You may have a machine gun illegally if

ibez · January 14th, 2008, 12:51 AM

WorldNetDaily: Drill instructor convicted after rifle jams

Quote:

Drill instructor convicted after rifle jams
Guardsman guilty of illegally transferring 'machine gun' after firearm malfunctions
Posted: January 13, 2008
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com

A drill instructor in the National Guard has been convicted in a Wisconsin federal court of illegally transferring a machine gun after a rifle he loaned to a student malfunctioned, setting off three shots before jamming.

The verdict of guilty on one count in the case against David Olofson was confirmed yesterday by the clerk's office in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

That means now that anyone whose weapon malfunctions is subject to charges of having or handling a banned gun, according to an expert witness who reports that the particular problem is a well-known malfunction and was even the subject of a recall from the manufacturer.

"If your semiautomatic rifle breaks or malfunctions you are now subject to prosecution. That is now a sad FACT. I guess we know now what Sen. Kennedy meant when he said he looked forward to working with [Acting Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Director] Mike Sullivan on Gun control issues, after his committee approved him for full Senate vote," Len Savage, a weaponry expert who runs Historic Arms LLC, said in a blog.

"To those in the sporting culture who have derided 'black guns' and so-called 'assault weapons'; Your double barreled shotgun is now next up to be seized and you could possibly be prosecuted if the ATF can get it to 'fire more than once,'" he wrote in Red's Trading Post: Len Savage: "Duck Hunters and Sportsman, You're the next target of the ATF!"

"Hey, but don't worry," Savage said. "The people testing it have no procedures in writing and the testing will be in secret. Also if you know of information that proves YOUR innocence, maybe the ATF won't claim that it's tax information at your trial and prevent YOUR judge from viewing it."

He told an interview with Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership that Olofson had been instructing a man in the use of guns, and the student asked to borrow a rifle for some shooting practice.

"Mr. Olofson was nice enough to accommodate him," Savage said. So the student, Robert Kiernicki, went to a range and fired about 120 rounds. "He went to put in another magazine and the rifle shot three times, then jammed," Savage said.

A couple of police officers who also were at the ranged immediately approached him and started asking questions about the "automatic" fire, and he told them it was a borrowed weapon.

"Mr. Olofson, being a responsible person, went down to the police station and said, 'I'm in the National Guard. I know what a machine gun looks like. That's not it,'" Savage said.

But instead of having the issues resolve, Savage said, it got worse.

He reported that because of the malfunction, the rifle was seized and sent to the Firearm Technology Branch, the testing arm of the federal agency.

"The examined and test fired the rifle; then declared it to be 'just a rifle,'" Savage said. "You would think it would all be resolved at this point, this was merely the beginning."

He said the Special Agent in Charge, Jody Keeku, asked for a re-test and specified that the tests use "soft primered commercial ammunition."

"FTB has no standardized testing procedures, in fact it has no written procedures at all for testing firearms," Savage said. "They had no standard to stick to, and gleefully tried again. The results this time...'a machinegun.' ATF with a self-admitted 50 percent error rate pursued an indictment and Mr. Olofson was charged with 'Unlawful transfer of a machinegun.'. Not possession, not even Robert Kiernicki was charged with possession (who actually possessed the rifle), though the ATF paid Mr. Kiernicki 'an undisclosed amount of money' to testify against Mr. Olofson at trial," Savage said.

And then during the trial, the prosecution told the judge it would not provide some information defense lawyers felt would clear their client, Savage continued. That included the fact that the rifle's manufacturer, Olympic Arms, had been issued a recall notice for that very model in 1986 over an issue of guns inadvertently slipping into full automatic mode, if certain parts were worn or if certain ammunition was used.

Ryan Horsley, who posts the Red's Trading Post blog, said the results were "very concerning."

"Basically if your Ruger 10/22, Browning Citori Over and Under or Remington 11-87 malfunction and fire more than one round at a time; the ATF will now consider it a machine gun," he wrote.

He told WND he's had personal experience with guns that malfunction and fire more than one bullet. Even double-barreled shotguns, if both shells would be released at once, now could be considered machine guns and illegal, he said.

"This precedent is very dangerous," he said.

Defense attorneys in the Olofson case couldn't be reached immediately to determine whether an appeal would be pursued, but Savage noted the arguments by assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Hannstad, who handled the prosecution.

"Haanstad claimed the law does not exempt a malfunction. He claims that it states 'any weapon that shoots more than once without manual reloading, per function of the trigger is a machinegun.' To clarify when I was on the stand, I asked him, 'Are you saying if I take my Great Granddaddy's double barrel out and I pull one trigger and both barrels go off, it's a machinegun?' He went back to … 'any weapon that shoots…'" Savage said.

On the Red's blog, commenters were incensed.

"'Innocent until proven guilty' has been transformed by the ATF into 'guilty until framed,' said LibertyPlease.

Horsley also told WND the 2008 edition of Firearms Law Deskbook quotes from a 1999 case in which the court concluded the law on automatic weapons "is not intended to trap the unwary innocent, and well intentioned citizen who possess an otherwise semi-automatic weapon that, by repeated use of the weapon, by the inevitable wear and tear of sporting activities, or by means of mere inattention, happenstance, or illfortune, fires more than semi-automatically."

my oh my

P7fanatic · January 14th, 2008, 01:06 AM

What the ....

HotGuns · January 14th, 2008, 01:19 AM

The ATF needs to be disbanded. They are out of control.

BAC · January 14th, 2008, 01:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HotGuns

The ATF needs to be disbanded. They are out of control.

Congress has noted that several times, and that's why they've been a lot quieter of late. Still busy, just quieter. The shoe-string thing apparently touched a nerve in congress, but not enough for the ATF to be disciplined appropriately. Their purpose ended the day the Prohibition Act was repealed.

-B

HotGuns · January 14th, 2008, 01:25 AM

I really get tired of this GUILTY until proven innocent bit with some Federal Agencies.

They don't know what INTENT means either.

Anybody that doesn't understand the Constitution or insists on making the English language conform to their standards by making up their own definitions needs to be excommunicated and sold to the Chinese for slave labor in Siberia.

Pete Zaria · January 14th, 2008, 01:30 AM

I remember when I was about 16 and my Dad bought a .22 cal Beretta 21A "pocket pistol" brand new from a shop called Warshalls in Seattle. He took me to the range when he tried it out. Loaded it up with 7+1, pulled the trigger... "Damn, that has a lot of kick for a .22". Then we noticed it emptied the whole clip.

Sent it back to Beretta, got a new gun free, no questions asked.

Scary to think that if that happened now and someone on the range decided to be a jerk, one could be charged with a felony for it.

I agree, these senseless laws need to stop - but unfortunately, we seem to be in the minority on the gun control issue in this country, and things aren't looking up for November's election.

Peace,
Pete Zaria.

EW3 · January 14th, 2008, 04:07 AM

I'm sorry, but there is more to this story than WND is reporting. I read from that site from time to time, but they seem to be getting worse with all the one-world-government and other crap.

Just a hunch.

Miggy · January 14th, 2008, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EW3

I'm sorry, but there is more to this story than WND is reporting. I read from that site from time to time, but they seem to be getting worse with all the one-world-government and other crap.

Just a hunch.

The problem is given past actions from ATF, I believe that the report is accurate.

joffe · January 14th, 2008, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EW3

I'm sorry, but there is more to this story than WND is reporting. I read from that site from time to time, but they seem to be getting worse with all the one-world-government and other crap.

Just a hunch.

I'd rather get my news from WND than certain other 'mainstream' outlets.. Not sure if that says more about WND than the other ones though.

Duisburg · January 14th, 2008, 11:50 AM

wow...i've seen SKSs malfunction and empty their 10 round magazines before and Ive had a friend whose SAR-1's firing pin got jammed and emptied half a magazine once. The BATFE needs to be done away with attacked law abiding citizens like we are the scum of the earth. Honestly, who declares a shoe string a machine gun?

January 14th, 2008, 01:06 AM	#2
P7fanatic Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Texan in NWFlorida Posts: 1,147	What the .... __________________ "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." -Thomas Jefferson "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder." -Michael Savage GOOD Gun Control is being able to hit your target! -Myself

January 14th, 2008, 01:19 AM	#3
HotGuns Moderator Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Arkansas Posts: 5,160	The ATF needs to be disbanded. They are out of control. __________________ AR. CHL Instr. To achieve world government, it is necessary to remove from the minds of men, their individualism, loyalty to family traditions, national patriotism, and religious dogmas.' Dr. G. Brock Chisolm

January 14th, 2008, 01:25 AM	#5
HotGuns Moderator Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Arkansas Posts: 5,160	I really get tired of this GUILTY until proven innocent bit with some Federal Agencies. They don't know what INTENT means either. Anybody that doesn't understand the Constitution or insists on making the English language conform to their standards by making up their own definitions needs to be excommunicated and sold to the Chinese for slave labor in Siberia. __________________ AR. CHL Instr. To achieve world government, it is necessary to remove from the minds of men, their individualism, loyalty to family traditions, national patriotism, and religious dogmas.' Dr. G. Brock Chisolm

January 14th, 2008, 01:30 AM	#6
Pete Zaria Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Near Seattle, WA Posts: 716	I remember when I was about 16 and my Dad bought a .22 cal Beretta 21A "pocket pistol" brand new from a shop called Warshalls in Seattle. He took me to the range when he tried it out. Loaded it up with 7+1, pulled the trigger... "Damn, that has a lot of kick for a .22". Then we noticed it emptied the whole clip. Sent it back to Beretta, got a new gun free, no questions asked. Scary to think that if that happened now and someone on the range decided to be a jerk, one could be charged with a felony for it. I agree, these senseless laws need to stop - but unfortunately, we seem to be in the minority on the gun control issue in this country, and things aren't looking up for November's election. Peace, Pete Zaria. __________________ Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead "Booger Hook Off the Bang Switch" - unknown

January 14th, 2008, 04:07 AM	#7
EW3 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 541	I'm sorry, but there is more to this story than WND is reporting. I read from that site from time to time, but they seem to be getting worse with all the one-world-government and other crap. Just a hunch. __________________ Palin-Petraeus '12

January 14th, 2008, 11:50 AM	#10
Duisburg Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Duisburg, Germany Posts: 625	wow...i've seen SKSs malfunction and empty their 10 round magazines before and Ive had a friend whose SAR-1's firing pin got jammed and emptied half a magazine once. The BATFE needs to be done away with attacked law abiding citizens like we are the scum of the earth. Honestly, who declares a shoe string a machine gun? __________________ If the 2nd Amendment was defined and broadly implemented as the 1st, 4th and 5th Amendments, it would be required for you to have a gun

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