Posted on 02/09/2003 7:23:45 PM PST by An Old Man
Sunday, February 9, 2003
Gun laws a minefield for military
By GORDON DILLOW The Orange County Register
As thousands of U.S. military personnel in California deploy to the Persian Gulf in preparation for war, some of them are having a serious problem.
They can't get guns.
Oh sure, the military provides them with an array of weapons: M-16s, grenade launchers, squad automatic weapons and so on. They're heavily armed.
But a lot of military types, particularly guys in special-operations units, like to supplement some of the standard-issue weaponry with privately purchased handguns and gun-related equipment of their own choosing. Often the handguns and equipment they can buy in the private market are better and more advanced than the standard-issue stuff.
But getting those handguns can be a big problem in California, which has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation. Although law enforcement personnel are exempted from many of the restrictions on purchasing firearms, military personnel stationed in California are not - even if they're on their way to a combat zone.
"It's a sad state of affairs," says Evan Carolyn, a former Marine who owns Evan's Gunsmithing and Shooter's World in Orange. "There's no way for us to assist these guys in getting the best stuff they can."
For example, recently some members of a special-operations unit - I'm not supposed to say which unit - told Evan they wanted to buy some compact 9-millimeter handguns as personal backup weapons before they shipped out. Unfortunately, there's a 10-day waiting period for firearms purchases in California - and the unit had to leave before the waiting period was up.
And even if they had bought the handguns, they would have had to make do with 10-round magazines instead of the 13-round magazines the weapons are capable of holding. That's because California law bans the sale of "large capacity" magazines - more than 10 rounds - to anyone but police officers.
"We're seeing this kind of thing all the time," Evan says. "This is how we're treating the military in California."
Spokesmen for the state Attorney General's Office, which regulates firearms sales, told me they were aware of the problem involving military personnel and firearms restrictions - but there's not much they can do about it. Even if he wanted to, the attorney general can't waive any of the statutory restrictions on gun sales - not even for guys headed off to war.
And as for the state Legislature amending the gun laws to exempt military personnel under certain special circumstances - well, don't hold your breath. After all, they're the same guys who passed these silly, ineffective laws in the first place.
So that's the situation we have today in California. Apparently we trust our military personnel to handle tanks, machine guns, missiles, grenades, mortars, howitzers, aircraft carriers, submarines, jets, bombs and nuclear weapons. And after making them wait a week-and-a-half, we even trust them enough to let them buy a handgun that holds ten rounds.
But they'd better not ask for one that holds eleven.
Can you sign them out from MWR? :-)
(supply geek to sarge) Hey sarge. I see alot of stuff around here that doesn't have a stock number on the side of it. What gives? Is that stuff authorized? (sarge to supply geek) Here's a stack of forms. Go have fun for a few hours.
This may vary from service to service,but GENERALLY SPEAKING,people in Special Operations units carry whatever the hell they want to carry. The only SF guys I knew in VN who carried personal weapons they bought themselves were the guys who were magnum revolver freaks. Other than stuff like that,we could get pretty much anything we wanted by walking in the supply room and saying "gimme". I carried a Model 10 S&W loaded with tracers as backup. I also sometimes carried a M3 Greasegun with a silencer on it,or a Swedish K submachine gun. I even know a few guys who carried silenced Beretta handguns,and a couple who carried Luger's. LOTS of guys carried sawed-off M-79's with a cannister shot round in the chamber. We never signed for any of that stuff,either. We didn't even sign for our M-16's or CAR-15's.
From what I understand of how it works today,privately-owned weapons are frowned on,even in SF. Some guys most likely carry them,but they keep it quiet. I know that if I were still on AD and being deployed today,I'd have a Para-Ordinance with the 15 shot mag stuck in my belt.
The problem with that is that there will be some officious SOB there who will confiscate it from you if you declare it,and threaten you with courtmartial if you are found with a undeclared privately-owned weapon. They take their jobs seriously too,since they make a LOT of money reselling the guns turned in. I remember a big sign before the entrance desk at Camn Rah Bay that said "all soldiers found with a non-issue weapons will be charged under Article whatever",and a big box there they called the "no questions asked box". We were all told to drop any illegal or unauthorized weapons in there and we would not be charged with ever possessing them. When the MP at the entrance desk asked me if I had any privately owned weapons,I said,"You bet. I have my K-Bar,and I have a Buck folder". He then said,"I'm gonna have to take them from you",and my response was,"You got THAT shit right!". Nothing more was said about them,and I was waved past the desk. Like I said,those guys made a LOT of money selling that stuff on the blackmarket.
Officially, you are not supposed to. Unofficially, it is tolerated, particularly in line units. If you are a rear echelon or support unit, don't bother. If you are a combat unit in a forward position it is well-known that many people carry backup pistols, since pistols are not generally issued to many line units, and the selection given when they are available often doesn't really suit the intended purpose.
So yeah, we had a number of guys packing their own pistols, and almost everyone brought a little 5.56 for the interim time until they got their GI ammo. You kept it mostly out of sight when senior brass from who-knows-where was poking around, but it was one of those many things in the military that were officially looked down upon to keep up appearances but unofficially tolerated and almost encouraged if you were a groundpounder. I don't know too many guys who spent any amount of time in the light infantry units who didn't have a lot of non-standard gear in their field rig. Naturally, you kept a rig in a locker that was pure GI for when some REMF came around for an inspection, but you went out to the field with your own customized version of a combat load.
A GI fixed bladed knife is more than a knife. It has to be a prybar and digging tool, wet rope cutter, filet and skinning knife, a whittling tool to kill the 25 years ,11 months , and 28 days of boredom in my career and a last ditch fighting tool. .....and have the ability to cut those nasty little metal bands off ammo and explosive crates.
After breaking more knives than Ben Johnson has horses I came to 3 different knives that served me very well during my career. A Randall #14 , also a Victorinox old style "Champion" (not the big assed "champ") and when they came out with em .....the Leatherman tool with the cap crimper modification (thanks to a couple of Demolition troops assigned to the rangers). With those 3 tools/knives I did everything from render safe of IED's and UXO to general demolition work and repairs in the field of engines and electronics, haircuts and personal hygene /first aid.
Not to throw down on "your choice" of a cutting tool that suits your needs. I just wanted to tell you of my experience with such blades and my relation to them in service. And what worked and still works for me in retirement........
Stay Safe !!
Stay Safe !
Stay Safe !
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