted I shouldn't say anyone who owns one is a fool but it's not going to help that guy and he is certainly a fool. I believe there is no really good reason to own one. I do apolagize for the fool comment. It was a bit extreme.

Oh yeah, like you couldn't just have used a knife, you know, like plenty of killers do? Or rope, is that too noisy for you? How about a brick? Sounds like simple household items would help you accomplish this witha lot less trouble. Nothing quiet about that, is there?


BTW, how many supressors have been used to commit murder?

 

[Carl N. Brown]

The ATF Curios and Relics program is a defacto recognition
that guns have legitimate interest beyond "sporting purposes"
as collector's items and ornaments owned for no use at all,
but owned just for being, like paintings or statutes or the
art carved Winchester that Thor Heyerdahl tried to bring
home to Norway. A Thompson or an AK is a piece of history.

 

[Mannlicher]

I showed this to my wife, telling her "honey, I TOLD you that the few guns I have are not excessive!!"

 

[Drizzt]

back to the original story.....

1,400 GUNS: Weapons search widens to Upland antique store
By Mark Petix and Edward Barrera, Staff Writers

UPLAND - Authorities seized ammunition, paperwork and a computer from an Upland antique store and searched a home in Ventura as the investigation of an Upland man suspected of hoarding about 1,400 weapons and explosives widened.

Federal and local authorities searched Robert Ferro's Finest Collectibles Gallery on Second Avenue Thursday night and a Ventura residence connected to the Upland man early Friday morning.

Officers from the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI and L.A. Impact seized the material at the antique store, said ATF spokesman John D'Angelo.

"We took what we believe has value for the investigation," D'Angelo said. "The big question is where did he get the guns, and why did he have them, especially the machine guns and explosives."

Authorities first searched Ferro's home on Tapia Way in Upland on April 14.

A cache of weapons, including a grenade filled with TNT and guns hidden behind fake walls and bookshelves, was found in the home.

Workers at businesses near Ferro's antique gallery said they were not surprised to hear the allegations about Ferro.

On Friday, white curtains covered the windows to the Second Avenue antique shop. A sign with "by appointment only" and a phone number leaned against the inside window. Words marked on the mail slot in the door read "unknown heroes."

Well-dressed men driving expensive cars and people who looked like they were just released from prison frequented the antique store, many times late at night, according to eyewitnesses who declined to give their names because of safety fears.

Don Mannie, a barber who works a few stores down from the gallery, confirmed comments made by Ferro's business neighbors.

"(Robert Ferro) would show up, whenever, with guys driving expensive cars, and swear to God, you would think they were the Mafia," he said.

The workers said they became curious months ago, when the store closed with a sign saying it would open by appointment only. It opened briefly right before Christmas, then closed again, they said.

Mannie said he never saw any guns in the store when he visited. He added that Ferro had renovated the place several years ago and spent a lot of money into it.

In addition to the Upland home, public records indicate, Ferro and his wife, Maria, might own five other homes in Rancho Cucamonga and Miami.

Records list the Ferros as owners of homes on Church Street, Valle Vista Place, Center Avenue and Lockhaven Court in Rancho Cucamonga, and on 28th Street in Miami.

They also indicate the couple transferred title to homes in Ventura and Rancho Cucamonga to an entity known as Ferro Trust PT, and were once listed as owners of homes on Norwick Street and Ironwood Court in Rancho Cucamonga and Hythe Street in Moreno Valley.

Ferro was in U.S. District Court Thursday, where his attorney argued unsuccessfully for bail, saying his client has health problems that would limit his ability to travel.

Judge Oswald Parada denied bail, saying Ferro's claim of ties to the militant Cuban liberation group Alpha 66 would give him access to more weapons if released.

Ernesto Diaz Rodriguez, secretary general of Alpha 66 and a founding member of the group formed after the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion, said Thursday that Ferro has no ties to the group.

Ferro was arrested in 1992 when 5 pounds of C-4 explosive were found at his Pomona chicken ranch. He was sentenced to two years in prison.

Authorities believe he was running a paramilitary camp on his ranch, training Mexican nationals to overthrow the Castro government.

Federal prosecutor Dennise Willett said Ferro could face between eight to 10 years in prison.

http://dailybulletin.com/news/ci_3736807

 

[Drizzt]

Group Denies Tie to Weapons
Cuban exiles say Robert Ferro, jailed after hundreds of guns were found at his Upland home, wasn't a member of their organization.
By Lance Pugmire, Times Staff Writer
April 21, 2006

A militant organization of Cuban exiles disavows any connection to a retired Army Special Forces officer arrested last week after authorities raided his Upland home and found more than 1,300 guns and explosives, the group's leadership said Thursday.

Robert Ferro, 61, told federal authorities that the weapons hidden in his San Bernardino County home — including machine guns, grenades and a rocket launcher — were being stored for Alpha 66, a Florida-based paramilitary group that for decades has plotted the overthrow of Fidel Castro.

"We don't have records of Robert Ferro; we know nothing of that person," said Mario Estevez, press secretary of Alpha 66 in Miami. "We have 50,000 members, maybe more, and most of our members are in Cuba. Robert Ferro is not a member of our organization."

Ferro, a Cuban immigrant, faces a federal weapons charge. On Thursday a U.S. District judge in Riverside denied his request for bail. Ferro faces a 10-year prison sentence if convicted, Assistant U.S. Atty. Dennise D. Willett said in court.

Ferro's attorney, Wayne M. Rozenberg of Murrieta, said he wasn't surprised to hear that Alpha 66 had denied any connection to his client, since the paramilitary group operates in a clandestine manner.

"I wouldn't expect anything different from them," Rozenberg said. "It'd be surprising if they admitted his membership."

Rozenberg said outside court that Ferro possessed government-issued weapons and said that how he acquired them "may come to light as this case develops."

Rozenberg said the U.S. government had supported the overthrow of Castro in the past. Ferro "simply continued that endeavor. The government is complicit, hoping he succeeds, and maybe even helping to succeed."

Willett told the judge she strongly objected "to the suggestion the government has assisted him [Ferro] in obtaining these weapons, or assisted him in overthrowing Cuba."

Ferro has said since the early 1990s that he was an Alpha 66 member. It was then that Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies raided his Pomona chicken ranch, where he had been training mercenaries to overthrow Castro.

Authorities found five pounds of the explosive C-4 on the compound, and in 1992 Ferro was convicted of possessing an explosive device and sentenced to two years in prison.

On Friday, Ferro was arrested after state and federal law enforcement authorities raided his home in the 2000 block of Tapia Way in Upland.

The search was part of an investigation of a La Verne man accused of shooting his wife and a Glendora police officer. The alleged gunman, Frank Fidel Beltran, 36, was arrested late last month while living at a Rancho Cucamonga home owned by Ferro.

Investigators believe Ferro may have supplied guns to Beltran, described by law enforcement authorities as a member of a Pomona street gang.

Outside court, attorney Rozenberg said there was "no truth to the idea that [Ferro] was selling weapons."

On Thursday, law enforcement officials found a rocket launcher and a silencer-equipped rifle at Ferro's home.

Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, said investigators were working to establish why Ferro had the guns and how he acquired them.

Ernesto Diaz, leader of Alpha 66, said federal authorities would quickly determine that Ferro was not affiliated with the anti-Castro group.

"He [Ferro] might be trying to cover what he was doing with the guns," Diaz said. "How did he pay for these guns? How did he collect this many guns without anyone knowing? We don't know."

Ferro is scheduled to be arraigned May 10 in Riverside, and U.S. officials said there was a strong possibility that he would face an additional charge of harboring a fugitive.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printed...1973309.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california

 

[gunsmith]

good luck Jim

. As always, should you or any of your IM Force be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim.