West said a customer of his recently stocked up on .223-caliber rounds, a caliber often used in assault-style weapons. The customer bought 1,000 rounds a few months ago through a mail order company.Thank God.
Shortly after the purchase, he received a visit from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, whose interest was apparently piqued by a large-scale purchase of that caliber. [More]
I mean, the guy was at church.
Sounds like one o' them "rightwing extremists" to me...
[Via Jeffersonian]
1000 rounds warrants a DHS visit?
ReplyDeleteI guess they're gonna be visiting me a lot then. 1000 rounds usually won't last me a month even.
you can blow that in one a weekend at an appleseed if you get a good instructor and good weather.
ReplyDeleteI would like to know how they got his name and address. I thought you could buy ammo without the transaction being recorded.
ReplyDeleteAren't church-going gun owners all right-wing extremists? Or, did I just read that into the DHS Fusion reports?
ReplyDelete1000 rounds? I shot over 1500 rounds through my 10mm Glock during an instructor's course a few years ago. The folks using 45's, 9mms, and 40S&W's used even more because they had to double and triple tap the heavy steel knock-down targets.
I remember a particular order of 1000 223 and 1000 308. The ups guy was nervous. I just smiled and signed. Yep that's small potatoes compared to most. And a lot of the delivery folks are used to schlepping BIG plads of ammo and equipment.
ReplyDeleteWonder why the dhs visit? Maybe they played eeny meeny. They've watched us and know where we are, thanks to CTASC our 'antiterrorism' task force in Indiana.
Guess I'll tell the wife to be extra pleasant but firm when she answers the door after the 3,500 rounds of .223, .308 and .22LR I ordered are delivered.
ReplyDelete"I am sorry officer, but I do not consent to any searches."
Interfering with the mails is a federal felony. Monitoring telephone and computer conversations without a warrant is a serious crime.
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm looking at the OLD manual. Sorry. Talking like a right-wing extremist.
Remember, the report said "rightwing extremists are stocking up." Therefore, if you're stocking up -- buying more ammunition than you need for the average practice session, which for gov and military is 2 mags full -- watch out.
Spot checks for LEGAL activity are that yellow light on the drag-racer's tree. The one before "Green is for GO!"
DHS: "Homeland" == "Heimat" in
ReplyDeleteDeutsch. Various discussions on
the big wide Web of that. A
piquant incongruity between the
"homely, familiar" connotations
the term had and what it intimates
now. Also theres's more than a hint
of "Homeland" being just another
patch of geography in a big Empire.
There are three sequential yellows, Defender, spaced .500 seconds apart, followed by the green .500 after the third yellow, unless you're racing a Pro Tree, in which case they all illuminate at once either .400 or .500 seconds before the green light.
ReplyDeleteNot that I disagree with your analogy, just wanted to clear it up that we're probably racing a pro tree.
Which DHS agency? Secret Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement? Unlikely given the number of people buying surplus ammo. Even if he was in the Secret Service database that tracks threats to the president, how would an ammo purchase trigger it. No background, no ID, no nothing needed.
ReplyDeleteI guess it's a good thing that I missed the oportunity to buy that 8,000 pounds of ammo last year...
ReplyDeleteFederale:
ReplyDeleteCredit card purchase, I'd guess. Then there's the expanded definition of "financial institution", as well.
Does seem strange to me, though. The fellow must have had something in common with someone on a watch list--perhaps they are both white and have a penis, or maybe both of their names contain some of the same letters from the alphabet.
All I know about commercial .223/7.62x39 ammo is that it is stocked in two sizes: 20 rounds or 1,000. I guess the guy wanted 21 rounds.
I kid (somewhat), though sometimes I'm glad that there's a job in government for the gun paranoids, because I certainly wouldn't want them writing my spam filter software, for example.
Thanks, Mike. Someone here always knows the details and I learn something. Only dragging I do is myself out of bed in the morning.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this story is supposed to intimidate us. People at Knob Creek didn't seem intimidated. A pack-mule loaded with ammo cases? Wahoo!
They think some mind games can keep us manageable. I think we're well beyond that.
I'd want that story corroborated before I'd take it as truth. There weren't any details, and no upshot. I've watched some massive purchases at FuddPro, Cabelas'(Fudd-Lite) and Cheaper Than Dirt(The dirt under Ft.Knox, that is) and nobody got any "visits". Have heard plenty of rumors, though. See that guy sitting in his SUV? He's taking down license plates and pictures!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to know which mail-order company stabbed its customer in the back here.
ReplyDelete