Apparently misdemeanor charges for carelessly starting a fire (by using steel jacketed rounds) and possession of an illegal weapon.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/11/BA0E12SD6U.DTL

So, anyone with a claim along the Merced or any other place in the formerly mother lode can't plink their firearm?

I remember years and years ago when I was a kid, someone had dropped their bag of cigarettes and matches on the pavement. We were camping at a campground called Butterfield Ranch Resort.

I don't know if things are as they were back then, but there was this open-car shuttle going between the store and the campground, and it was great fun to ride as a little kid back in the 70s. We could see everything including stuff people carelessly dropped.

Anyway, the bag of cigs and matches was run over by this big RV, and the exhaust ignited the paper bag and wow did it burn. Luckily the bag was in the middle of the pavement.

So the lesson is this. responding to the charges (and will be the defense): on count one, carelessly starting a fire: The guy did separate his other ammunition, so he was indeed paying reasonable attention, and to count two, an illegal firearm? Well there is this thing called the second amendment, and if this guy has enough lawyer power (i.e. NRA to the rescue) the ban against SKS and other relics in CA will be overturned just like the DC handgun ban.

I hope the accused will fight these charges and not wimp out, he will win.

I think the basic problem was using steel-jacketed ammo. I'm not a big expert, but I though most ammo was either lead ball (not likely for what he was using) or copper jacketed. I suppose one could use hollow-points target shooting (yeah right).

And I read a little more on the SKS. Apparently the misdemeanor charge was for not registering it in accordance with California law. No outright ban.

This guy seems to bring a whole new dimension to the term "moron."

Paraphrasing his comments: I keep my ammunition separated, but I didn't know that I was using the steel-jacketed rounds. (Probably thought that it was the depleted-uranium stuff.)

I recommend that the State of California attach any and all property of his, his family, and any of his apologists (the deep pockets of the NRA would come in useful here) to pay for the expense of fighting this fire, restoring the landscape, and, primarily, compensating the victims for their losses.