The Credentialling of America

[cubic-dog]

Tim
>There are parts of biological research which can only be done by approved, 
>credentialled researchers. Ditto for weapons work of various kinds.


Weapons? 

Real, live useful weapons, such as small arms? John Moses Browning, father
of the gas powered automatic. Producer of the first gas operated belt fed
machine gun. Was a citizen gunsmith, not a corporation. The M1911, the
BAR, and by extention, the FN-FAL, the 30 and 50 cal crew served machine
guns. This was just a guy. Then John Garand, father of the "best battle
rifle in history" the M1 Garand, the liberator of
europe, from which the M14 was derived, Was a gunsmith in the employ of  
the department of the army. Garand declined a patent on his rifle, as
he felt a patent would occlude the weapons manufacture. He was an
open source kinda guy. 

Garand and Browning would be hunted animals under todays laws. 

No knocks against Eugene Stoner, the "father" of the M16, but
his prototype was redesigned in committee by large corporations
the likes of which brought us the M60 and other such jammomatic
battle weapons. 

The US, by outlawing private weapons development that once
allowed them to arm and deploy the most fearsome defensive
force in history, has now turned to places like Belgium for
the M249, and our good buddies H&K with thier 3rd Reich derived
MP-series for our storm troopers.