Posted: 8/3/2006 9:30:56 AM EDT
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I spent the day at Blackwater with him yesterday doing a tour and then spent some time on the range. Great time. And he was grinning ear to ear. So was I and everyone else that went along. First time I ever shot some of that stuff. Woohoo! http://www.sgtlmj.com/barb1.jpg |
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I was there too! We landed in Chesapeake, VA and were met by a motorcade of Suburbans from Blackwater. (105degF on the ground.) Upon arriving at the main HQ we were met by Blackwater founder Eric Prince, who is Betsy DeVos' brother. (There's the connection.) Former SEAL, Naval Officer. Maybe it was just me, but as we entered the building I heard the faint sound of angels singing.  After the demos and lunch we were led to yet another buffet, but this time it was a potluck of fully automatic, suppressed, belt-fed steel, wood and polymer entrees. You could basically grab what you wanted, walk to the line and let loose. We didn't even have to load our own mags.  Steyr MP81(x2), Rem 11-87, Bushie, AK, STG-58, Bushie, M-14, SVD, M249  UMP45, MP-5SD, MP-5, MP-5KPDW, MP-7, HK416(x2), G-36 After the range we were driven (they wouldn't let us walk 50 feet without driving us) to the memorial for their fallen contractors. They had engraved stones and trees planted for each of the 25 who have paid the price. There were also two recent stones for EOD K-9's.  They took us back to HQ for showers and a change of clothes before heading back to the plane for MI. Incredible day, and it was a real treat meeting the DeVoses. They are genuine people and truly 2nd Amendment supporters. The future Governor and his wife were on the line, in the heat with us for hours shooting all the weapons. Did I mention that it was 105deg? We were dirty, soaked with sweat and smelled of Breakfree and cordite, and it was glorious. |
I'm kind of a big deal. I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany. j/k  I actually just asked and they had someone pull out at the last minute. If only I would have thought about that "just asking" thing in high school, I might've actually had a date. 
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Mecca doesn't have s**t on Blackwater! I'll probably have a fatwa issued against me for saying that, but what the hell. Barb is the fearless leader of SAFR www.firearmsalliance.org , and I'm a CLEO. The trip included folks from MCRGO, NRA, Detroit Sportsman's Club, Police Officer's Association of Michigan, Pheasants Forever, Ann Arbor PD, Ionia Co. Sheriff, and a few others that I'm forgetting. |
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OMG I would have been goin crazy dumpin mags thru all those HK's! I hope you conveyed to the DeVos's how important NFA stuff is to us Michiganders who have recently got back our freedom to own "transferable machine guns" as opposed to only being allowed to own Curio and Relic machine guns for the past 31 years. You do know we have a second AG Opinion request in to Cox regarding the legality of silencers that has been languishing in the AG's office since February 2nd. Silencers must fall under the same requirements as machine guns. If you should run into any of the powers that be you might ask them when we might get the opinion and yet another part of our federal rights back. Sorry if I'm hijacking your post. Glad you had fun with all the cool NFA fun toys, machine guns and silencers OH MY!
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You aren't hijacking at all. I got this in April: 
All I can say is the guy has never tried to BS me. He's never claimed to be a shooter, or hunter, or anything else, but yesterday he was on his belly on the range shooting belt fed stuff in 100+ degree heat with a big grin on his face. |
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Bustoff: The first thing I picked up was the MP-5 SD. Click, click, click, click. Super quiet! I made sure that Dick, the Ann Arbor Police Chief and the Sheriff knew that the AG had approved MG's. I think I mentioned it to them a couple times actually. I told them that we were just waiting for Mike to clarify on suppressors. So Mr. DeVos has a heads up! ...and yes, it was friggin hot! The kind of day where you didn't really want to touch anything because it would burn you. Sspecially a MG that had been worked over by a dozen shooters. Didn't slow Dick down a bit. I have a .308 suppressor picked out. I'm just waiting... waiting. |
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Oh yeah Barbara - I wrote that. That was one of my MichiGun NFA Reports - LOL. I didn't write what DeVos said I rather re-printed what he said to one of the guys here who queried DeVos generally on SBR and SBS. Yeah I was one of the first to get a transferable, I got a MAC10 that was in state with a C3 buddy. I also bought and paid for a sweet Gemtech Viper 45 can for the MAC too. Problem is I can't do the form 4 on the can until the AG and BATFE and probably the MSP all get on the same page. I think MSP are the guys who caused the controversy saying Cox's opinion did not specifically include silencers even though the statute was specifically cited. Hence BATFE was not about to transfer cans since MSP was causing the controversy. So we requested another opinion specifically on silencers and for now I fear it is buried in re-election politics. I think our problem is in the AG's office. I mean I can't hammer Cox for not releasing the silencer opinion. I mean how can I? He gave us the opinion that overturned Kelly's old 5210 machine gun/silencer ban opinion. I have argued that superseding 5210 should have automatically legalized silencers under the same regs as mg's. Getting the opinion released may be becoming a political football and perhaps it's political re-election caution. Having said all that I do hope we get a new Governor and I do hope we can at some point pass legislation that will make any federally regulated firearm or device legal in Michigan. Congrats on the MP5 SGTLMJ! Keep up the good work Barbara. And if you run into the AG ask him if there's anything he can do to give us the silencer opinion. Thanks, Mike Sessa |
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Good deal, then. Can't even remember how I got it..I thought it was in Cox's newsletter, but I could be wrong. We just got an informal opinion on all the counties and municipalities that are adding illegal requirements to CPL and purchase permit requests and that took about 3 months *and* we provided all the documentation and leg work. We were told at the time that formal opinions were taking 6-9 months..so you're well within that time frame..but getting towards the end. I'm sure there's some political stuff at work, also..Cox may want to time it closer to the start of his campaign? Frustrating as it is, that stuff happens. |
Cool! How do you go about getting an invitation?
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True, Senator Chuck Schumer comes to mind... he had a sh*t eating grin at the range with a NFA weapon. I hope someone mentioned SBR's at the get-together... It would be great if SBRs are legal in MI in the near future but NFA and sound suppressors are just as important.
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So who else queried the campaign with the same question? I sent them an email asking pretty much the same exact question and got a favorable and rather intelligent response regarding firearms (its probably archived by now). |
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