There’s been some excitement over at SaysUncle’s place. It seems one of his friends was raided by the BATFE. There was quite a bit of confusion on all sides, and as a result, it’s useful to consider the sequence of events…

Methinks we need a reform of our legal system–at least certain felony charges.

An orchid? Yikes–I know growing poppies is illegal, and that all florists have to import any poppy flowers they sell, but orchids? I’d be interested to find out the why for that one.

I’m curious: Did Jamie the Reporter tell you in her discussions that she’s been carrying the water for the US Attorney on complaining about a particular group of district court judges (I call the patriots) who take a state law that says there can be a “restoration of citizen rights” and making a big stink out of it.

TODAY. See: http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_4569534,00.html

Strange that Jamie the Reporter is the very same person who now shows up with information about how THIS guy was a felon.

A suggestion for Jamie the Reporter: If you really want a GOOD story, and I’m talking about one with pulitizer implications, please delve into how our government is turning almost every technical infraction of any sort into a FELONY.

Little old ladies, for example, cannot buy the wrong kind of orchid on the internet for their garden, as apparently importing orchids is a FELONY.

It goes on and on, and you get one of these great stories that will arouse the interest of both the political right and the political left: Not only is the right to own a gun and defend oneself taken away, but so are the right to vote, the right to hold public office, and the right to hold some professional licenses.

I really hope Jamie the Reporter is an independent unbiased journalist and was not dispatched at the behest of her “source” the US attorney to release the Government’s “back up” position after their arresting officers clearly made the play in this case for a big “machine guns” racket and were then quick to notice the level of scrutiny such charges would bring.

Not sure, exactly.

Tennessee Felony Offender Information Lookup

https://www.tennesseeanytime.org/foil/foil_index.jsp

It’s not the talk that caused things liek the OKC bombing (actually there were various causes & slightly complex – but I’m running with your phrase for the sake of aesthetics) – it was the facts that led to the talk. The other .gov branches & bureaus aren’t squeaky clean either, but none seem as bad as the ATFU with the sole exception of the IRSS. Hey- they steal people’s money for aliving – what’d ya expect? Choirboys?

& Unc – Mr. Cranston did go over the line wishing cancer on a child because of the heinous actions of the parent. But prior to that he had some good ideas. Not perfect but his heart was in the right place. After all those bastards have been entraping us for years, I don’t see anything terribly unethical about buying an ATFU agent a drink or twelve then dropping a dime on him. Course I do wonder if I’d have the stomach to stand a drink to one of those wannabe ninjas.

In any case you’re right; any sort of conviction complicates the case & makes it more likely that the bastards who went on a fishing expedition based on a scored lover will have a prosecution to put in their cap. That however is not to say we should give up or not try to fight it. Even if the PR isn’t as good as a squeaky clean guy who got raided for the same thing it shouldn’t bring us any shame to do what we can. What I’m saying is we shouldn’t right him off as a sad case. The NRA damn sure will (like they’d give a damn anyway) & the odds definitely are against him, but bad laws don’t usually get changed by accepting them. Felony or not he’s a gun owner & the law, be it enforced often or seldom, is wrong as hell & in need of repeal or nullification. /choir preaching

I used to work at a large class III dealers, and my wife worked at a duty free liquor distributorship. We KNOWw how bad the ATF are firsthand.

The ATF has acknowledged that they know they cannot win most cases, so their avowed strategy is to lie in court, bankrupt the defendants, and force a plea bargain.

At this point, my default position is that everything the ATF does on firearms related cases is bogus; and so is most of the alcohol stuff. It is almsot certain that any evidence the ATF has on a previously law abiding citizen is either a technicality, manufactured out of innocuous items, or jsut plain bullshit.

Find one of these assholes at the bar, buy him all the drinks he can hold, then film him driving out of the parking lot and call the local cops with his info…..”Hi, I’m following a drunk driver down the road, he’s all over the place…….”

Fight fire with fire. Any firearms guy who can afford it should have his place wired for video and audio hooked up to transmit it out so the tape/dvd can’t be confiscated/stolen to conceal proof of their misdeeds, such as stomping kittens or throwing pregnant women around.

Scumbags. I hope their kids get Cancer.

However, I am rather concerned at the guys who made a lot of assumptions in public that the BATFE would (continue to) plant false evidence and so forth. This kind of talk is what got us the Oklahoma city bombing. As a non-American I have got the idea somehow that Americans can clean up corruption in their own government, with a little effort. Yet perfectly OK people believe that the ATFE is somehow exempt from ethics applying everywhere else?

But for now that doesn’t matter.

Scoot appears to be charged with being a felon in possession. That’s assuming the reporter’s info is acurate (no offense meant to Jamie, but it’s not like reporters have a good rep of getting the facts especially in firearms related cases). The ATFU as well as the courts have been known to make mistakes. I recall not too long ago in Colorado a woman did a year for possession of a drug that turned out to be legal for her to possess. & hell, we are talking about the ATFU. A fabricated charge based on a shakey interpretation of a prior offense wouldn’t surprise me. He could have a misdemeanor assault charge that they’re claiming is domestic violence, for example. Or a conviction that should have been expunged wasn’t for some reason (which isn’t that uncommon). There are even a few (very few) felonies which are exempted from the “felon in possession” law. & considering he did buy firearms recently & presumably went through the background checks I’m not really inclined to buy into an ATFU charge as proof of anything other than those constitutionally illiterate bastards have got their ego mixed up in wanting to get someone.

So before you yank any sympathy for the gentleman in question I’d suggest that innocent until proven guilty is not negated by anything other than a trial or confession.

Where will his court appearance be? I may attend myself, assuming it’s open to the public.

Better hope he doesn’t have a shotgun and a hacksaw on the premises- by that standard, ATF might try to claim he’s got an illegal short-barreled shotgun.

BTW, Glenn Reynolds has linked to you.

Hope this all works out for your friend and that he ends up with a nice large settlement.

P.S. I’m one of those at a .gov site. Lornkanaga has it right.

I hope your friend comes out of this okay. I don’t know that I wouldn’t have lost my temper at the ex-wife over this were I him. I’m certainly glad the “gun lobby”* lawyers are interested in this case.

* And they wonder why we need lawyers and foundations to protect gun rights…

Don’t be so paranoid. Most are just gun nuts who enjoy visiting gun blogs sometimes when we get a chance to surf at work.

I hope everything works out okay with your friend. Things like this *really* burn me. My husband and I both firmly agree with the saying “Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency.”

Well, okay, I guess if I had them all loaded up, I could probably hold off the ATF until the beer ran out.

For the few readers that I have that don’t also read SayUncle….

…

Having seen first hand what the BATF can do, this pisses me off to no end. WHAT THE HELL? They don’t have a warrant, but they show up and camp out at his house??? Prior to the bloody warrant?

What the hell is wrong with this country when you encourage people to snitch and they’ll have jackboots coming to your door…with just one phone call! Then, you never get to face your accusor!

I’ll be sending money early next week.

By the way…he was put in Jail on a Thursday or Friday. Even if he were to be released at some point, he’s going to spend at least the weekend in jail…perhaps one or two weeks. Even if he’s eventually found not-guilty, where is he to go to get a redress of grievances? That time has been taken away from him by OUR government.

Does this mean that a welder, some tritium sights, a mill and a lathe means I’m in danger of making a dirty bomb?

Seems crazy to me…

They’re *taking* his *mill*?

Yes. It must be a machine gun, just like shoestrings.

This legal theory would assure that everybody could potentially make something illegal out of the stuff they have around the house.

As I often joke, i have paper towels, some foam and wire mesh. I could assemble those into a suppressor. But I don’t. I just have those things in my house because I need them for other (quite lawful) purposes.

from Wikipedia:

Constructive possession is a legal fiction to describe a situation where an individual has actual control over chattels or real property without actually having physical control of the same assets. At law, a person with constructive possession stands in the same legal position as a person with actual possession.

For example, if your car is sitting in your driveway, you have physical possession of the car. However, any person with the key has constructive possession, as they may take physical possession at any time without further consent from you.

Wow, if they go this route, they are really taking the “Constructive” part seriously.

This legal theory would assure that everybody could potentially make something illegal out of the stuff they have around the house. Cars with airbags become detonators, and common plumbing becomes pipe bombs.

I suppose anyone with common kitchen equipment, Sudafed, Coleman fuel, and whatever other crap it takes has “Constructive possession” of a meth lab too.

I have heard of cases where someone had possession of a grease gun parts kit, directions and some stock tubing in the basement was charged with the illegal MG possession, though I thought that was a bunch of crap too.