Guns rights under fire in Michigan! The ATF has gone crazy.

[catdog8]

http://loudobbs.tv.cnn.com/2008/05/09/gun-owner-convicted-for-malfunction/

I can't believe this is happening in this country!

Catdog

[Bill of Rights]

You're close, catdog. It's in Wisconsin, one of the two "right denied" states.

Sounds to me like someone at ATF is trying to make an example of Mr. Olofson, but the questions are "who" and "why". Think about this: When the Heller case (then known as the Parker case) was first brought to trial, six people with excellent, clean records were selected and sued for their rights. As it happens, only one of those people eventually had standing to take the case to SCOTUS, but that one was/is Dick A. Heller. The case was designed from the ground up to test the (un)Constitutionality of DC's laws, and did so in the District specifically because it is not a state. In short, perfect location, perfect plaintiff, perfect timing, etc., yet it's still an issue that may or may not go as we all are sure it should.

I'm wondering if someone at ATF disagrees with the tactics they use and decided to work within the system to change it, so picked an honest, upright, "Mom and Apple Pie" citizen who came across his desk to ostensibly make an example of him, then surreptitiously leaked the data about the letter in question to exonerate him. If indeed Mr. Olofson does decide to pursue this to SCOTUS, it's hard to imagine a better person for our side to be in that position.

I'd really like to believe that the above is what happened, but I admit it's much more likely that some agent at ATF with lots of ambition, lots of hatred for armed, law-abiding citizens, and very little regard for that which he or she swore to preserve, protect, and defend.

May justice prevail.

Blessings,
B

[VegasGeorge]

I read the article, but didn't watch the videos. I refuse to watch videos that require me to watch an ad first. Just one of my (many) peculiarities.

The article got my old lawyer's skeptical nose to twitching. I can hardly believe that the ATF could mistake a legitimately malfunctioning weapon for a machine gun. Or, if there was some sort of miraculous breakdown that resulted in fully automatic fire, then I suspect Mr. Olofson knew about it, and was intentionally using it that way.

In my experience, people who get caught doing something illegal often claim faulty equipment as the cause. "I wasn't speeding, my (a) gas pedal was stuck, (b) speedometer was wrong, (c) brakes wouldn't work." Here, the gun just kept firing because of a broken sear. Well, maybe.

If Mr. Olosfson took his first shot, and discovered the broken sear, and just happen to be so unfortunate as to get nabbed right then and there, it is a miscarriage of justice. But, if Mr. Olofson thought, "Oh, how cool," and kept on shooting. He's guilty of using a machine gun.

[Bill of Rights]

George,

This would have been a good time to bend your no-ad rule. Mr. Olofson had a 20-yr-old AR-15 that he loaned to another man. I think Lou Dobbs speculated the other man might have wanted to buy it. Apparently, he took it to an outdoor range where he fired over 800 rds in semi-auto when the gun first had a "hammer fall" malfunction and fired a 3-round burst, then jammed. It did this twice in the several hundred rounds fired, but I don't recall hearing how long between the two bursts, but if I heard correctly, Olofoson wasn't even there when it happened. The range has a strict "no full-auto" policy, so police were called. Mr. Olofson was later raided by SWAT, with hydraulic tools used to pry his door open. His computer, guns, gun manuals, etc. were all confiscated and nothing illegal found. his AR was tested by ATF and deemed "not a 'machinegun' according to (code citation)" The agent then told the lab guy to take it back and re-test it with different ammo that was more prone to cause that malfunction, and he finally was able to make it fire another burst.

ATF has no set testing guidelines; they go case by case. A good parallel would be to say that the law by which a given action is judged is not written but capriciously decided by the police who arrest and the judge who hears the case, only when the action has already happened.

There is a letter from the manufacturer of the rifle (RRA, I think) reporting to ATF this known problem, however the only copy of the letter is in ATF files and they won't even let the judge see it, claiming it has "privileged tax information" in it. The company's copy of the letter was lost in a fire.

Now... Admittedly, all I've posted above is based solely on Lou Dobbs' story. For the skeptical, though, how often do you hear of CNN running a PRO-gun-owner story?

Blessings,
B

[catdog8]

He was sentenced today.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=6&t=507483&page=64

Scroll down a little and read the post from Bladerunner. That's him.


Catdog