“As for the other vehicles, I think that we should drive them all out under the cover of the trees in the wood lot. The ground is frozen solid in the mornings this time of year, and it’s relatively level so we won’t have any problems getting even the two-wheel-drive rigs back there. I’d like to get them as far back into the woods as possible. We’ll cover the shot-out windows on Dan’s Toyota with sheet plastic to keep the rain out. The windshield area will also have to be covered with plywood or whatnot, otherwise snow will just pile up and push in the Visqueen.
“I also want you to cover all the exposed glass on your vehicles with burlap sacks to stop reflections. We have a large supply of burlap sacks, so we can cover all the glass. We also have a lot of olive drab duct tape, so go ahead and tape over all of your reflectors and turn signal plastic. You can either take off or tape over your license plates since they reflect too. I also have several cans of flat black spray paint and rolls of masking tape that you can use for blacking out any residual chrome plated pieces. For any vehicle that might have its outline show from the road, we’ll cover it with a camouflage net held up by spreaders or hung from tree limbs. Once we have these vehicles parked, we’ll drain their gas tanks into cans, disconnect their batteries, drain their radiators, and put them up on blocks.” There were a few sour looks at Todd’s last suggestion. “I knew that this wouldn’t be a popular decision, but we just don’t have the storage space, and it’s a security risk having all those cars out in plain view.”
All around the room, heads nodded in agreement.
“Is there any other new or old business?” Todd asked.
Lisa raised her hand. “I just want to remind everyone about the importance of brushing and flossing our teeth after every meal. Mary bought two of those Navy surplus monster rolls of floss. And we have a considerable supply of salt and baking soda for once the toothpaste runs out. We have absolutely got to be conscientious about this. Without a dentist here, the best we can do is to replace a filling that falls out, and we only have the weaker temporary-type filling compound for that. The only other option is pulling teeth. Enough said.”
After seeing that she was done, Dan Fong raised his hand and remarked, “Boss, I have an item, too. I’d like to see everyone that owns an AR-15 or CAR-15 in the back bedroom after lunch.”
After the meeting, Jeff lingered by Rose’s bed. “Is that the way the meetings usually go?” Rose asked.
“Yep, Todd pretty well calls the shots except for tactical things, where he used to depend on me, and now defers to Mike. Luckily, Todd has a good head on his shoulders, and has sound judgment. Also, I’ve never known him to hold a grudge.”
“How did the group get set up like this? Isn’t it a bit autocratic?”
“Well, I’ll tell you, Rose, ten years or more ago, when they first set up the Group, they tried running it with votes on every issue. They realized that that was fine in peacetime. The only detractor was that it slowed some meetings down to a snail’s pace. But in times like these, what we need are firm, prompt orders, and no messing around. One-man-one-vote and endless debate just doesn’t cut it in a survival situation.”
Meanwhile, T.K., Mary, and Lisa showed up to meet with Dan, just as he had asked. “Go ahead, take a seat there,” Dan said, pointing to the rumpled bed.
They all had curious expressions. Dan held up a milled block of metal just over an inch long and articulated, “This is a drop-in auto-sear. I’m sure that at least one or two of you have heard of these. They’re illegal as all get out, but under the current circumstances, I don’t think that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms is likely to send anyone out to investigate if somebody hears a gun get a bit hyperactive here at the retreat.”
A smile widened across T.K.’s face. Mary and Lisa still looked puzzled. Dan carried on with his lecture. “There was a neat loophole in the law. Machineguns were of course tightly restricted in the Federal United States, subject to a two-hundred-dollar transfer tax. They have been taxed this way ever since the National Firearms Act got passed in 1934. There are also some separate laws in some states that require registration of full autos, and in some cases an absolute ban.
“After about 1981, some full auto conversion parts like auto-sears themselves also became illegal. However, a loophole existed for a few years that allowed people to sell auto-sear component parts ‘for repair or replacement purposes only.’ In fact, there was at least one outfit that sold ‘repair’ auto-sear bases, and another that sold ‘repair’ auto-sear springs, cams, and pins. Just by ‘coincidence,’ these two businesses were located only a few miles apart. For a couple of years, these guys did a brisk business. I actually bought these a few years after that loophole closed. These were manufactured before the McClure-Volkmer law was signed, so they were grandfathered under a different loophole.
“I got mine the same way that Kevin got the bastard crystals for our Trick five hundreds. I used a drop box using a false ID that I worked up, just so I wouldn’t get caught. Because I knew that the loophole would eventually be closed, I took the opportunity to buy six of them. They cost me one-hundred-seventy-five dollars each.” Now, all three of Dan’s guests were grinning.
“An auto-sear is a key part in converting an AR-15 or CAR-15 to selective fire. It means that instead of having a two-position selector switch—SAFE and FIRE—you have a three-position switch—SAFE, SEMI, and AUTO. The D.I. A.S. can’t do this all by itself, though. You also need an M16 bolt carrier and a set of M16 lower-receiver internal parts. Now all of you already have early model hard-chromed M16 carriers in your ARs. That was part of the group standard set of upgrades. As you recall, I once insisted that we standardize with the chrome carriers, tritium front sights, and the five-slot closed cage M16A2 flash hiders.
“Just after I got the auto-sears, I also bought six sets of M16 lower-receiver parts at a gun show. At that time these parts were only about one hundred dollars for the full set. In recent years, BATFE agents have even been hassling people who they’ve caught with just a few of the lower-receiver parts. Those ‘F Troop’ guys don’t cut any slack.
“I never told anybody about the M16 lower-receiver parts sets or about the auto-sears.
“I didn’t want to get into any big arguments about legalities, or whether it’s right to obey a law that is contrary to the Constitution—you know, the Marbury versus Madison decision, and all that. Also, I didn’t want to put Mikey into one of those ‘police officer’s moral dilemma’ tizzies. Soooo, I just tucked them away in a wall cache, saving them for a rainy day. Needless to say, we got our rainy day. In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a freakin’ Wagnerian thunder-storm out there, at least in the big cities.
“Soooo, here you go. I’ve got an auto-sear and a set of lower-receiver parts to give to each of you. I’ve already put one in my AR-15. After you install yours, that leaves two more sets. I’ll be saving one for when Terry Layton gets up here.