Haverhill police say the arrests of two local men on weapons charges, reported early yesterday by WHAV, were the result of a joint investigation with federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agents into the illegal selling of an AK47 rifle.
Joshua Lavalley, 23 and Thomas Souther, 24, both of 32 Nichols St., Haverhill, were located at about 10:20 p.m., Tuesday, in the parking lot of 62 Portland St., standing near a white Chrysler sedan when police approached. A Norinco SKS Rifle was located in the trunk of the vehicle, along with 10 rounds of 7.62×39 ammunition and clips, according to Captain Robert P. Pistone, Haverhill police spokesperson.
“This was great work on the part of Haverhill Police Detectives and the ATF, as this particular rifle in the wrong hands is lethal and capable of penetrating ballistic vests and armor,” Pistone said.
Lavalley and Souther were each arraigned Wednesday in Haverhill Disrtrict Court on charges of trafficking in firearms, unlicensed possession of ammunition, conspiracy to violate gun laws, and possession of a firearm without being licensed.
AK47 assault rifle seized by Haverhill Police and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agents.
Well, they did put a HUGE picture of bullets in the headline and the weapon is “black” so not only is it dangerous and evil, just be happy WHAV didn’t call the firearm “racist”.
Heck, even Canadians can have an SKS.
What exactly makes a rifle an “assault” rifle? If it’s the power, the SKS is pretty weak. Accuracy? Well, they’re not terribly accurate either. Is it because it’s an “automatic?” Well the SKS is NOT an automatic (machine gun), but a semi-auto, just like every firearm I own. Is it the presence of a large-capacity magazine? No, magazines come in standard sizes of up to 30 rounds, and this was only 10 rounds. So what we have is a glory-seeking Captain Pis-ant blowing a lot of hot air about nothing. OH, wait… there’s that problem of demanding “permission” from the state to engage in legal commerce and possessing arms (which happens to be mentioned in the Constitution- who’d have thunk it?).
Massholechussetts is no more the “cradle of democracy.” Now it’s just another collectivist Hell-hole, demanding the subjects to lick the state jack-boot. Pathetic.
Who ARE you people at WHAV? This is a common, everyday SKS rifle. In the free states, we shoot rifles like these every day. And yes, ANY rifle round over a thousand or so ft per second muzzle velocity will penetrate a vest. SO WHAT? Good grief, I get tired of this kind of shorts-wetting coverage in the media.
What a joke. Any rifle round will penetrate level III body armor. It’s designed to stop close range pistol rounds. Pistol rounds tend to be short and fat and slow moving, less than 1200 FPS while rifle bullets are long and slim and travel in excess of 2500 FPS. These vests also won’t stop a knife.
By the way, that picture is NOT a AK47. Is’s a SKS. Maybe someone from there needs to go to gun school.
The description of the weapon came from the Haverhill Police Department.
Well, that just shows how ignorant they are, and how lazy the writer is when s/he can’t be bothered to do just a couple minutes’ worth of online research. Whatever happened to the basics of (what we now jokingly call) journalism?