Calling in ATF to defuse ordnance was unnecessary

Dear Editor,

I praise the Chesterfield County Police Department for most of its actions after a county resident died as a result of an antique ordnance explosion. The evacuation of the local residents as a precaution was laudable. However, the calling in of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agency and the bomb squad seems very much like overkill. Is the county police bomb squad so ineffective that they have to call in the feds? Also the transport and subsequent destruction of other pieces of antique ordnance was unwarranted in my opinion.

In and around Chesterfield County there are a number of people that are very skilled at the handling and defusing of Civil War ordnance in particular. I believe had the police made an effort to investigate who would be able to safely defuse the ordnance, then the defused ordnance could have been donated to a local or state museum. But no, a typical knee-jerk reaction, "it might be dangerous, let's blow it up." Does anyone even know if the other pieces of ordnance in Mr. White's possession were live, defused or maybe already rendered harmless?

It is very unfortunate that Mr. White lost his life, but nobody seems to know if he had some sort of license or special permit to be a dealer in those particular type of relics or even if a license or permit is required. Since this occurrence, is there now going to be a rush to make some sort of new law that relic collectors will be required to notify the police if they have or find pieces of Civil War ordnance, or be required to have a special license or permit? I say let's be sensible about this matter, and before making a headlong rush into making a new law, update the laws we already have and delete all the old archaic laws still on the books for the last 230+ years.
Mark Edwards
Chesterfield