Gad, this article makes me sick

Stockpiled inside, authorities say, were 60 rifles, multiple handguns, a million rounds of ammunition and 20 pounds of gunpowder -- enough to level several houses in the quiet neighborhood. An eight-foot deep tunnel led 30 feet from the middle of the garage -- where canned and dried food was also stored -- to a spot beneath the main house.

OMG!!!! IT'S LIKE A NUCULAR BOMB OR SOMETHING!!!!! Criminy, 20 pounds of gunpowder isn't going to level anything but a room or two if it's stored in a sealed, metal container. *Sigh*. Just goes to show you how stupid cops can be. Gasoline is MUCH more dangerous than gunpowder, by magnitudes, and yet if someone were to keep 20 pounds of it in their garage, nobody would blink a friggin' eye. Come to think of it, a lot of people DO!

"This stuff shouldn't be in anyone's neighborhood," said Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez, a spokesman for the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. "We're possibly dealing with a survivalist."

See, the government likes it when you have to rely on them. Keeps the sheep dumb and docile, you know. Try to 'survive' on your own and they just might convict you of mental instability! I'm just kidding, though, the police would never have you evaluated just because you have guns and ammo, right?

Wrong.

The homeowner was taken to a local hospital for mental evaluation.

Because he had guns? And people who own guns are mentally unstable, eh? Now, the man may very well be nucking futs, but they don't indicate why they felt he should be evaluated. Stockpiling that much ammo, while even overkill in my view (ok, I admit it. I'm jealous) may be more a sign of being a pack-rat than a nut case. However, the media declines to mention any reason why they hauled him off and just let the reader put 2 and 2 together to get 74.

Now for the neighbors

"I'm just glad the fire didn't get to the powder and blow up the neighborhood," said Linda Eppler, who lives directly across the street from the house.

Holy shit lady, you better hope they come through your neighborhood and remove any propane tanks. You ever see one of those things go pop?

"He never appeared to be mentally unstable," said Eppler, who retired after 30 years as a psychiatric nurse.

Probably because he isn't, you addle-brained twit. The only reason I don't have a million rounds is because I can't afford it, not because I'm sane. That's one of the problems today, if you do something somebody else considers different it's automatically assumed you're a basket case.

"There's no reason for someone to have that much," said Frank Jackson, who lives two houses down. "Think if it had all gone off."

There's no reason for anyone to have leather seats in their overpriced BMWs either Frank but nobody complains about that.

Now, admittedly, this is the only part I find odd

Investigators found a 4 foot by 8 foot hole cut neatly through the garage's concrete floor. A tunnel beneath the slab led toward the rear of the house, and Gutierrez said a mechanical hoist was near the mouth of the tunnel. Authorities were still investigating the tunnel.

It would be really odd if it was a shoddily done tunnel, but 'neatly' indicates to me he had at least planned it out a little. He may very well be a survivalist, and even though that's a bit nutty by society standards it's not a sure fire fruitcake sign.

The attitude of people about guns and ammo is just staggering. No other inanimate object gets assigned so many human qualities.

I'm going to start reloading as much as I can. Hopefully one day you'll be reading about the guy in Florida with a bajillion rounds of ammunition and 88 pounds of gunpowder!!!!