NJ man sentenced for having Navy cannon

[Blue_Tires]

Vulcan cannon came from NAS Oceana F-14
Updated: Tuesday, 15 Jun 2010, 8:58 AM EDT
Published : Monday, 14 Jun 2010, 3:50 PM EDT

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - A New Jersey man was sentenced to three years behind bars in Norfolk Federal Court on Monday for illegally possessing a Navy machine gun from an F-14 fighter.

Wayne Miller of Red Bank, N.J., pleaded guilty to the charge back in December.

According to court papers, Miller obtained a Vulcan cannon from Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach in 2005.

Miller, a self-proclaimed collector, was executive director of the Aviation Hall of Fame in Teterboro, N.J., at the time and was planning to open a flight-simulator business.

Matthew Sutton, who was working at Oceana in 2005 to demilitarize and destroy fighter aircraft that had been retired from service, allegedly forged Navy records to document the transfer of the cannon to Miller. The Mineral Wells, Texas, man pleaded guilty to one count of stealing government property back in January.

He was sentenced to six months in prison in April.

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/military/NJ-man-sentenced-for-having-Navy-cannon

[petronius]

1. Damn! I was picturing something a little more 18th Century

I wonder if there's a way to mount these on aircraft other than F-14s, or if he was just planning fire it off in the back yard or something. (I suppose it's possible that he just wanted to have it, but I suspect the temptation of looking at that day in and day out would be too much...)

[SunnySong]

2. I'm not sure why jail for this man is in any way appropiate.

He was clearly a collector and should have been required to pay a fine at best.

I don't feel safer with a man like this in prison.

[bluedigger]

3. It seems kind of bass-ackward

that the guy who procured (and we assume, profited handsomely) got six months, and the "collector" got three years. We going to start charging meth dealers with misdemeanors and throwing the book at users?

[Dr Morbius]

4. Well, he knowingly purchased stolen property.

And he knew he was arguably compromising his military commitment to the nation. This is a weapon of war, and I do not believe the second amendment extends without limit to allow people to own military hardware. I won't comment about the justice or injustice of him receiving a lesser or greater sentence than the guy who procured it for him, but I am perfectly fine with having laws to prohibit private citizens from owning (presumably lethal) military hardware. Also, it could be argued that had the collector not agreed to pay for the item, the thief would not have stolen it; the demand for the item promoted the illegal obtaining of the item.

[whistler162]

5. A little Cash is needed.

http://s0.ilike.com/play#Johnny+Cash:One+Piece+At+A+Time:24954:s311595.28058.2233175.0.2.239%2Cstd_0bc9e0fd45854e18b436754a15a7bd80

[Blue_Tires]

7. i'd like to piece together a Harrier Jump Jet, personally....

[JonLP24]

6. This probably wouldn't happen in Las Vegas

I've seen people sell all kinds of weapons including cannons on that show Pawn Stars.

[krispos42]

8. He stole the 20mm Vulcan cannon out of an F-14?

The 20mm Vulcan cannon that shoots thumb-sized explosive shells at 6,000 rounds per minute?


Um, yeah, that's just a little bit illegal.


You can buy a 7.62mm verson of this (shoots regular rifle ammo) if you have about a quarter of a million dollars burning a hole in your pocket and a squeaky-clean record. God knows what the Vulcan cannon would be worth on the US civilian market.

[realisticphish]

10. But he's just a collector!!!!

He probably has a Phalanx system that he uses to keep crows off his garden

[Mopar151]

13. I'd make an exception for crows, myself........

Long as there's a no-fly zone around that garden....

[Mopar151]

9. "Cannon"?Sure pal.......

Gatling Gun with insane cyclic rate, fires DU bullets.

Over 100 shots per second, exploding bullets
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M61_Vulcan

[Angleae]

11. Actually it doesn't use DU.

Using DU vs an aircraft wouldn't make much sense as it would simply go straight through.

[Mopar151]

12. Did'nt they use DU in the A-10?

I probably should have said "capable"

[One_Life_To_Give]

14. A-10 uses GAU-8 30mm

F-14 used the GAU-4 20mm

And the GAU-8 is some 20ft long.


The GAU-4 is somewhat smaller.