SHOOTING EVENT PLAN BACKFIRES REVOLUTIONARY WAR GROUP CONCERNED ABOUT TROUBLE.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS

Staff Writer

SAUGUS -- They wanted a place to shoot, and they found one. But then they changed their minds.

Despite planning a marksmanship event this month at a local firing range, the North Carolina-based Revolutionary War Veterans Association canceled it over concerns about potential legal trouble.

The group wanted to teach marksmanship Feb. 17-18 to members of the public at a firing range called A Place to Shoot.

But a vaguely threatening message posted on an Internet discussion board, as well as a legal opinion from an attorney, convinced the group otherwise.

The group, a few hundred members strong, has been around for a couple of years, but has never held a shooting event in California.

It has taken its "Appleseed Program" to other states, teaching marksmanship and talking about shooting skills that carried the day for America during the Revolutionary War.

The group says it is not a militia. But its leaders feared prosecution under a California penal code section that prohibits members of a paramilitary organization from getting together "for the purpose of practicing with weapons."

"Actually, we're coming to an especially bad area of California, which is Los Angeles County; at least (an attorney) said it was bad because the local law enforcement isn't exactly friendly to gun owners," said Jack Dailey, secretary of the group and one of the founders.

"Before we come to California, we need to get a lot more familiar with the local situation," he said.

But a representative from the District Attorney's Office said the office would only investigate if it received a complaint.

"Police would have to investigate a complaint, they would bring it to us and we would review to see if a crime was committed and if we could file it," said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office.

Sheriff's Lt. Brenda Cambra, a spokeswoman for the Santa Clarita station, said her agency also does not persecute gun owners.

"Gun ownership is protected in the Constitution and law enforcement is only interested in illegal use of guns," she said.

After the group's cancellation was announced on a message board for the Revolutionary War Veterans Association, angry postings referring to the state as "Kalifornia" and accusing its officials of being anti-gun started appearing.

Dailey maintained the group is not a militia and said its goal is to teach Americans about April 19, 1775, the date that British subjects in and around Lexington and Concord took on the British army as an organized group of militias.

"To the extent we're enthusiastic about anything, it's about carrying the message that most modern Americans have forgotten unfortunately what their heritage is," he said.

Dailey can talk about the gleam on the bayonets of the British troops, the superior aim of the revolutionaries and their bravery in risking hanging by firing at the enemy.

His group teaches the history at its "Appleseed" events, which are designed to spread the seeds of marksmanship around the country.

Before the group's scheduled event, a message posted with the same initials as the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms appeared on an online forum for the group, said Art Rosbury-Yoder, webmaster and site administrator.

The message suggested the group would have company if it held its event in Saugus, he said.

Chuck Michel, an attorney with the California Rifle and Pistol Association, said that if he was working with the Revolutionary War group he would have gone to authorities.

"I would like very much to work on their behalf to assist their lawyer, to get to the bottom of this and make sure these types of events go on," he said.

On its message board, the group said it was still holding events in Las Vegas, Reno and the state of Oregon.

"We hope to see our California Appleseeds at one of those this year," the message stated.

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