Assault guns, hand grenades and 50,000 rounds of ammunition are seized

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dZ

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Deputies discover arsenal in home
http://www.ocregister.com/crimecourts/gun030w.shtml
CRIME: Assault guns, hand grenades and 50,000 rounds of
ammunition are seized.

September 30, 1999

By HEATHER LOURIE, JOHN McDONALD
and ELIZABETH CHEY
The Orange County Register

SAN CLEMENTE — Investigators looking
for stolen maintenance equipment Wednesday
were surprised to find a cache of assault-type
weapons and ammunition in a school
employee's home.

The discovery — which included hand
grenades, machine guns and assault rifles — is
one of the largest weapons seizures here in
recent memory, said Assistant Sheriff George
Jaramillo.

"I would be hard pressed to conclude they
were used for hunting or personal use,"
Jaramillo said.

Jerry D. Peacock, 43, was arrested on suspicion of possessing stolen property after
deputies served a search warrant at his West Marquita home in connection with
stolen maintenance equipment allegedly taken from the Capistrano Unified School
District, officials said.

At least 50,000 rounds of ammunition held in cookie tins and boxes, along with
hundreds of books and magazines on guns were seized, Jaramillo said. In all, 80
assault-type guns were confiscated.

Peacock also could be charged with weapons violations, deputies said. He is being
held at Orange County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

Julie Jennings, a spokeswoman for Capistrano Unified, said the district hired
Peacock as a groundskeeper in September 1993. He worked on a roving landscaping
team, trimming trees and cutting lawns on all 42 campuses.

Several months ago Peacock left work on a disability claim. School officials said
Peacock passed a state-required fingerprint and criminal record check by the state
Department of Justice before starting work with the district.

Court records show that Peacock and two others sued Capistrano Unified for sex
discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation.

The complaint by the three, filed in September 1995, contended that Peacock was
subjected to harassment and discrimination after he confided in another worker that
his supervisor had fondled himself in a schoolyard.

Peacock alleged that he was later stalked by the supervisor and district officials
sided with the supervisor. Peacock said he was reprimanded and passed over for
promotion because of his complaint.

In January 1998, Peacock was awarded $87,500 in damages after a two-month trial.

The verdict is being appealed. Two other groundskeepers won similiar awards.

Neighbors peeked over fences and stood in their front yards Wednesday while
investigators carted away evidence.

"It just bothers me knowing there was that arsenal over there," said neighbor Claire
Zwicker. "I was just numb."

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will you stand with me in DC on 10-2-99?
http://www.myplanet.net/jeffhead/LibMarch
 
Arsenal Discovered in Calif. School
http://www.newsday.com/ap/rnmpnt1c.htm
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (AP) -- A school district groundskeeper was in custody
after a search of his home turned up a stockpile of assault weapons and 50,000
rounds of ammunition.

Investigators had served a warrant at the man's house Wednesday morning to
search for maintenance equipment allegedly stolen from the district, authorities
said.

Jerry Peacock, an employee with the Capistrano Unified School District, was
arrested for investigation of receiving stolen property, said Orange County
sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino.

He was being held on $10,000 bail. No charges had been filed by early today.

The weapons, which included eight machine guns and several World War
II-vintage carbines, were stored inside two safes at the home.

``They found 80 assault weapons, some of which appear to be fully automatic,''
said sheriff's Lt. Tom Garner.

Some of the missing maintenance equipment also was recovered.

It wasn't immediately known how or why he obtained the weapons, Amormino
said. The federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is helping authorities
trace the origin of the guns.

Deputies also found stacks of magazines at the house, including ``Solder of
Fortune,'' ``Guns of the World,'' ``Combat'' and ``The Ultimate Sniper.''

Peacock, 43, was hired by the district in 1993 and worked at its 42 campuses as
needed, said spokeswoman Julie Jennings. She said he has been on disability for
five months.

AP-NY-09-30-99 0610EDT


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will you stand with me in DC on 10-2-99?
http://www.myplanet.net/jeffhead/LibMarch
 
It sounds like the school district got their revenge. He, along with 3 others, won a harassment suit against the school district after he complained about a supervisor scratching himself, a little too vigorously, in full view of "the children."

10 bucks says that the grenades and machine guns are demilled to ATF specs. Some of the "Assault Weapons" pictured were M44's and the like.

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I offer neither pay nor quarters nor provisions; I offer hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles and death. Let him who loves his country in his heart, and not his lips only, follow me.
-Giuseppe Garabaldi
 
Only 50,000 rounds of ammo? Piker!!!!! LOL

Siezed books and magazines? Another question? If they were searching for maintenance equipment, what in the dirty word were they doing looking in cookie jars? Or was the maintenance equipment boxes of "handiwipes"?

Any bets the other two will be subject to the same searches in the near future?

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Ne Conjuge Nobiscum
"If there be treachery, let there be jehad!"
 
This smells like AG Lockyer's gun show arrests.
Remember the rocket launchers and flame throwers?

These showboating publicity hungry agencies always do this....front page headlines upon discovery and nary a blurb for the real truth....but folks will always think of Mr. Peacock as the "insane gun freak who amassed enough armaments to take out So Cal"

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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" RKBA!
 
When issuing a search warrant, doesn't it list specifically the items to be looked for? And are they (the police) in their legal (read Constitutional) right to confiscate stuff that's not listed?

------------------
John/az

"The middle of the road between the extremes of good and evil, is evil. When freedom is at stake, your silence is not golden, it's yellow..." RKBA!

www.quixtar.com
referal #2005932
 
This is such a farce. Hand Grenades listed in the headline but not the story. Many of the weapons "looked" fully automatic. "Lots" of magazines about guns!

Sheesh, thank God the guy didn't have a copy of the Constitution on his wall.

DC-
You're right on the money.
Rich
 
John/az2,
The police can seize the guns, because of the Plain-View Doctrine. It states: "Anything in plainview of an officer, when the officer has a legal right to be where he/she is, can be seized." So, if the police had a search warrant to search the house they could seize eveything that they saw that was contraband.
 
If the guns were locked in the safes, then they would not be in "plain-view"?



------------------
John/az

"The middle of the road between the extremes of good and evil, is evil. When freedom is at stake, your silence is not golden, it's yellow..." RKBA!

www.quixtar.com
referal #2005932
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>The weapons, which included eight machine guns and several
World War
II-vintage carbines, were stored inside two safes at the home.[/quote]

so did they cut the safes open looking for rakes?

dZ

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will you stand with me in DC on 10-2-99?
http://www.myplanet.net/jeffhead/LibMarch
 
Just another attempt by the elites to frighten the sheeple in Kalifornia and elsewhere about those bad, bad gunowners who could be your neighbor next door. It is getting the masses ready for the big gun turn ins coming up in Kalifornia and i predict everywhere else in Americka. The object is to demonize us gun owners and patriots as monsters and terrorists. The best ally the elites will have in this country will be your so called neighbor who will sell you out for the proverbial 30 pieces of silver. Sorry to be so negative about the masses ,but they have proven their incompetance so far. The people want the police and military to save them from themselves!
 
Most search warrants cover any containers in side the house that the search warrant was for. So they most likely had the right to open the safes. After all, the evidence that they were looking for could have been inside. I not saying it's right, but it is the law.
 
Boy, this does sound flaky.

"The weapons, which included eight machine guns and several World War II-vintage carbines, were stored inside two safes at the home." 80 'assault' weapons in 2 safes? That sounds impossible. And, they were stored in safes? As in a 'safe' place so they can't be stolen by BG's, used by children, etc?

"'I would be hard pressed to conclude they were used for hunting or personal use,' Jaramillo said." Well, Jaramillo, please help us understand where you got the idea we have to use them for hunting? And, what kind of 'personal use' did you have in mind? How about collecting, investing, shooting, or just feeling like owning a piece of history? It's pompous LEO's like you that hurt the reputations of your agencies.

"'It just bothers me knowing there was that arsenal over there," said neighbor Claire Zwicker. "I was just numb.'" Ah - another citizen now feeling safer after her neighbor's civil rights have been violated. She is 'safe' while her potentially fascist government is on the job.

If none of these items were illegal, I hope the guy sues the pants off the sheriff for slander and false arrest. It is fascinating how ignorance, the State, and bad press can turn a possibly innocent set of facts into an ominous story. We've come a long way, baby. We'll see how this develops.
 
I need to get this straight: if the cops have a warrant to search for shovels stolen from the school district, and they come in my house and see some guns "in plain view" they get to confiscate the guns? On what grounds, if they are legal? And how in the name of Samuel Adams do they get to legally confiscate magazines and books?

The best part of the story was the obligatory "thank you for making the neighborhood safe for socialism" quote by the mewling neighbor. So now we all know what we're supposed to think about the situation.

------------------
"...the probability of the people in power being individuals who would dislike the possession and exercise of power is on a level with the probability that an extremely tender-hearted person would get the job of whipping-master in a slave plantation."
Prof. Frank H. Knight
 
Once the police come into your home... They own you. They can take ANYTHING they WANT. Then its up to YOU to PROVE in court that THEY should give it back to you... This includes any amount of cash or Coin Jars.

The first 10 Amendments are the Bill of Wants.

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Not all Liberals are annoying... Some are Dead.
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
The Critic formerly known as Kodiac
 
The only search warrant I have ever seen was written in such a manner that the officers could have seized God if he was found in the house.

Too often, the LEO community seems to think that if they honor the letter of what the Supreme Court of the day rules then trashing the SPIRIT of the Constitution is perfectly okie dokie. It's a shame.

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Byron Quick
 
"hundreds of books and magazines on guns were seized"

I guess its now a crime to subscribe to Guns and Ammo. This is all media hype.
 
I know I'm gonna loose some friends here but here go's.
If I read this right he hasn't been charged for anything on the guns. They didn't confiscate his gun magazines, they just said they found them in the house. It seems that some guns were in the safe but most were not.
They looked automatic because you can't shoot a gun in a house to see if it's automatic. I'm sure they will check them out.
Why handgrenades. If they were dummie rounds or defused O.K, but not live one's.

This guy seems to have been it trouble before for some obscure things. The court said he was innocent but I'm sure there's more to that story.
My point here is here's a suspicious charector who has gotten himself in trouble again. The police go to investigate and guess what they find. Yes, an arsenol with ammo, Handgrenades, and literature that contributes to individuals state of mind. Sniper magazines?
Possible automatic weapons?
At what point do we stop saying damn them and start saying damn him. I agree with all of you that he has a right to own some of those things but if the automatics and grenade thing sticks it looks bad for all of us. What I find disturbing is that we get upset because they mentioned the magazines but ingnore the fact thatthis guy possibly posseses illegal and very deadly stuff. Considering his behavioral trends, at what point do we worry about his future intentions. Do we have to see a columbine before we say "Oh, maybe he was wrong". Please don't crucify me for this but at what point do we draw the line.

I have a friend who collects vintage guns and keeps them in his office at his business. They are in a large wall size glass display case and are quite visible if you glance into his office in his audio/video store. He has about 20 rifles and maybe 25 different handguns in all. They all shoot and he keeps some ammo in a locked cabinet. Nobody ever questions his intentions because he is an upstanding, law abiding person. He helps out in his community and does not hide the fact that he collects historic guns.
I meet people every day that I know have and carry guns. Most I trust but some I really worry about. Yes, they have a right to own them but their character and habbits are questionable.
I wish all gun laws were repealed so we can start arresting people for their actions and not their posessions. But when a persons actions are questionable if not illegal, and then you find hand grenades, etc.....

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"It is easier to get out of jail then it is a morgue"
Live long and defend yourself!
John 3:16
 
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