... Run man, run!

[url]http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/breaking_news/2861014.htm[/url]

[flag] [sniper]

________________________^ Lon Horiuchi?

Yes.

Charlie has always been someone who talks the talk and walks the walk.

-------------

Charles Puckett Last Testament

Ladies & Gentlemen:

I have served with pride in the Kentucky State Militia for 12 years. I have given my best & my all for this country.

I have found recently that B.A.T.F. have written regulations without Congressional approval -- that a simple piece of metal is defined as a machine gun. This is one of the counts that they have charged me with.

It is my last testament in this letter, to the citizens of Kentucky, the state legislature & militia that I have NEVER had, manufactured, or INTENDED to manufacture or possessed or owned or fired a machine gun. I have never WANTED a machine gun. NOTHING that the B.A.T.F. took from my home was illegal.

The B.A.T.F. construes things to be illegal by THEIR rules. The B.A.T.F. states that I had bomb-making materials at my home. EVERYONE has these capabilities in their home due to the fact that oven cleaner & aluminum are bomb components.

It is my last testament that I have NEVER made nor INTENDED to make bombs or ATTEMPTED to make bombs in my life.

After September 11th, our whole great country changed. Our Congress, (without EVER reading the Patriot Act of 2001), passed this legislation with only a summary to read of what the bill was about. Three people voted against it. Those three men are great Americans. The Draconian powers created by this so called "patriot act" will forever ruin America.

I have nothing but love in my heart for this great nation. There seems nowadays to be very little relief or justice for some in our country. I am one of these people.

It is my last testament that I have NOT committed ANY criminal acts, nor will I donate years of my life for something that I have NOT done. I have never burned down a church & killed innocent children for make believe reasons. I have never shot a 15-year-old child in the back & I have never shot a woman in the face.

Government officials have done all of the above with no one accountable for those acts to date. The B. A. T. F., using their low-life tactics, put out info to the Kentucky State Police that my son made threats toward the law enforcement community. My son has all the respect in the world for K. S. P.

My son is NO threat to ANY Kentucky police officer. We at the Kentucky State Militia have helped law enforcement in Kentucky to investigate & bring crooks to justice. This is verifiable through the Jessamine County Sheriff's Department (Joe Walker, Sheriff).

The B. A. T. F. was created by the Secretary of Treasury in June of 1972 by the stroke of a pen. (Where was Congress?) When my problem happened in 1966 through Oct. 1968, there was NO B. A. T. F. to apply to for rights restoration.

The B. A. T. F. was created as a tax collector on alcohol, tobacco & firearms. This agency has been transformed into enforcement & loosed on the people to rob & pillage as a private army of the Treasury.

(continued)

I can no longer participate in a society that is governed by such mobsters! They will come up with all kinds of tricks to trick you. When first contacted by the B. A. T. F., I was reluctant to talk with these people. After talking with Agent Robert Young, I thought that maybe somehow these people were different here. I cooperated with these people & even turned over a letter from Steve Anderson to them -- offering to help. Several days later, my problems started. I even extended an invitation that if they thought I was doing something wrong -- to come & look.

The B. A. T. F. stabbed me in the back. I do not know where Steve Anderson is. In an investigation of a Winchester gun store owner by these same people (Agent Young & others), the trauma was so great that the store owner committed suicide! This kind of intimidation is UNACCEPTABLE from ANY government agency.

Who's the terrorist in THIS picture? The ONLY thing I am guilty of is helping train the Kentucky State Militia by making training devices & instructing on how to SURVIVE the coming calamity. Again, I have made NO bombs, destructive devices or EVER possessed or made a machine gun. NEVER! Nor have I EVER wanted to do any of the above. EVER!

It is truly time for America to wake up & turn the clock back to 1776. We have the SAME problems now that we had then. Whether we can do this without violence is up to the government officials. We need to ask them now- "What's it gonna be?" We have outrageous taxes that are squandered by elected officials every day. The B. A. T. F. is coming for our guns. These exact things existed in 1776!

I must leave society at this time for my own safety. Again I state - I have broken NO laws, nor have I violated ANYONE'S freedoms. When you take freedom away, you ruin a country. This should be proof.

The ONLY thing that I will accept is the dropping of ALL charges & COMPLETE EXONERATION. None of my family or militia officers will know where I am. Rewards will do no good & intimidation will get you in trouble. I will accept NO less.

To the people that serve in the Kentucky State Militia: I love you ALL. I have given my life, my family, my home & my all for this country. Please continue the fight for freedom.

I will be watching & will respond on cue. Please elect a new State C/O who loves this country as much as I do & the women & men that have died for it.

Charles N. Puckett State C/O - Kentucky State Militia

I did NOT shrug my duty to protect & defend the Constitution. WILL YOU DO THE SAME?



Commander Puckett asked that all donations to his defense fund be stopped. The people are going to hold trial for the government not the other way round.

Cpt. Lee Sutterlin Kentucky State Militia

Posted on Thu, Mar. 14, 2002  

AFT offering reward for fugitive militia leader from Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Authorities believe the commander of the Kentucky State Militia, facing a variety of weapons charges, has fled to avoid prosecution.

Charlie Puckett, 55, of Lancaster, had been under house arrest since last month after being arrested for possessing various guns, pipe bombs and ammunition in violation of federal law. In an indictment returned on Wednesday, Puckett also was charged with obstruction of justice.

Don York, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Louisville, said Puckett managed to slip out of an electronic monitoring bracelet and flee from his home.

"We know he's a fugitive," York said. "We consider him armed and dangerous."

The ATF on Thursday began offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to Puckett's arrest.

York said Puckett posted a message on a militia electronic bulletin board in which he proclaimed his innocence and complained about his treatment by the ATF.

"I must leave society at this time for my own safety," Puckett said in the message, posted at 12:19 a.m. Thursday. "Again, I state I have broken no laws."

Puckett was initially arrested in Lexington last month, shortly after completing an interview with a crew for a television show.

Puckett has said he is the commander of the Kentucky State Militia, a civilian paramilitary group. The television crew wanted to interview Puckett about Steve Anderson, who is accused of shooting at a patrol car in Bell County on Oct. 14.

Anderson, who once operated a shortwave radio program from his home in Pulaski County, was kicked out of the militia group for on-air comments insensitive to religious and ethnic minorities. He remains a fugitive.

"The last conversation I had with him, he seemed at ease and comfortable with the situation," said Gatewood Galbraith, Puckett's defense attorney.

Puckett pleaded innocent in his initial court appearance and was later released from the Fayette County Detention Center. Under terms of his release, he was to remain in his home and wear a monitor.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms seized the guns and other weapons from Puckett's home in Lancaster in late November. Authorities allege that Puckett was barred from owning any kind of weapons because of a previous felony conviction.

Puckett has called the seizure a theft of private property and a violation of his rights. He has argued that the 1968 federal gun-control act prohibiting felons from owning guns does not apply to him because he was convicted of the felony two years before the law's enactment.

In the electronic message, the militia commander explained that he fled because he refuses "to donate years of my life for something that I have not done.

"I can no longer participate in a society that is governed by such mobsters," Puckett said, referring to the ATF. "They will come up with all kinds of tricks to trick you."

Puckett said he will monitor the search for him and that he will respond on cue.

"The only thing that I will accept is the dropping of all charges and complete exonoration," he wrote. "None of my family or militia officers will know where I am. Rewards will do no good and intimidation will get you in trouble."

Whats the chances of them catching this guy? Eric Rudolph had a lot less friends and sympathizers that Mr. puckett and he's still free. I hope he makes the government thugs miserable.

Gee, if I ever become a fugitive I'd hope I was worth more than $5,000 in reward money.

Sure, paint the militia as an Evil thing.
What about the LEO paramilitary groups, such as S.W.A.T., and the gang units??
The GD Federal governmentit tearing this nation apart.

[smoke]

Like in the movie robin hood: prince of thieves, "There is a reward of 100 gold coins for your arrest" "thats too little"

looks like he needs to do something to make them offer say 1000 times as much...

has anyone heard something about a fed buildup in the KY area?

as i hear it things might get really hot in that area soon..  watch yore six.

... Wouldn't doubt it. They're runnin' low on folks to bust

Charlie is a convicted burglar who is not allowed to own firearms.

His supporters keep calling his crimes youthful indescretion and theft of food. What he actially did was break into a closed grocery store, by removing a window, and stole over $300.00 worth of food. He was over 18 at the time.

Nope. Eric Rudolph died of exposure years ago. If he had not he would still be setting off bombs.

Irrelevant. He was convicted of his felony before GCA68 - which banned felons from possessing guns - was passed. Since [i]ex post facto[/i] laws are unconstitutional, his felony conviction can't be used to deny him the RKBA.

Source?  

Wouldn't that be like a state changing the drinking age from 18 to 21, but continuing to allow 19 or 20 year old kids to drink legally?

I'll look for the source, I think I have it in my e-mail somewhere if I haven't emptied the trash lately.

As far as drinking at 18 being grandfathered, it's not the same thing. Theft was always illegal, after all, but drinking at 18 wasn't. A better analogy would be raising the drinking age from 18 to 21, then arresting an 19-year-old who could legally drink before the new law was enacted and charging him for underage drinking because he drank when he was 18. I'm not saying that Puckett broke no laws, only that at the time he committed his crime, felonies didn't result in your RKBA being taken away for life and that, constitutionally, this can't be done retroactively.

Ex post facto doesnt apply here. CP was convicted of his felony around 1966. from that point forward he is a "felon". In 1968 they decide felons cant own guns. Now could they charge charlie for being a felon in possession of a gun in 1967? No, becuase the law cant be enforced retroactively. But they certainly can prosecute him being a felon in possesion of a gun in 2002.

The law isnt anyone convicted of a felony after 1968 cant own a gun. Its anyone convicted of a felony cant own a gun after 1968. Its a fine point most are missing.

Thanks.  That makes more sense...

I wouldn't really call it escaping.  It's more like running away and cowering.

Charlie Puckett had BS charges against him from the ATF, but he's the leader of one of the largest miltia's in the nation, obviously he knew something like this was bound to happen.  He talked about standing up and fighting for gun rights, but then when things got hot he ran away.

Not only did have a good pro-gun lawyer and the media's attention, he also had backing for his fight from the gun community and thousands of members of the Kentucky State Militia.  Had he wanted to, he could have requested funds for legal help, had supporters put pressure on the media, local government, and legislators, and then fought these BS charges for which we all would benefit from.

But what does this "leader" do?  He runs away, destroying the reputation of his lawyer who personally vouched for him that he would not run away, he was hit with a $50,000 fine for running away, now has legitimate charges against him, and has been branded a crazy armed and dangerous felon by the ATF and media.  He's now being compared to Eric Rudolph.

Let me ask you this, if the ATF can take down the commander of the largest state militia in the US by filling some BS charges, do you think that will encourage them to be more or less aggressive in going after gun owners and gun organizations?

I guess the moral of the story is if you don't have a pair of balls and a nomex suit, then you should be trying to take on the ATF.

taken from [url=http://www.cjjohns.com/c_law/expost.html]Christina Johns [/url]- Criminologist - Ph.D. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland




now, if i were bill clinton i would say, "define punishment" [;)]

seriously, AR15fan, do you think use gun owners were punished when they passed the AW ban of '94? how about if you did something wrong and the sentence was a lifetime ban from owning firearms, would you consider that a punishment?

it's relative. if you are a gun owner, i would consider it a punishment.