WTH is going on in Illinois??..... any one have

[LAWCOP]

ANY real input as to what is going on or driving this,

something reads rather rotten in this mess.

http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/13818654.htm

[DuPage286]

Whoa. First I've actually heard of it. Not sure what is going on here...

[southboy]

Sounds to me like the prosecutor is sucking up to gun control idiots and that the Troopers merely made a paper work mistake. But I'd love to hear from someone in Illinois who knows what the deal is.

[FedCop]

There is not a whole lot of detail in that article. I don't think that thier intent was to break the law, if they haad done the paperwork there would be no issue. How did it come about that these officers were known to have these weapons, and how / who started this investigation?

[southboy]

Here's a followup article on all of this: http://www.officer.com/article/article.jsp?id=28534&siteSection=1

[ppd101]

what do you expect. Isn't this the state where the gov. pardoned all of death row. Including a few cop killers.

[LAWCOP]

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"The attorney for a decorated Illinois State Police sergeant charged with illegally possessing a machine gun said Wednesday that he is mystified by the charge against his client.

Tom Keefe, the attorney for Sgt. James Vest, 39, of O'Fallon, said the M4 submachine gun in question was registered to the state police and used by Vest to train other officers.

In addition, the regulations state that for an off-duty officer, "any authorized firearms will be stored in the trunk or the glove compartment of the assigned department vehicle or in the officer's residence," according to Keefe.
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IF the above it true and that is the ONLY thing Vest did, possess an ISSUED item from his department with their blessing, the ATF and the USA basically just declared war on every PD in the United States that has an NFA item in itss inventory. :confused: .

SOMETHING to consider the next time they ask for "help".....
watch your backs guys it looks like they are rewriting the rules in the middle of the game.

[slamdunc]

what do you expect. Isn't this the state where the gov. pardoned all of death row. Including a few cop killers.
This has nothing to do with the state of Illinois; the BATFE & U.S. Attorney's Office are spear-heading the charges.
And the former governor did pardon all death row inmates. He is on trial in Chicago now for some of his other mis-deeds.
I only know one of these troopers, a Senior-Master Sergeant with over thirty years in law-enforcement. He has an otherwise unblemished record and is highly decorated. He is also a firearms instructor and purchased this weapon in the late 1970's here in my home town.
I am not of the opinion that anyone is above the law, but as I see it, the individual's intention is what matters. These guys stand to lose pensions, their freedom and virtually everything they have, if successfully prosecuted. This is a real shame, I wish all of them luck.

[j706]

:mad: ***********************************
"The attorney for a decorated Illinois State Police sergeant charged with illegally possessing a machine gun said Wednesday that he is mystified by the charge against his client.

Tom Keefe, the attorney for Sgt. James Vest, 39, of O'Fallon, said the M4 submachine gun in question was registered to the state police and used by Vest to train other officers.

In addition, the regulations state that for an off-duty officer, "any authorized firearms will be stored in the trunk or the glove compartment of the assigned department vehicle or in the officer's residence," according to Keefe.
****************************************

IF the above it true and that is the ONLY thing Vest did, possess an ISSUED item from his department with their blessing, the ATF and the USA basically just declared war on every PD in the United States that has an NFA item in itss inventory. :confused: .

SOMETHING to consider the next time they ask for "help".....
watch your backs guys it looks like they are rewriting the rules in the middle of the game.
Right On! But I'm not surprised. I can't help but think that would be a good one for a jury,I believe you would see some red faced federal prosecuters.