Government Demands Inventory of All VFW Weapons

DarthDubious's picture

Note: Alex Jones has called the VFW and received confirmation that the email mentioned below is genuine.

An Infowars reader has passed along an email sent to VFW commanders by the Assistant Adjutant of the Department of Texas Veterans of Foreign Wars indicating the U.S. Army TACOM (Tactical Army Command) is demanding an inventory of all weapons held by VFW posts.

“While you may have had possession of this equipment for 20, 40, 60 or 100 years,” the email states, “it still belongs to the U.S. Military.”

The email arrived with an inventory attachment where all weapons are to be listed and the document sent to the Department of Texas Veterans of Foreign Wars. “This form will then be bounced off of the central database of all Texas VFW Posts at U.S. Army TACOM to verify serial numbers of each item that has been issued. This is a very extensive list and goes back to before the VFW was founded. So if you have a cannon from the Spanish-American War — it’s on the list.”

Many VFW halls around the country have decommissioned military weapons on their properties along with uniforms, statues and flags from every era. It is a common practice for VFW honor guard units to use M-1 rifles made into blank firing devices for salutes at parades and funerals. Weapons held by VFW posts are generally kept under lock and key in storage rooms.

TACOM is not simply interested in blank firing devices and antique rifles and pistols, however. “Weapons and Equipment consist of but is not limited to, Rifles, Pistols, Mortars, Artillery, Tanks, Vehicles, Aircraft, Missiles, Aircraft Carriers (sic), etc, from any period.”

According to the email, any attempt “hide” the items will be dealt with severely. “Please do not try and hide this as all weapons and equipment not accounted for will be reported to the FBI and BATF as stolen military equipment,” writes Dan West, retired Sgt. USMC. “I am hopeful that I need not remind anyone of the severity of punishment that can be administered or the legal bills resulting from individuals or elected officers of the Post having possession of stolen military weapons.”

The inventory of weapons at VFW posts is further evidence the government does not trust veterans, even with antiquated and non-functioning military equipment used primarily for display and historical purposes.

Last month the government took the unprecedented step of requiring soldiers at Fort Campbell in Kentucky to disclose all of their privately owned weapons and gun licenses.

“Military officials insist the policy is not connected to a recent controversial Department of Homeland Security report that warned disgruntled veterans could pose a national security threat. Rather, the inventory of private guns is aimed at stemming what the Army claims is an increasing number of accidental discharges by gun-toting soldiers,” NewsMax reported on May 5.

On June 5, WorldNetDaily reported that Fort Bliss in Texas had informed soldiers who live off the premises to provide descriptions, serial numbers, calibers, makes and models of any of the guns they own privately.

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bad_ptc's picture
Submitted by bad_ptc on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 12:26pm.

Battle of the Bilge went directly to the source on the source of the email, Sgt. Dan West, USMC (Ret.), for comment and reaction. The following is his statement on the issue, which he has graciously allowed us to convey to you in full:

"In response to the article “Government Demands Inventory of All VFW Weapons” by Kurt Nimmo posted on the Alex Jones’ infowars.com website on June 9, 2009. Let me confirm that I did send out the email to VFW District Commanders in Texas so they would pass the request on to the VFW Posts they have oversight of. I have never been contacted by Kurt Nimmo or Alex Jones as to the veracity or authentication of my email. I find this to be extremely irresponsible journalism.

Let me also add that to my knowledge the U.S. Government is not trying to take away any weapons or equipment from any VFW Post nor is this an attempt by the government to register or list which VFW Post has what, they already know, they sent me the list, the weapons and equipment although demilitarized belong to the U.S. Government. Demilitarized is not the same as decommissioned.

Representatives from U.S. Army TACOM contacted me in regards to non-existent VFW Post as Texas VFW has had several dozen VFW Posts close in the last several years that had weapons/equipment ISSUED (Not donated) from U.S. Army TACOM. Before these missing weapons/equipment are reported as stolen, U.S. Army TACOM has asked that we assist in accounting for them as they may have been transferred to another VFW Post without proper documentation. If they have been transferred to another VFW Post that is fine it just needs to be documented per long standing and established TACOM guidelines.

Accounting for weapons/equipment issued from U.S. Army TACOM on a routine basis is nothing new and has been done for several decades. Any one who has served in the military is familiar with accountability for government issued weapons and equipment.

I would mention the Civilian Marksmanship Program is a program where the U.S. Government takes refurbished military rifles (M1 Garand’s & 1903 Springfield Rifles) and encourages civilians to purchase them for a fraction of their cost for the purpose of learning marksmanship. This is a program where the government is actually encouraging its citizens to purchase and posses a military firearm and learn how to use it.

It is unfortunate that some have decided to use this request to account for demilitarized (Not decommissioned) U.S. Government owned weapons/equipment as something it is not in order to press their own agenda without first verifying the information."

There’s not much more to add to Sergeant West’s comments except to thank him extensively for his quick response and detailed information. Once again, we see a normal procedure that has been in place for years misinterpreted as an attempt to get guns out of the hands of veterans. And once again we see that those with an agenda are placing the blame on President Obama.


Submitted by AtHomeGym on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 1:56pm.

What is truly "Dubious" here is the info you report. You might try Googling "US Army TACOM and see who they really are and what they do.
Hint: it's NOT "Tactical Army Command." And the inventory request just might be part of their mission of lifecycle managemen of a variety and volume of various armament and weapons systems. You just keep trying and one of these days you're gonna get a drop of sweet milk from Alex Jones's teat.

DarthDubious's picture
Submitted by DarthDubious on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 11:23am.

there are soldiers with machine guns standing on every street corner, and a curfew at 1800hrs.

You can wake up and try to stop this crap now, or sit back in your lazy-boy swilling beer, and believing the MSM's propaganda. Your choice.

I for one am not going down without fighting for the country I grew up in.

In Liberty,

DarthDubious


Submitted by The Truth Will ... on Thu, 06/25/2009 - 10:19am.

Check this out! It is written by Charlie Stokes.
************

I work with the Catch-A-Dream Foundation (www.catchadream.org ) which provides hunting and fishing trips to childen with life-threatening illnesses. It is a great program needless to say.

This past weekend we had our annual banquet/fundraiser event in Starkville , MS . As part of the program, we had scheduled Sgt. 1st Class Greg Stube, a highly decorated U.S. Army Green Beret and inspirational speaker who was severely injured while deployed overseas and didn’t have much of a chance for survival.
Greg is stationed at Ft. Bragg and received permission from his commanding officer to come speak at our function.
Everything was on go until Obama made a policy that NO U.S. SERVICEMAN CAN SPEAK AT ANY FAITH-BASED PUBLIC EVENTS ANYMORE.
Needless to say, Greg had to cancel his speaking event with us.
Didn’t know if anyone else was aware of this new policy.
Wonder what kind of news we all will receive next?

Charlie Stokes
Area Agronomy Agent/County Director
MSU Extension Service
517 Hwy. 145 N. Ste. 1
Aberdeen, MS 39730
Phone: 662-369-8683
Fax: 662-369-3682
E-mail: charlies@ext.msstate.edu

We have got to band together and remove this illegal president asap. He is doing things that will never be able to be undone. I am ready to fight. What about YOU? This is serious business that is going to destroy our country is nothing is done. His policies along are enough to destroy our freedoms, not to mention what he is doing to us outside our country. People WAKE UP! What you see happening in IRAN will be happening here if something isn’t done NOW!

Submitted by AtHomeGym on Thu, 06/25/2009 - 10:48am.

Info reported is false. Appearance was not made due to a long-standing Dept of Defense rule of not allowing Uniformed Military Personnel to participate in Fund-raising/Charitible Events. If you want to read the whole "debunking", go to www.snopes.com and type in "Faith Based" in the "Search" feature. He could have appeared in an off-duty, civilian clothing situation with no problem.

Submitted by The Truth Will ... on Thu, 06/25/2009 - 3:11pm.

TO: AT Home Gym:
FROM: Military Spouse
I do not recommend factcheck.org or Snopes.com as unbiased sources. Snopes/Factcheck not always telling the truth, therefore I do not depend on either for rumor verification.

Check out www.truthorfiction.com

I have suspected this for quite some time. I often check the source of Snopes’s verification. Many times it is a liberal source. I have just accessed truthorfiction.com and believe it is a good alternative to Snopes and will be giving it a try. You might want to check it out and decide for yourselves…

Submitted by AtHomeGym on Thu, 06/25/2009 - 3:41pm.

Yes, I understand. I do not use either of those as a "sole souce" of debunking. In this current situation, I Googled the Foundation itself and found a copy of the actual letter from the US Army Special Operations command explaining why the Sergeant could not attend and speak. But I think it's clear that the President has not issued any such "order" as the chain email claims. "Military Spouse" huh, I have one of those--or at least she used to be! God Bless You All!

Submitted by Davids mom on Thu, 06/25/2009 - 1:40pm.

Thanks for keeping us informed! The more misinformation is distributed, the more the credibility of those passing on the misinformation is damaged.

Submitted by AtHomeGym on Thu, 06/25/2009 - 2:15pm.

You're welcome. Too many are anxious to "read and regurgitate" without establishing "fact or fiction." I try not to do that. That doesn't mean I'm not willing to criticize actions of our elected officials--it just means I like to have some credibiity when I do.

Submitted by AtHomeGym on Thu, 06/25/2009 - 11:12am.

Forgot to mention that this Foundation is NOT chartered as a "Faith-Based" Foundation anyway so even the original premise was false.

Submitted by DougTucker on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 10:30am.

Good job keeping the conspiracy theorists at bay. I don't necessarily think lifecycle management compels Tank and Automotive Command to request a VFW inventory. However, it certainly isn't a bad idea to exercise some discipline. The VFW is fairly smart in what it accepts as far as military contributions, but there maybe more than approved demilitarized or other surplus equipment out there. - Doug Tucker/PTC

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