"No matter what the cause" a.k.a. -- easy felony conviction

[GreyGeek]

A man convicted of transferring an unregistered machine gun after his loaned gun fired a burst of bullets and jammed has been released from his 30-month prison term to begin rebuilding his life, according to supporters.

Gun Owners of America confirmed today that David Olofson was released.

“David Olofson has been subjected to a gross miscarriage of justice,” the organization’s announcement said. “What happened to Olofson could happen to any American who owns a semi-automatic firearm.”

The group said Olofson was “convicted of knowingly transferring an unregistered machine gun – a gun which fired a burst and jammed.”

“Gun owners call that a malfunction,” the group said. “The federal government calls it an easy way to get a felony conviction.”

...
“A gun that malfunctions is not a machine gun,” Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America told WND at the time the case developed. “What the [federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] has done in the Olofson case has set a precedent that could make any of the millions of Americans that own semi-automatic firearms suddenly the owner [of] an unregistered machine gun at the moment the gun malfunctions.”
...
“It didn’t matter the rifle in question had not been intentionally modified for select fire, or that it did not have an M16 bolt carrier … that it did not show any signs of machining or drilling, or that that model had even been recalled a few years back,” said a commentary in Guns Magazine on the case.

“It didn’t matter the government had repeatedly failed to replicate automatic fire until they replaced the ammunition with a softer primer type. It didn’t even matter that the prosecution admitted it was not important to prove the gun would do it again if the test were conducted today,” the magazine said. “What mattered was the government’s position that none of the above was relevant because ‘[T]here’s no indication it makes any difference under the statute. If you pull the trigger once and it fires more than one round, no matter what the cause it’s a machine gun.’

http://www.wnd.com/2011/04/289181/


EDIT:
Here is a post by David Olofson just before he went into prison.
http://www.pagunblog.com/2008/05/22/response-from-david-olofson/

...
If you continue to let evil go on its merry way what reason do you ever give it to change? Your personal opinion of me aside; do you really think we can afford to let a ruling that makes all guns MG’s in the eyes of the law stand?
...

Think about what happened to Olofson and consider how the IRS and the DOJ have been behaving for the last three years under the "most transparent administration in American history".   It's becoming transparent alright, but what shining through is not a reflection of the Constitution but a dismantling of it.

[GreyGeek]

A while back I ran into a cartoon series drawn by a lawyer.  In it he explains the law in ways I can understand.  This page discusses "Mens Rea", or "a guilty mind".
http://thecriminallawyer.tumblr.com/post/14597572112/6-mens-rea-i-didnt-mean-to

The whole series is a fun and informative read and you can start at the beginning by clicking here:
http://thecriminallawyer.tumblr.com/post/13656784545/1-introduction-crime

I mention this because while I was reading about David Olofson I became aware that the government was deliberately avoiding Mens Rea.  It didn't matter to them that he did not deliberately modify the weapon, and the AFT even had to jury rig it to get it to fire 3 or 4 shots before always jamming.   Knowing this they deliberately prosecuted him anyway to make an example of him. It is also obvious that the court was jury rigged to convict him since the judge wouldn't allow the manufacturing documentation that proved he didn't modify the weapon by claiming it was a "tax document".

Specifically, the artist, a lawyer named Nathanial Burney, mentions Mens Rea and Actus Rea in explaining how the court would not convict a man they way they convicted Olofson:
http://thecriminallawyer.tumblr.com/post/16202923895/interlude-the-jury

They made an example, alright, but the example was of how a government bureaucracy can become abusive, or even tyrannical.

[GreyGeek]

P.S. - My favorite section of the cartoon series is the one about "Strict Liability".
http://thecriminallawyer.tumblr.com/post/29326904495/16-a-problems

Over criminalization.   Aggressive interpretation of laws which were vague to begin with.   It's become so bad now that prosecutors can, if they wish and for just about any reason at all, prosecute you for just about anything.

Sound familiar?





Now, to make matters worse, politicians don't even know what's in a bill until it is passed, so how could  they make any kind of sound judgement?   Ask Pelosi, who said "you can't find out what's in it until you pass it?"