Return of the Viper Scare

Jesse Walker | August 21, 2009

The recent open-carry demonstration in Arizona has prompted some fearmongering stories about the Viper Team (or "Viper Militia," as it is often mislabeled), an Arizona group that was accused of plotting a major terrorist attack during the militia scare of the '90s and whose members eventually pled guilty to (or, in one case, was found guilty of) lesser weapons and conspiracy charges. For a stroll down memory lane -- and an antidote to the breathless stories circulating now -- here's Reason's coverage of the Viper case, written by Alan Bock and published in our December 1996 issue.

Comments

hmm|8.21.09 @ 9:56AM|#

I'm not fond of the militia movement, but I sure as hell understand its occurrence in the 90s. Reno and the actions taken by government on people outside the norm scared the living shit of all the people who were even a little on the fringe. It doesn't make blowing up government buildings and shit like that right, but I have a hard time begrudging people being prepared to defend themselves.

I guess the question is will this administration make the same mistakes in how it treats the fringe elements of the opposition. If he keeps following Bush the US is in for a rough 4 years.

The intellectual left seems to be deathly scared of the "rednecks with guns." I never really understood the fear.

Anonymous|8.21.09 @ 10:14AM|#

The intellectual left seems to be deathly scared of the "rednecks with guns." I never really understood the fear.

Two possibilities:

1. They don't trust themselves with the responsibility of firearms, therefore they don't trust other people (assuming everyone is as inept and capricious as oneself).

2. Self-defense is seen as immoral, in that it doesn't allow for discussion with the party trying to harm you. Implicit is the idea that the only reason they would try to harm you is if they have a grievance that needs attention, but which has agitated them to such an extent that they turn violent. Also implicit here is that evil is nothing but ignorance of proper channels to redres grievances and that government is the logical tool to placate all of humanity's various desires so that we can live peacefully (and the only practical way turns out to be widespread, egalitarian poverty).

|8.21.09 @ 10:40AM|#

My personal fear is that if one side in a political conflict arms itself the other side will soon do the same. There is ample historical evidence that leftists are not averse to using guns. I prefer that we keep talking, keep yelling, keep screaming instead of carrying guns. The other guys will start carrying their own guns sooner or later. I don't want to recreate Weimar Berlin with gun battles between paramilitaries. Beirut, anyone?
The historical record does not support the idea that leftists are too woosified to use guns.

slinger|8.21.09 @ 10:49AM|#

I prefer that we keep talking, keep yelling, keep screaming instead of carrying guns.

What makes you think protesting makes me put on my gun? I've had it on.

Furthermore, I'm going to keep it on. People like me don't start firing without a reason or throw burning bottles into crowds. You're thinking of socialist demonstrators (see France, Sweden) proving that they're incapable of acting civil without a military police force.

|8.21.09 @ 11:14AM|#

I prefer that we keep talking, keep yelling, keep screaming instead of carrying guns.

The two are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, the only ones who have used force to shut down a discussion have been unarmed SEIU goons.

The other guys will start carrying their own guns sooner or later.

Doesn't bother me if they want to abandon their childish anti-gun fears and take responsibility for their own safety.

|8.21.09 @ 11:17AM|#

Wow - I thought the deadly Vipers were only a fictional group from a Quentin Tarantino film.

|8.21.09 @ 11:31AM|#

Mr. Dean,
It is precisely my point that the left is not averse to using force. I don't think that it takes much to get any group of people to "abandon their childish anti-gun fears."
My understanding of the realities of Berlin, Beirut, and contemporary Baghdad (just to keep the alliteration going) is that "responsibility" is not particularly common in human affairs.
I'm a child of the twentieth century which has left me with dark view of what happens when politics and weapons mix. Perhaps, this century will turn out to demonstrate that a Heinleinesque polite, peaceful armed society is possible.

|8.21.09 @ 11:47AM|#

My understanding of the realities of Berlin, Beirut, and contemporary Baghdad (just to keep the alliteration going) is that "responsibility" is not particularly common in human affairs.

I wouldn't disagree. For that very reason, I think that responsible citizens should go armed. The greatest atrocities are committed against unarmed citizens.

I don't think that it takes much to get any group of people to "abandon their childish anti-gun fears."

Decades of living in high-crime cities with strict gun control doesn't seem to have done the trick. I wouldn't be surprised, though, to see people who would never pick up a gun to defend themselves, decide that a gun is just the thing for imposing their will on others.

JB|8.21.09 @ 12:41PM|#

Liberals shit their panties when they see anyone but government thugs with guns.

I hope people keep organizing mass open carry demonstrations across the country. Maybe it will spur a few of these bed-wetters to move to Canada or France.

Gary Chartier|8.21.09 @ 3:31PM|#

I read the Brock article with interest. But it predated the trial. And, bizarrely, there doesn't seem to be a Wikipedia article on the Viper Team. What was the outcome, and what's been the aftermath, of the trial?

LarryA|8.21.09 @ 3:40PM|#

We have a local town hall Monday, and rumor says the local militia has given up on staging a demonstration. For one thing, our Representative is a Republican. For another, all of the undercover cops who used to make up the crowd at the militia meetings are busy.

Jesse Walker|8.21.09 @ 3:42PM|#

Gary: As I said above, all but one of the accused pled guilty to the lesser charges. The remaining Viper was convicted a few months later. You can read one defendant's post-facto explanation for why he changed his plea to guilty here.

|8.21.09 @ 4:25PM|#

I wouldn't be surprised, though, to see people who would never pick up a gun to defend themselves, decide that a gun is just the thing for imposing their will on others.


astute.

|8.21.09 @ 4:28PM|#

For another, all of the undercover cops who used to make up the crowd at the militia meetings are busy.


perfect snark! win!

|8.21.09 @ 7:00PM|#

Viper Team

LOL

I always thought it funny in comics how the bad guys actauly called themselves the bad guys. Legeon of Doom, Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and apparetntly did so unironicly...