'Broken gun' conviction upheld by court

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FWIW

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Olofson

David Olofson is a U.S. Army veteran who was tried and convicted by the U.S. Federal government on the charge of "transferring an unregistered machine gun" after he lent his 20-year old AR-15 rifle to a friend, Robert Kiernicki, and it malfunctioned on a shooting range, emitting multiple rounds and immediately jamming three times in a row, which aroused suspicion that the rifle was in fact an automatic weapon.[1][/suP][2][/suP]

Kiernicki testified that Olofson had told Kiernicki that the third position of the rifle's firing selector was for automatic firing, but it jammed, court records indicate. He also testified Olofson told him he had fired the weapon on the automatic setting at that same range without a problem.[3][/suP] According to Len Savage, a weaponry expert who runs Historic Arms LLC, BATFE paid Kiernicki an undisclosed amount of money for his testimony.[4][/suP]

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Having just read the entire transcript (not as an impartial juror, but as someone who has a clue about how firearms actually work), I find no fault with Olofson, and plenty with the government.

If something stinks about this case, it's not indicated in the transcript.

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PT111 wrote:

SOneThreeCoupe wrote:

The fact of the matter remains that Olofson is an innocent man. His actions did not result in any injury.

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Interesting comment there. Are you saying that because his actions did not result in any injury he is innocent and guilt only applies if someone is injured? How about white collar crime such as the $billion swindle that wiped out people's life savings?Would you consider that injury or does it have to be physical injury?

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Obviously when someone embezzles your money they have injured you.

When a man fires three rounds at a paper target with one trigger pull, this does not injure you, nor is there any demonstrable intent to injure someone.

Pretty simple to me.

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PT111 wrote:

SOneThreeCoupe wrote:

The fact of the matter remains that Olofson is an innocent man. His actions did not result in any injury.

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Interesting comment there. Are you saying that because his actions did not result in any injury he is innocent and guilt only applies if someone is injured? How about white collar crime such as the $billion swindle that wiped out people's life savings?Would you consider that injury or does it have to be physical injury?

On a side not after reading much more of the case against Olofson from sources other that World net Daily and similar I think Olofson was guilty as sin. Now whether on not the law is just is a different story but this was not a broken gun case but rather a deliberate attempt to make a gun fully automatic.

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Indeed. Fraud is an indirect form of physical force. One man receives the fruits of another's values, goods, or services without paying for them and keeps them without consent, or intent, of their owner.

Olofson is not guilty by any stretch of the imagination. To pretend that his trial was a legitimate exercise in lawful governmental behavior rubs salt into his wound, his prison sentence for a crime which is not.

The government, by initiating the physical force resulting in his prison stay, has violated his right without him having violating anyone else's. Without justice, what can a court of law stand upon?

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Tomahawk wrote:

Obviously when someone embezzles your money they have injured you.

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Indeed. It always amuses me when people seem to have a hard time understanding that "aggression" and "injury" may apply to acts which are not of a strictly violent nature.

I believe it is indicative of an underdeveloped understanding of the concept of aggression and how it should be applied to crime and punishment.

Tomahawk wrote:

When a man fires three rounds at a paper target with one trigger pull, this does not injure you, nor is there any demonstrable intent to injure someone.

Pretty simple to me.

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As for any (undisputed) action, the test is quite simple. Does it constitute an act of aggression?

In this case, not unless paper has feelings.

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oops

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I have a friend with an SKS. It apparently hasn't been cleaned properly and was "slam firing".

This concerned us greatly so we looked into it with an expert. Once they explained it we learned exactly how easy it was to basically make the SKS an automatic weapon under this new ruling. . . all you need to do is not clean it good enough!

This ruling troubles me because it is almost like manufacturing a car with defective brakes. . . With asbestos brakes it will stop perfectly as designed, but if you use a ceramic composite it won't. This defect, not being communicated to the owner of the car because he didn't read the manual takes it to Midas and gets the breaks done. Two weeks later he is driving and kills a family of 4 because Midas used ceramic breaks.

It is the drivers fault? The manufacturer of the car? Midas? Brake manufacturers?

If a plane crashes due to a known mechanical defect then is the pilot to blame?

Dangerous ruling I think. . . Any one of us could be next.

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Theseus wrote:

Dangerous ruling I think. . . Any one of us could be next.

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Yeah, and you won't know it until you go to the range and pull the trigger for the first time.

Better make sure it's a slow day with no brownshirts around.

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Wow. This case is a mess, but I wonder what would happen to me if I went to the range with my P.38 and a worn part caused it to suddenly go rock-n-roll? :uhoh:

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The SKS issue is so well documented in fact that some companies sell"ultra light weight" titanium firing pins to prevent slam fire on the SKS, and yeah if it happened and you are seen by the wrong person, your f*cked.

And just for my fellow patriots, if ANY of you have a weapon malfunction of this type, posting it on the WEB is asking for a conviction, keep that stupid stuff off the web, and get that damn gun fixed! I don't want to know about it, and neither should anyone else!