gotammo

who's going to know? Juries don't know what a modification looks like and I'm pretty sure the prosecutor is not going to have a gun smith go over it before the trial.
The only person that might touch it is the crime lab if they test fire it.

Bark'n

You willing to bet your freedom on that?

It has come out in trial before. When Ayoob writes about stuff, he always uses real cases for examples! That is part of the reason a lot of his stuff is so compelling.

Now I read that article at least 10 years ago, so I don't have specific cases right here at my fingertips. But cases where gun modifications have been made an issue at trial do exist.

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-Bark'n
Semper Fi

"The gun is the great equalizer... For it is the gun, that allows the meek to repel the monsters; Whom are bigger, stronger and without conscience, will prey on those of us who without one, would surely perish."

LongRider

When the crime lab people handle the gun they will know and if they know the persecutor will know. That's their job, and if the persecutor can find away to use it he will. You can bet your life on it

One of the things Ayoob focuses as he did on the trigger mod thread, as Bark'n said MODs that eliminate safeties or give you trigger pulls of under 4.5 pounds help get a negligent homicide conviction. Even if you state clearly that you intentionally fired a shot into the bad guy to defend your life. They will and have successfully argued that was not really the case that instead you drew your gun in self defense but in the heat of the moment due to the disabled safety and hair trigger the gun went off. It is much easier for a persecutor convince a jury that average Joe Blow accidentally killed someone. Than to convince them that an average citizen turned into a cold blooded killer over night

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Those who would, deny, require permit, license, certification, or authorization for me to bear arms are as dangerous & evil as those who would molest, abuse, assault, rape or murder my family

250,000 dead from chemical warfare in mass graves is not evidence of WMD

Chevy-SS

You guys make some interesting points. My nightstand gun is my old IPSC .45ACP, which has quite a few mods. It's reliable and accurate, but trigger (Wilson combat) is lighter and crisper than stock. I never gave it much thought, but if I ever did have to use that gun in SD situation, then I can now imagine the prosecutor holding it before the jury and describing all the various mods in great detail. It certainly might make me seem like a "gun nut" in the eyes of the uninformed.

Thanks for the tips.

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I am aware of many things, especially my own ignorance...............

dmorris68

Along the same vein as mods, what about ammo? I've seen it argued both ways that using "police" ammo like HST, SXT, or frangible SD loads like Glasers and MagSafes could be looked upon as either favorable or unfavorable. Favorable in the sense that you considered overpenetration and danger to bystanders, or unfavorable in that you were a cop-wannabe or wanted to do as much damage as possible with your "killer" ammo. I realize that with a liberal, anti-gun DA or jury, you're damned regardless of what you use, but I wonder how strongly they go after ammo choice as opposed to gun choice and mods.

These issues don't concern me as much in my home community, which is very gun friendly and very criminal un-friendly, but I do travel and carry to more liberal areas of the state as well to reciprocal states. If something bad happened there and I were tried, it would be in those jurisdictions and not my own. That's something we should all consider instead of assuming we're safe from judgment because of where we live. ;)

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David

Kimber Pro CDP II • Colt Combat Commander • Glock 26 GNS • Ruger Mark III 22/45 • Kahr CW9 (sold)

ron8903

My EDC and my duty wepon are all STOCK

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"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."
- Sir Winston Churchill

LongRider

You are right no matter what you do it can and will be used against you. I think BikerRN said it best can you articulate to the common man why the ammo you carry is the reasonable? Do you have an attorney that can explain it to a complete idiot and destroy any hostile argument the persecutor can bring up? If so you have a fighting chance.

So was Harold Fish's that did not stop the persecutor from successfully using his gun and ammo against him. Obtaining a conviction primarily because he carried a deadly 10 mm and man killer hollow point bullets.
As I keep trying to stress if you carry you need the best lawyer you can get. You know if you have a DA running on a reform platform LEO are especially vulnerable to politically motivated persecutions. If you are a LEO you know who that lawyer is the one who seems to manage to get the most vicious killers off. The one who can take the most heinous murder and convince the jury it was the reasonable thing to do. OK, granted you believe he is disgusting despicable and you hate his guts especially of he has ever undermined your hard work. I get that. But IMO that is the guy you want at your table should you ever be involved in a shooting. You may not like him but he is your best chance of walking away a free man. Do you want to be in a fair fight or do you want to win?

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Those who would, deny, require permit, license, certification, or authorization for me to bear arms are as dangerous & evil as those who would molest, abuse, assault, rape or murder my family

250,000 dead from chemical warfare in mass graves is not evidence of WMD

rodc13

Are you using the term persecutor instead of prosecutor on purpose?

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Cheers,
Rod
"We're paratroopers. We're supposed to be surrounded!" Dick Winters

retsupt99

Night sights and grips...my only modifications to any of my sidearms...

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"That I cannot do."

"Give this to, uh, Clemenza. I want reliable people, people who aren't going to be carried away. After all we're not murderers in spite of what this undertaker thinks."


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NRA Life Member

LongRider

Yep

__________________
Those who would, deny, require permit, license, certification, or authorization for me to bear arms are as dangerous & evil as those who would molest, abuse, assault, rape or murder my family

250,000 dead from chemical warfare in mass graves is not evidence of WMD