Reading – From Freedom to Slavery

I started reading Gerry Spence’s book, “From Freedom to Slavery.”  This book looks to be interesting, as Spence was the lawyer who defended Randy Weaver when he went on trial for murdering a federal officer during the Ruby Ridge standoff in Idaho in the 1990’s.

This event was a big deal to me, as I was a boy when this happened. A boy, growing up in the People’s Republic of Maryland, where we weren’t allowed to talk about guns.  Meanwhile, guns were my favorite thing in the world, and I went shooting whenever I could.

There were a lot of misconceptions and half-truths around this standoff, and it will be interesting to read what was presented at the trial, versus what we saw on the news a long ways away.

My understanding was that Randy Weaver had sold a shotgun with a barrel that was too short for Federal Law.  Due to a snow storm, his trial was moved and he was not notified.  When he didn’t show up for trial, FBI/ATF agents began staking out his place.  At some point, Randy’s son (14) was hunting with a dog and the dog was going to give away the federal officer’s positions, so they shot the dog.  Randy Weaver’s son shot back, and then was shot and killed. Over the course of a few more days, Randy’s wife was shot and killed while holding a baby, Randy was wounded, and a family friend was wounded as well.

It’s a big mess, and we’ll never know the full truth, but perhaps this will shed a little light on the subject.

Thank you for reading this post, and I’ll let you know what I learn.

Tags: ATF, BaTF, BATFE, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, FBI, Gerry Spence, gun control, guns, racism, Randy Weaver, Ruby Ridge