Michigan Gun Dealer Indicted

The Detroit News reports on trouble for a gun dealer associated with the Hutaree.

Detroit -- An Adrian firearms dealer linked to the Hutaree militia case has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Detroit.

Walter L. Priest, 52, is charged with possessing a rifle with an obliterated serial number in an indictment handed down Tuesday and filed today in U.S. District Court in Detroit. It's a five-year felony.

Priest is the firearms dealer whose investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives prompted outraged e-mails and other Internet postings from members of an accused radical militia group called the Hutaree, according to court records and interviews.

"Looks like the ATF enforcers are looking for a reason to start a firefight," accused Hutaree leader David Stone Sr. allegedly said in a 2008 e-mail after learning federal agents were combing through records at Priest's Adrian store, Gun Outfitters LLC.

"And we will answer the call."

The charge relates to a rifle Priest allegedly sold at a gun show in 2008, she said.

Priest's 25-year-old son Jason, a suspected bomb maker who earlier served time for possessing explosives with intent to terrorize, was sentenced to nine years in prison March 5 for being a felon in possession of firearms.

Prosecutors say that when Jason Priest was arrested, Stone and his son Joshua approached Walter Priest and offered to break Jason Priest out of jail. Walter Priest rebuffed the offer, prosecutors said.

Stone and eight others are accused of plotting to kill police officers and wage war against the U.S. government. They were arrested in sweeps that began March 27 and charged in an indictment unsealed March 29 with offenses that include seditious conspiracy and attempted use of weapons of mass destruction.

They sound like a bunch of swell guys. It's interesting that if you go back in time just a little bit, these characters were among the law-abiding gun owners we keep hearing about. In fact, they would have certainly fit nicely into my 10% theory.

What do the pro-gun folks say about this? Is it that guys like this actually make an insignificant part of the whole? Is that it? Are we quibbling over percentages? Or is there another take on it?

Please leave a comment.

Hutaree Christian Group

JadeGold said, "BTW, MikeB, wouldn't we be remiss in mentioning the NRA-inspired Hutaree today?" Well, we can't have that, can we?



The Examiner reports the story like this.

At least seven members of the Hutaree, a militant Chrstian group based in Adrian, were taken into custody by the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force over the weekend. The members, picked up in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, will learn their fate at the US district courthouse in Detroit today, when an indictment against them will be unsealed.

The task force reportedly became interested in the Hutaree when the fringe group made threats of violence against certain Islamic organizations. The Hutaree features training in combat techniques in preparation for a coming battle against the anti-christ. It maintains a website featuring the banner: "Preparing for the end time battles to keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive."

Man With a Muckrake pointed out the following.

Hutaree is a Christian-oriented militia group. According to Hutaree’s Web site, the organization believes that one day there will be an anti-Christ, and all Christians must train and prepare. Hutaree claims to have about 30 members, including several who live Washtenaw County. The group has its own pastor and a leader, members said. Members are known to train with AR-15s. The Christian militia group members describe themselves as Christian soldiers preparing for the arrival and battle with the anti-Christ.

"The anti-Christ," isn't that what some people call Obama? Do you think these people are seriously dangerous and should be taken seriously or are they basically harmless?

Let's say these folks are dangerous and they influence many others who are dangerous. Would that make us more inclined to accept gun control initiatives which might affect their ability to arm up? I say it would. I say people like this are walking examples of why we desperately need gun control that works. I say these are deluded, dangerous people, most of whom should not have guns at all.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.