Senate Bill's Provision Not Viewed as Threat to Surplus Radio Fans
NEWINGTON, CT, Oct 25,
2001--Amateurs who also collect military surplus radio "boat anchors"
apparently have nothing to fear about a provision contained in the Senate
version of the huge Department of Defense appropriations bill, S.1438. The
provision, §1062, would create governmental authority to "ensure
demilitarization of significant military equipment."
 Safe for now: A BC-348-A military surplus receiver. [ARRL
Photo] |
That provision, now a topic for
discussion on news groups and Web sites, would require anybody possessing
"significant military equipment formerly owned by the Department of Defense"
either to have it "demilitarized" or to return it to the government for
demilitarization. The provision also has the National Rifle Association and a
large number of firearms enthusiasts up in arms and wondering whether it would
affect their hobby if it's included in the final legislation.
ARRL Legislative and Public
Affairs Manager Steve Mansfield, N1MZA, looked into the issue and determined
that those with surplus radio gear have nothing to worry about. "While we
cannot speak reliably for the issue of firearms, we did contact one of the top
lawyers for the Senate Committee on Armed Forces, where the provision was added
to the bill," Mansfield said, "and he assured us that it would not be an issue
unless a ham somehow had custody of some kind of top-secret and highly
sophisticated military radio gear."
Mansfield said his Capitol Hill
contact explained that the definition of "significant" derives specifically from
the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C.
2778), and that, in turn, was intended to provide "control of arms exports and
imports" and not the typical ARC-5 transmitter or BC-348 receiver.
In the
words of the Senate measure itself, the term "significant military
equipment" means equipment that has "a significant capability for use as a
weapon" or "a uniquely military capability" and is a defense article listed on
the United
States Munitions List maintained under the Arms Export Control Act,
or is an item designated by the Secretary of Defense as "being necessary in the
interest of public safety to demilitarize before disposal by the United
States."
 A surplus
R-390 "digital display" military receiver--also
a popular item among "boat anchor" collectors.
|
"In other
words, it does not refer to radios, but rather to large shipments of large
military ordinance like missile guidance systems and rocket launchers,"
Mansfield said. "Our contact on the Committee assured us that Senatorial
discussion around this provision only referred to major weapons systems of the
sort that might need to be monitored by the Defense Department, or the Arms
Control and Disarmament Agency." Mansfield added that this topic was neatly
summarized in the "committee report"--the committee's interpretation of what
each provision of a law means.
The text
of federal legislation may be found on the Thomas Legislative Information Web site. Mansfield said the ARRL will continue to monitor
the issue to ensure that no typical military surplus radio gear is covered by
the legislation.
Page last modified: 02:41 PM, 25 Oct 2001 ET
Page author: awextra@arrl.org
Copyright © 2001, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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