More on the LA Gun Task Force search warrants:
Most of you have probably read the Email Alert we put out on July 16th this year about the LA Gun Task Force serving search warrants on gun owners in California. I wanted to follow up on that story a bit because we now have additional information and there have been several inquiries from other gun rights organizations about this subject.

Let me start by saying we have had several conversations with the person involved and he has asked that we not identify him and that we not get into detail about his case because this matter is scheduled for a Preliminary Hearing in the Los Angeles County Court System. For purposes of this discussion we will refer to the person involved as "Joe Doakes".

The incident we talked about in July actually occurred in January of 2005. 'Joe Doakes' got a 'knock on the door' one day and his visitors were a team of agents from the Los Angeles County Gun Task Force. The task force is comprised of officers from at least the following three agencies: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE); Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept (LASO) and Los Angeles Police Dept. (LAPD). There may be other agencies involved such as California Dept of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Without being able to go into specific detail on this subject, I want to emphasize to everyone the purpose here is just to make law abiding gun owners aware of the difficulties you can get involved in that can have very serious consequences on your entire life. We want to make you aware this is going on in Los Angeles County, CA and for all we know it is also going on around the entire state of California because of the Draconian gun laws they have passed in recent years. You as a law abiding gun owner are required to make yourself aware of existing gun laws and if you do not, you can easily run afoul of the law.

Joe Doakes ran afoul of the law because he was storing a shotgun in his safe for a friend of his. When officers contacted 'Joe Doakes' they told him they were aware he was storing the shotgun and they were there to recover it. (Note: The other person in this incident had a substantial gun collection and was going through a very nasty divorce. This other person's wife had called the LA Gun Task Force and told them he had an unregistered "silencer" in his collection and he was subsequently arrested on charges related to the silencer. As soon as he was arrested the officers enlisted him as an undercover informant to work off the charges pending against him. He also had to relinquish possession of all of his firearms because he was now pending as a felon. One of the first things he did was tell officers about all of his firearms that friends of his were holding for him, hence the Task Force contacted 'Joe Doakes' to recover the shotgun he was storing in his safe.)

When initially contacted, Joe Doakes was reluctant to allow officers into his home without a search warrant. They told him they just wanted the shotgun, "We don't want you", so they were allowed inside. As soon as he opened his safe to get the shotgun the officers observed a Springfield Armory M1A with a flash hider on it in his safe and they stopped everything. They told him they were going to go get a search warrant for his home based on their observations. They returned several hours later with a search warrant and were there for over 8 hours searching his house.

One of the items officers found was an unopened box of (200) .50 BMG tracer projectiles that had been delivered from out of state. "Joe Doakes" knew possession of tracer ammunition was illegal in California, but didn't realize possession of just the projectiles was illegal.

Did you realize possession of illegal firearms or destructive devices (projectiles) near a major thoroughfare was against the law in California? Sure is!! Another felony. "Joe" just happens to live near a major street in LA.

"Joe" was arrested and booked. He was able to get out of jail on bail but as soon as he did the 'Gun Task Force' started trying to convert him to a confidential informant. The deal was, he would provide information on other friends of his who were gun owners so the 'task force' could knock on their doors. After so many (they didn't say how many) people were arrested, they would drop charges on "Joe". Well almost. All 'Joe' had to do was plead guilty to one "wobbler felony", give up his gun collection (can't own guns as a felon you know) and give up his contractors license (can't be a contractor as an ex-felon you know) and give up all his friends who own guns.

"Joe" is a highly decorated Vietnam Veteran and is a recipient of the Purple Heart Award. He has never been arrested in his life and he works every day to pay his bills and pay his taxes. "Joe" is the consummate 'Law Abiding Citizen' trying to do what is right and conduct his life according to a set of standards and guidelines he was taught. However, "Joe" has been caught up in the feeding frenzy of the anti-gunners in California and has been declared "Persona Non Grata" only because he is a firearms owner. He is a statistic that supports the continued federal & county funding of "Gun Task Forces" throughout the United States. He is the justification the city council of the city of Los Angeles threw into mine and Ronnie Barrett's face the day several years ago when we addressed the council regarding their 50 caliber ban in the county and city of Los Angeles. "Joe" is a statistic that Sheriff Baca used to portray the "Danger to the General Public" when he was lobbying to ban firearms in their city and county.

If you live in California (or one of several other states like them), please be careful. We are all law abiding gun owners, but we are living in dangerous times for your personal freedoms. Try to be as cognizant as possible about legislation they are passing almost daily that can affect your rights. It's very easy to make a mistake and end up in the same boat as "Joe Doakes". We don't know what's going to happen here, but we will try to keep you advised.

There is a great book out there that might help many of us. I have one and I buy updates regularly. The book is written by my good friend Alan Korwin in Phoenix, AZ. The book is Gun Laws of America and you can get it by calling (800) 707-4020 or going onto the Internet at www.gunlaws.com. A good investment if you have questions about the gun laws in your state.

PAGE NINE -- No. 13
While I'm on the subject of Alan Korwin I want to make everyone aware of his new column that comes out about every two weeks. It's called Page Nine and is a great source of information much of which is 'tongue-in-cheek'. It is an indictment of the mind control techniques being used by the 'Eminent Media' in this country. Here is an example of how Alan presents his material:

The lamestream media told you:
Senator John McCain, in hot water for bashing President Bush then quickly retracting his remarks, could not be reached for comment because he was traveling in Europe.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
The idea that a U.S Senator can't be reached because he's traveling in Europe insults the intelligence of news consumers, and we know it. Your grandmother can be reached while she's traveling in Europe, and a U.S. Senator can be reached anywhere, even the toilet, which is where "news" media credibility is heading with stories like this.

Follow-Up to California Dept of Justice Proposed Regulation Changes:
In August FCI responded to a solicitation from the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) regarding proposed regulation changes that would allow for re-interpretation of wording used in communications with DOJ that would have serious impact on certain .50 caliber owners in California. Our response to DOJ can be read on our web site at: www.fiftycal.org

Jason Davis an attorney with Trutanich-Michel LLP in Long Beach, CA is a member of the Board of Directors of FCI and has some comments regarding the proposed regulation changes. …unless the Department of Justice amends their regulation, their merely stating that your firearm is "all right" is insufficient to protect the possessor from prosecution. As they state in their letter responses to anyone requesting clarification, "58 District Attorneys might disagree" with their opinion. And, as Mr. Dingman knows, the DOJ may change their mind (Mr. Dingman was held criminally liable for possession of an SKS that the DOJ approved verbally, but later changed their minds about). Unless their statements are codified in regulations, they are not legally binding. And, at best, if written only provide a defense to criminal charges. So, when contacting the DOJ, ask if… they would at least put their approval in writing!

Until we get a clarification on these matters we are suggesting that gun owners in California who have questions to CA DOJ regarding firearm regulations, put you questions down on paper and mail them to DOJ for a written answer. The written answer may very well be an indication of your law abiding intent later down the road if you unintentionally violate a firearms law in CA. (Very easy to do!)

Letters To The Editor:
Just a few responses from our 1st Newsletter

1. You are so right about CA being an issue for all of us to be concerned about. Only the good things about CA (such as being able to petition and put "Propositions" directly on the ballot for enactment) don't move East accross the country. If CA (& N.Y. + IL) get away with legislating against .50 cal. firearms the "Brady Bunch" will move on to make it universal.

2. DO NOT unsub me because I don't live in CA. Keep me informed because what happens there often moves in a Tsunami wave of rights deprivation affecting all of us.

3. …yes, I think the email is too long. For instance, I'm not interested in any sporting events regarding .50 rifles, only legislation. So perhaps shorter blurbs for each subject followed by a link for more info might be better? Just my humble opinion!

4. I loved the new newsletter format! I think it is great and look forward to getting updates and info in this format! Keep up the good work!

5. Greetings JB, I really enjoyed your newsletter. Not too long and well thought out. Thank you for including me in your mailing list!

6. FCI, While it's been a few days since I checked my email, I can say as that I was happy to see something from the FCI that was not all about the attacks to our rights and the uneducated and careless oral dictators who would have us take everything as they say it is. While that is very important, and an issue I pay close attention to, it is not what I want to read about all the time. In my opinion, your newsletter seemed informative and direct, as it should. It was short enough to read in a few minutes, but long enough to include a great deal and variety of information that would most likely be of interest to those of us in your organization. I don't believe it to be too short, but I don't think including another 100 lines or less would be too demanding on most of us. It's not like we can't come back and read it later. Your information on the National Championships was of great interest to me, as I am out of town and not able to check my mail for my magazines. Including the raffle flyers is of interest to me as well, so I found them well placed, too. As a busy individual, businessman, and avid shooter, I think you did a good job in all. Keep up the good work. God bless you and yours,

Hello John, I received your newsletter and let me say that I enjoy the format. It is nice to have one place with all the good info.

In the first edition you talk about the Raton World Championships. You stated that Lee Rasmussen was the match winner with Mark in second. The way I read the rules this is incorrect.

A. Two gun, "aggregate group/score" award. The winner of this category shall be the match winner or "Top Gun" and shall be declared the "World Champion" when he/she is the winner of this category at the "World Championship" held each year.

This was taken from the FCSA web site. There is no mention of an "Iron Man" 4 gun award. I understand this is a new category and a match director can award other awards than what is in the rules....but I don't think he/we can just change who the "Top Gun and Match Winner" is without a change to the rules.

This being the case Mark Avakian is the "Top Gun" and "Match Winner"

I know that if I had been the winner that I would want to be recognized as such. If I am reading the rules wrong I would appreciate a clarification.

Keep up all the good work. Thank You for all you do for the 50BMG community.

I hope to see you in Raton in September.

Steve Cone, Colorado

Mark Avakian (L) as the 'Tech Inspector' at the World Championships

Lee Rasmussen shooting Hunter Class at the 2006 World Championships

Reno Match a Big Success:
I wasn't there but I've heard the Reno match held over the weekend of August 18th-20th was a huge success. I received some photos from Brett Berger and it appears we have a new World Record in Light Gun class. Sherri Rasmussen exhibited a dazzling display of shooting (from what I've heard) and came away with the new record. Congratulations Sherri. (BTW: all the photos in the newsletter were taken by Bret Berger)

Sherri Rasmussen from WA with her winning group at Reno, NV
Randy Dierk's 4 shot group (sorry Randy, they don't count)		Darran Wardle from OR and the firing line
Ever wonder what the target looks like thru a scope at 1000yds?           AR-50 with a nice rear rest system
One of Darran Wardle's rifles. Very Nice!!           Another version of Darran's rifle