Ronald Struve, 67, was sentenced to 4 years in prison on weapons charges. The weapons in question consisted of two grenade launchers, 54 grenades (one of which was dud-launched, or more dangerous than the others), six large blocks of C4, a plastic explosive, and 37 machine guns from the Vietnam War era. Struve apparently collected this arsenal during the Cold War, because he wanted to be ready for the Chinese or Russian invasion, which he felt was imminent. After the Cold War ended, he just couldn't bear to part with them. Included in his four years of detention to think through his 'crimes', he is also sentenced to (wait for it) mental-health counseling, and three years of probation.
The first time I read the article, I couldn't believe it. It was way too awesome for it to actually happen. Well, it did happen, and I'm a bit sorry for the poor bloke. Why does he need mental-health guidance for being prepared?
I guess the moral of this story is "There is a charge for awesome: Legal charges."
Keep thinking,
B
I don't see what he did wrong. It shouldn't be a crime to have weapons; it should only be a crime to misuse them.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. The only thing that I'd have a hard time with him possessing is all that C4, but if he didn't use the other weapons, I don't see how it's an issue that he didn't use the C4 either. If he'd actually used the weapons, prosecute away. As it is, my sympathies lie entirely with the accused.
ReplyDeleteBut they weren't registered. After all, you never know when you'll start causing the proliferation of machine guns from the 60's.
ReplyDelete