Cops can't find super gun

New Haven Register (the on;y paper not even good enough to be a birdcage liner or fishwrap) ^ | December 13, 2001 | William Kaempffer, Register staff

[harpseal]

NEW HAVEN — The Westville man who allegedly stockpiled assault weapons, bullets and hand grenades at his parents' home had purchased a banned .50-caliber sniper rifle in May from a Seymour pawn shop, state police said. However, the weapon has not been found, and police won't say whether Charles Cornelius, a 31-year-old laborer, had plans for the big gun.

On Wednesday, a Superior Court judge increased bail on Cornelius, of 851 Forest Road, to $2.6 million cash, as police prepared another arrest warrant in connection with the powerful rifle.

A warrant already had been signed by a judge in Superior Court in Derby, said state police Sgt. J. Paul Vance.

Meanwhile, police still were searching for the weapon, a Barrett 82-A1, described as a long-range sniper rifle that can fire armor piercing and incendiary rounds up to 2,000 yards.

According to the Barrett Firearms Web site, the weapon, with a carrying case, costs $7,300. The scope is sold separately. Barrett is located in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

During a demonstration for Congress some time ago, a Marine sniper blasted through a manhole cover with the .50-caliber round.

"That's the big one," said Tom Diaz, who authored a study on the sale of sniper rifles for the Violence Policy Center in Washington, D.C. "That's the one the Marine Corps is using right now in Afghanistan and the special forces used in the Persian Gulf War. It's pretty scary."

More than a decade ago, the U.S. government sent 25 high-powered Barrett sniper rifles to a group of Muslim fighters that included Osama bin Laden.

Here, it is illegal for civilians to possess the weapon, police said.

"The only people who can legally possess it in Connecticut are police officers and the military," said Vance, the state police spokesman.

However, according to state Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, D-East Haven, semi-automatic .50-caliber sniper rifles still can be purchased legally in the state and only an automatic version is outlawed. Lawlor said he plans to advance legislation next year that would regulate the weapons.

State police were specifically searching for the gun Tuesday when they executed a search-and-seizure warrant at 851 Forest Road, where Cornelius lived with his parents. Authorities didn't find it but did recover a cache of assault rifles, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and volumes of hate literature. The literature included manuscripts from Matt Hale's Church of the Creator, a white supremacist group that has held rallies in Wallingford.

Vance said police had no evidence that Cornelius had planned any attack with the weapons.

But it has become clear that he had a caustic animosity toward Hopkins School, an exclusive, private institution that neighbors said expelled Cornelius in the 1980s. The sprawling, wooded campus is across the street from the Cornelius home.

Cornelius attended the school from 1982 to 1987 and law enforcement and neighbors confirmed that he held a longstanding grudge. He allegedly planned to send hateful, anti-Semitic letters to a batch of alumni, sources said. It wasn't immediately clear if any letters had been sent before police arrested him Tuesday.

"Guys like this shouldn't have any guns, let alone any gun that would you allow to shoot at an armored limousine a mile away," Lawlor said. "These are the kind of people we're worried about."

Officials with the state police Special Licensing and Firearms Unit believe that Cornelius bought the sniper rifle in May 2001 after he stole the identity of a dead Pennsylvania resident. Under the name of Jason E. Johnson, Cornelius obtained birth certificates, a driver's license, Social Security card and firearms permits to complete the purchase of the gun from the Seymour Pawn Shop. The gun was illegally imported by the pawn shop from a Nevada gun dealer and turned over to Cornelius, police said.

According to Diaz, during the Gulf War, the gun took out Iraqi armored personnel carriers at a range of 1,800 yards. At least one of the rifles was found at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.

"This isn't a question of gun control," Diaz said. "It's a question of national security."

[harpseal]

I do not know where to start about this travesty. They have a pawn shop that is either selling firearms without a Federal Firearms Liscense. I am as appalled at the Connecticut State Police as I am at the Newspaper which so blatantly published lies. I know the Register is a disgrace to Garbage but this is beyond the pale. I shall later develop a letter to the editor in which I refute these points one by one.

[from occupied ga]

It just keeps getting better and better doesn't it.

[harpseal]

The New Haven Register strikes again. I note that the command authority of the New Haven Police department did absolutely nothing to a Democrat who violate the separation orders they were issuing at the demonstration in front of Joe Lieberman's house. Yet, they are willing to enforce this blantantly unconstitutional law. As to Michael Lawlor and his cohorts they could not tell the truth about anything if their lives depended upon it.

Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown

[watcher1]

A bigger piece of propaganda could not have been written

[Iowamerican]

Did this guy kill somebody?

[Movemout]

I am all for taking whack jobs out of the gene pool before they murder innocent people and to some extent it seems that this might be an example of that. However, citing Waco Davidians as having one of these rifles and the white supremacist mention, the speculation about his intentions about the school are over the top. This libeler posing as a reporter needs to be taken down a couple of notches. I hope your letter to the editor gets the message across.

[ArrogantBustard]

. It's pretty scary."

Senor Diaz is easily scared. Poor baby. Methinks he should go cower in a corner and suck his thumb. Or something.

AB

[jcparks]

"Guys like this shouldn't have any guns, let alone any gun that would you allow to shoot at an armored limousine a mile away," Lawlor said. "These are the kind of people we're worried about."

Does anyone have a problem with this statement? Who gets to decide who gets firearms? I'm only slightly worried...[ /sarcasm off ]

[from occupied ga]

Define "better"? :)

In this case, better = even more grotesquely exaggerated gun hating liberal lies. I would personally add the little reporter dog squeeze to my "when the sh!t hits the fan" list if I were so benighted as to live in the Reich of Connecticut. :-)

[from occupied ga]

Yecch...why would ya wanna live anywhere NEAR them Yankees....

I wouldn't want to. I wouldn't move to any of those socialise hell holes if I could triple my income by doing so

[Boonie Rat]

"The only people who can legally possess it in Connecticut are police officers and the military," said Vance, the state police spokesman

Civilians shouldn't have .50 Cal weapons, .308 rifles, 30-30 rifles, 30-06 rifles, .22 rifles or any shotgun, handgun, knife, scissors, tweezers, or butter knives. Oh OK. Civilians can have butter knives, but only if supervised by a uniform police officer or military personnel and only on sunday or holidays, or if in a padded room while handcuffed and seated on a padded floor.

Boonie Rat

MACV SOCOM, PhuBai/Hue '65-'66

[farmguy]

And the police should have these for what purpose??

[Psalm 73]

"Did this guy kill somebody?"

Oh, no, much worse. As the article reported:
"He allegedly planned to send hateful..."

They are not alleging that he did it, or have proof that he even planned to. He "allegedly planned to".
Planned to kill? NO, just send "hate" mail.
Oooh, oooh, there's that word: HATE. Granted, hate is a bad thing, but to legislate against it?

And what is the big deal about a .50 cal? It's not like he's gonna carry it around to mug people or shoot up a high school.
I live in Konnecticut, and this crap disgusts me. Sometimes I feel grateful to live in a state that allows CCW. Then I stop and think: "ALLOWS"? They ALLOW me? Dang, what about the 2nd Ammendment?
The fact that I'm an American citizen is what allows me! Darn, you had to go and get me started this morning...

[BOBTHENAILER]

I like the part about shooting an armored limo at a thousand yards. I mean, "We don't really care if ordinary Americans in ordinary cars get shot up on a daily basis, but God knows we better protect those that ride in "ARMORED LIMO'S". Like maybe actors, celebreties, politicians., etc. $2,6 million bail? We think he was thinking bad thoughts? This whole article is too much.

[texson66]

Here's the little sniper rifle itself

[sauropod]

G'day,

Can you tell me which states ban this weapon and which do not?

Thanks in advance. Cordially,

'Pod. Deus Volt!

[Flint]

I could own a .22 single shot rifle and use it to shoot at an Abrams Tank five miles away. What's the problem?

[Flint]

And, on top of all of the above. The story starts out with the fact that the guy doesn't have the rifle! Then goes on to tell us what this guy is planning to do and all the other things that someone can do, with a rifle that he doesn't have.