MA Firearm Safety

They are military-grade guns – the gun of choice for many terrorist groups. They can fire up to 60 rounds per minute, and are meant for “destruction,” police said.  And they’re here.  Mark’s NOTE: What is a military ‘grade’ gun? Define please.  The terrorist gun of choice are fully automatic weapons, not semi-auto firearms.

State and Brockton police confiscated two AK-47-type weapons and a high-capacity magazine Tuesday night in a Brockton apartment. Police come across weapons like these about once a month, said Lt. Paul Bonanca, and the gun’s potential to cause harm can’t be understated. Mark’s NOTE: What is an AK-47 ‘type‘ weapon? It is either an AK-47 or it is not…..  “the gun’s potential to cause harm can’t be understated”. Mark’s NOTE: A car’s potential to cause harm can’t be understated, or a knife, or golf club, all truisms, most anything has a potential to cause harm…..but that ‘potential‘ is only possible by the manipulation of a human, otherwise there is zero potential for harm from these items.

“You could spray a room (with bullets),” he said. “It’s not what we want to see here on the street.” Mark’s NOTE: 99.99% of gun crime are with hand guns, not these ‘type‘ long arms. FBI statistics bear this out, the police and Justin Graeber decided not too….why taint sensationalism with facts?

Police would not comment on the possible reasons why the guns were being kept in Brockton. The weapon’s destructiveness speaks for itself. “I don’t think there’s any other reason. … It’s a weapon intended for more destruction,” Bonanca said.  Mark’s NOTE: I believe the police had these people under surveillance for  illegal activity of some sort and would not want to compromise that investigation, these were not law-abiding good citizens. A firearm is as only ‘destructive‘ as the human manipulating it makes it, in safe sane hands it is also safe.  Remember it is the person, not the gun……

On Tuesday, detectives working with the state police STOP (Special Tactical Operations) team, state troopers and the FBI served a search warrant on an apartment at 5 Whipple Ave., about 8:40 p.m. said State Police Sgt. Michael McCarthy. Their target – these guns. Two AK-47 type rifles were confiscated by police, and one had an extended magazine or a “banana clip,” according to McCarthy, which can hold from 30 to 60 rounds of ammunition. Three people were arrested. Mark’s NOTE: They were only focused on the guns? Not anything to do with all the drugs they found? Something does not ring true here, a $500,000 bail is way out of whack with a simple gun charge.

Larry Shaw, 58, of 5 Whipple Ave., was charged with two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, two counts of unlawful possession of a high-capacity firearm, and one count of possession of a high-capacity feeding device. Eddie Lang, 62, of 105 Belair St., was charged with possession of a class A drug with intent to distribute and possession of a class B drug. Police say they found eight small bags of heroin and a small amount of oxycodone on Lang. Matthew Wood, 22, of 10 Douglas Ave. was arrested on two local warrants. Mark’s NOTE: These guys don’t sound like your typical law-abiding citizens.

Shaw is being held in Plymouth County Jail on $500,000 bail. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison – 15 if this is not his first offense involving an assault rifle. Mark’s NOTE: A good journalist would have researched the answer to this prior to printing the article, you can find this info at the District Court Justin….

Jim Shepard of Zero Hour Arms in Easton looked at the photo of the two weapons that were seized and said they are semi-automatic variations on the military-issue rifle, not true AK-47s but some of the countless imitations of the weapon. “They’re like snowflakes,” he said. One is from a Chinese manufacturer (Norinco) and the other is a Romanian gun, he said. Machine guns have been banned since 1934. Assault rifles were banned in 1994, but guns made before the ban can be legally owned. The federal ban expired in 2004 but the state law, which mirrors the federal one, remains in effect. Mark’s NOTE: The Federal ban expired because it was a pointless ban, it accomplished nothing and Congress recognized that, our state ‘Representatives’ are not that bright…..

Many assault rifle-type weapons are valuable as collectors items, Shepard said, because there’s only a set amount that can be sold to civilians. Machine guns, or fully automatic assault weapons made prior to 1986, can be worth $15,000-$20,000. Those are rarely fired because of their value, he said.

It’s unlikely they were collector’s items in this case, however, as officers found them in a plastic garbage bag hidden inside a pillowcase in a bedroom closet, according to the police report filed in court. Police have not talked about why Shaw had the weapons, although he told authorities on Tuesday that he was “holding them for someone else,” according to the police report. Brockton police have seized 41 guns so far this year, but did not have a list readily available of the types of weapons seized. Mark’s NOTE: Why didnt Justin print the list of 41 guns confiscated? Why, because it would reveal the fact that the number of so-called ‘assault weapons’ would be minimal or even non-existent, why put facts into a left slanting anti gun story Justin?

Bonanca said that when police seize a high-powered weapon they work with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to determine the gun’s origin. He believes a large percentage of the guns come from out-of-state.  The problem of guns on Brockton streets isn’t new. In April 2011, police working with the U.S. Attorney’s office and the ATF cracked down on guns in the city, making 32 arrests and confiscating 47 guns, including a fully automatic machine gun.

Brockton has a special tactical team that can be called in when high-powered assault weapons are involved. They train about once a month, Bonanca said. While much of Brockton’s gun crime involves handguns or other single-shot weapons such as the illegal sawed-off shotgun used in a fatal shooting in the city on Aug. 10, assault rifles remain a major concern of law enforcement.

James Holmes, the man accused of killing 12 people and injuring 58 at a midnight movie screening in Colorado last month, used an assault rifle during his rampage. Mark’s NOTE: His ‘assault weapon’ jammed’ and most of the damage was done with a handgun. The theater was a ‘no gun’ zone as per theater policy. This is exactly why Holmes knew he would have no resistance from the ‘sheepole’.

Justin Graeber may be reached at jgraeber@enterprisenews.com or follow him on Twitter @justingraeber.