Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 28, 1994 TAG: 9407280083
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
James Ray Mullins, 40, of Pulaski and Paul David Peterson, a 25-year-old Blacksburg gun dealer, were charged with violating numerous federal firearm regulations.
T.S. Fairburn, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said that Mullins was the ringleader of a small group forming to illegally obtain weapons.
"Mullins is organizing a group of confederates to be armed and trained in military fashion, in preparation for armed conflict with the government authorities, should firearms legislation become too restrictive," the agent said in an affidavit.
The ATF, State Police and members of the Pulaski Police Department have been investigating Mullins since March.
Fairburn testified Wednesday that the group - known as the Blue Ridge Hunt Club - gathered three times in rural areas of Pulaski and Wythe counties in May and June and had a fourth meeting scheduled for this weekend.
A computer disc of Mullins' obtained by the ATF contained what are believed to be guidelines for the group:
``Our purpose is to carry out a `guerrilla' warfare action ... We want to do things that will incite the public into an uprising against local, state and federal authorities,'' it said.
"Hit-and-run tactics will be our method of fighting ... We will destroy targets such as telephone relay centers, bridges, fuel storage tanks ...
"Human targets will be engaged ... when it is beneficial to the cause."
Mullins planned to arm his group with modern military weapons by burglarizing the National Guard Armory in Pulaski, Fairburn said.
Jim Silvey, resident agent in charge of the ATF, and U.S. Attorney Robert Crouch were careful not to characterize the group as para-military or cultlike, but said they were taking the matter seriously.
"Every indication we have is that this was a serious attempt," Silvey said. "We haven't seen this in this part of the country."
Crouch said federal authorities are giving the case high priority.
"We do consider this to be unusual," he said.
Neither Mullins nor Peterson was charged with any violent crimes, and Silvey said they have no indication that any weapons sold or bought by the group were used in violent crimes.
Silvey said the investigation was continuing and that he wouldn't speculate if there will be more arrests. He wouldn't release the exact number in the group, saying only that up to 15 people had attended its meetings.
Mullins is charged with the possession and sale of unregistered silencers and a short-barreled rifle and helping in the unlawful purchase of a gun. He appeared in court briefly, but his arraignment was delayed until he gets a court-appointed lawyer.
Peterson, a federally licensed firearm dealer who runs Peterson Sporting Goods from his Mount Tabor Road home, is charged with the sale of a firearm to a convicted felon and falsifying both state and federal firearms transaction records. He was arraigned in U.S. District Court and released on bond Wednesday.
Fairburn testified that Peterson had plans to let his federal firearms license expire and then fake a burglary of his home to hide the paper trail of illegal gun sales.
If convicted, the two men face 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count of selling firearms to a felon and each count of possessing unregistered silencers and a short-barreled rifle. Peterson faces an additional five years and $250,000 fine if convicted of falsifying records.
Federal agents seized more than a dozen rifles and pistols from Peterson's home, including several semiautomatic weapons and one that was converted to fully automatic.
Silvey said Mullins was arrested Wednesday morning shortly after leaving his Pulaski home.
In the vehicle's glove compartment, police found a .45-caliber revolver that Silvey said he previously had told friends he would use if ATF agents ever tried to arrest him.
"He was just a little slow to the draw early in the morning, fortunately," Silvey said.
by CNB