« Red's Guns back in business | Main | ATFE sets record straight »
I knew I liked Alaskans...
And this story just reinforces it.
"In 1991, the state representative from Nome faced federal gun charges. Six unregistered machines guns and a 50 mm Soviet mortar were found in Richard Foster's possession.
In many other places, such troubles could be grounds for a recall or at least cold shoulders. Instead, Foster's constituents threw a fundraiser to help pay for his defense. ... A Vietnam veteran and former Army captain, Foster grabbed the attention of federal agents when he asked a Juneau machinist to craft some submachine gun parts. But a sympathetic Nome jury acquitted Foster — to the applause of the gallery.
.....
Now facing a more serious challenge — he has a life-threatening kidney disease and needs a transplant — friends once again are rallying to Foster's side.
Half a dozen people at the Alaska Capitol have offered him one of their kidneys, and more than 200 legislators, staff, lobbyists and well-wishers turned out in Juneau last month to raise money to help cover out-of-pocket expenses for him and his wife, Catherine."
Foster is kind of a legend in Alaska politics, an old pioneer type. I lived in Alaska for a long time, and Foster was always a great character. One time, the majority in the lege wanted to lower the standard for DWI from .10 to .08. Foster opposed this in debate, arguing that most of his constituents were alreadly above .08 when they got up in the morning.