Owner of broken rifle surrenders for 30-month sentence

[slim jim]

[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]Wednesday, July 02, 2008
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[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times][FONT=Verdana,][SIZE=-1]WEAPONS OF CHOICE
WorldNetDaily Exclusive[/FONT]
[FONT=Palatino,][SIZE=+2]Owner of broken rifle surrenders for 30-month sentence[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Palatino,][SIZE=+1]'The conviction of David Olofson is a gross miscarriage of justice'[/SIZE][/FONT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times][SIZE=-1]Posted: July 02, 2008
11:30 pm Eastern

[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times][SIZE=-1] WorldNetDaily [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]A Wisconsin man today surrendered to federal authorities to begin serving a 30-month prison term for having a broken rifle, prompting the Gun Owners of America to issue a warning about the owner's liability should any semi-automatic weapon ever misfire.[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]"A gun that malfunctions is not a machine gun," Larry Pratt, executive director of GOA, said. "What the [federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] has done in the [David] 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."[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]Officials with Gun Owners of America told WND they met with Olofson today before he surrendered to federal authorities for his prison term. U.S. District Judge Charles Clevert had imposed the sentence after the gun in question let loose three shots at a firing range.[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]"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 against Olofson, of Berlin, Wis.[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times](Story continues below)[/FONT]
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[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]"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.'[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]"No matter what the cause."[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]"David Olofson is a victim of BATFE abuse," Pratt said. "He has been railroaded by an agency that is out-of-control."[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]An appeal is being assembled by a legal team at the William J. Olson, P.C., law firm, supplemented by attorney Bob Sanders, whose career stretches from being assistant director of criminal investigations at BATFE to many years in private trial law, officials said.[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]Constitutional expert Herb Titus also is counsel to the Olson law firm.[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]WND reported earlier when Olofson, a drill instructor in the National Guard, was convicted in a federal court for illegally transferring a machine gun.[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]The verdict came in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]An expert witness said then the decision was filled with problems.[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]"If your semiautomatic rifle breaks or malfunctions you are now subject to prosecution. That is now a sad FACT," wrote Len Savage, a weaponry expert who runs Historic Arms LLC.[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]"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 a blog run by Red's Trading Post.[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]"Hey, but don't worry," Savage said. "The people testing it have no procedures in writing and the testing will be in secret."[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]He said during 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.[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]"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."[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]He said the rifle, which was subject to a manufacturer's recall because of mechanical problems at one point, malfunctioned because of the way it was made.[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]Savage said once the government confiscated the gun, things got worse.[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]"They 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."[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]He said the Special Agent in Charge, Jody Keeku, asked for a re-test and specified that the tests use "soft primered commercial ammunition."[/FONT]
[FONT=palatino, times new roman, georgia, times]"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.[/FONT]


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=68590

 

[Code3GT]

Thats some scary $&!# right there!

 

[sharky47]

Don't worry, the "No Rifle Association" is right there to protect you from the BATFE.......


.......oh wait, no they are not - they actually SUPPORT this rogue agency.

 

[HighVelocity]

though the ATF paid Mr. Kiernicki 'an undisclosed amount of money' to testify against Mr. Olofson at trial," Savage said.

I call this witness tampering.

 

[DopaVash]

I call this witness tampering.

Doesn't matter, The All-powerful ATF did it therefore it is just.

Here is his temporary address:

David R. Olofson
08632089-K1
Federal Correctional Institute
PO Box 1000
Sandstone, MN 55072

Send him some love. Also, if you wish to donate to the cause, donate to the GOA, don't send him money.

 

[sharky47]

The following paragraph is lifted from the JPFO site, who quoted it from an unamed gun forum:

There is a phrase that is often misused by any number of collectivist hustlers-for-a-cause, but it does seem appropriate here: "No justice, no peace." I present it here as more of a sad prediction than a threat, for what the Feds have done in this case by their unchecked misconduct is to take away any incentive for a citizen to submit to their orders -- any orders, even heretofore "reasonable" ones. If you cannot count on a fair trial, you might as well shoot it out with the bastards the moment you see them coming for you. We have moved out of the light of the rule of law and into something far more deadly and dangerous, the darkness of the rule of the jungle. The unintended consequences of the Olofson frame-up are going to get a great many people killed.

 

[BeNotAfraid]

YoW! this is REAL spooky stuff!!!

 

[txinvestigator]

On Glock Talk there have been news articles posted about this that paint a little different picture. The guy modified the rifle with an unmarked position on the selector. He loaned the rifle to someone and told them not to use the unmarked secret third position. Of course the guy did, and the rest is history.

The third position was auto.

 

[sharky47]

Having a selector switch that moves to the auto position means nothing if the internal mechanism remains unchanged, the facts that they had to pay the witness and only got the rifle to malfunction with soft-primered ammunition speaks volumes about the intent of the BATFE.

Remember the Glover case? They financially ruined him, after Len Savage caught them with their hand in the cookie jar - the retaliated against him via physical threats and spontainious reclassifications of products.

Also remember the CRS report in 2005 that put into writing that the Firearms Technology Branch, who's whole job it is to determine the legal status of a firearm.......has no documented testing procedures to determine the legal status of a firearm. The findings of this inept and arbitrary branch can send people to federal prison.

Are you people listening? These people are EVIL, they are not your friends, they are not there to help you - they are there to put bodies in bags or prison........and the NRA supports them......

 

[mac79912]

After he serves his sentence he needs to sue the gun manufaturer and the guy who turned him in.He is going to be a millionaire.

 

[sharky47]

He really should sue the federal government, but there are some things wrong with that approach.

1. Any money he would receive in the unlikely event that he won, would be coercively money taken with violence or the threat of violence from one or more taxpayer.

2. He probably cannot afford to sue anyone at this point, remember - the fedgov uses YOUR money to prosecute "criminals", but YOU must furnish money to defend yourself. The money YOU furnish to pay for your defense is first taxed to provide the fedgov money to prosecute you........go America!

3. He is now a convicted felon - meaning he cannot own firearms, even though the 2nd am. says nothing about this. So if you guys are like me in that firearms play a large role in your "pursuit of happyness" - it won't matter if you win a multi-million dollar lawsuite if you are not allowed to own the things you wish to own.

 

[sharky47]

Here is a link to the CRS (Congressional Reseach Service) report that documents the FTB's lack of testing standard applied to legal testing.

http://www.jpfo.org/pdf/ATFguntests.pdf

Here is a link to a youtube clip from the movie "The Gang" produced by JPFO showing an BATFE agent encouraging PERJURY in a federal court.



Here is an account from Len Savage of Historic Firearms, LLC who was instrumental in defending Mr. Glover from the BATFE in an almost identical case. This case led to the release of the video "BATFE Fails The Test" and to the CRS report of 2005 that I linked to up top. This is what happens when you speak the truth about BATFE.....

http://www.jpfo.org/filegen-a-m/amienemy.htm

 

[txinvestigator]

Having a selector switch that moves to the auto position means nothing if the internal mechanism remains unchanged, the facts that they had to pay the witness and only got the rifle to malfunction with soft-primered ammunition speaks volumes about the intent of the BATFE.

It DID go full auto, and the "facts" in this story are inaccurate. Hate the government if you want, but this is a bogus story.


Oh yeah, take your umbrellas out too, the sky is falling.

 

[DopaVash]

It DID go full auto, and the "facts" in this story are inaccurate.

The "Facts" from the BATF are inaccurate, sure. His weapon didn't go full auto, it malfunctioned.

 

[txinvestigator]

The "Facts" from the BATF are inaccurate, sure. His weapon didn't go full auto, it malfunctioned.

That is wrong. Why is gun people always are skeptical of the media when they report on guns in a bad light, but jump right on the band wagon when the media, any media, makes a report that somehow shows the govt as evil and out to get you?


Here are some REAL facts for you;

The BATFE affidavit;

 

[txinvestigator]

The transcripts; Read them and be informed.

http://www.davidkopel.com/2A/Olofson/2-OLOFSON-trial-TRANSCRIPT.pdf

http://www.davidkopel.com/2A/Olofson/3-OLOFSON-trial-TRANSCRIPT.pdf

 

[sharky47]

I have read until I was blue in the face regarding this case.......

But answer me this one single simple question:

How can a branch that is charged with the legal determination of firearms expect to do their duty without a testing procedure or evidence that it was tested at all?

What I am getting at is we know from the CRS of 2005 that there is no procedure in the FTB for determining if you have a machinegun. They also have no record or oversight of the process that *is* done - or that it has really been done at all. We know from the Glover case that the agent that "determined" that the FAL in question was an illegal machinegun........never took the weapon apart to inspect it's mechanism!!!!

Helllo? Is there anyone home?

Due to the lack of proof of what goes on behind FTB doors - there really isn't any way of being assured that ANY test has been done or if the FTB modifies the weapon after the fact to obtain a conviction - we of course know that the government NEVER lies to us........

Also, the spirit of the (unconstitutional) law is being ignored. Think about how you would feel if you have your AK out at the range and the dissconnector spring fails and you get a double-tap. Are you a criminal? According to this case you are....


No this case is a direct assault on gunowners period by our "leaders". The BATFE has a long and dark history of direct attacks on the citizenry.

 

[DopaVash]

The transcripts; Read them and be informed.

http://www.davidkopel.com/2A/Olofson/2-OLOFSON-trial-TRANSCRIPT.pdf

http://www.davidkopel.com/2A/Olofson/3-OLOFSON-trial-TRANSCRIPT.pdf

Do not assume I've only taken what I know from the Media. I've read the transcripts and I've read all the Affidavits. I was supplied them from Olofson himself. I've spoken with him via Internet. I know what happened and I cannot ignore the fact that the BATF has a documented history for bending the laws.

There is a mountain of evidence against the BATF on this case, whether you choose to ignore it or not, thats your call.

 

[txinvestigator]

Do not assume I've only taken what I know from the Media. I've read the transcripts and I've read all the Affidavits. I was supplied them from Olofson himself. I've spoken with him via Internet. I know what happened and I cannot ignore the fact that the BATF has a documented history for bending the laws.

There is a mountain of evidence against the BATF on this case, whether you choose to ignore it or not, thats your call.

Ignore facts and hate your government all you want, I don't care. Now everyone can decide for themselves rather than only know one narrow point of view.

 

[txinvestigator]

I have read until I was blue in the face regarding this case.......

But answer me this one single simple question:

How can a branch that is charged with the legal determination of firearms expect to do their duty without a testing procedure or evidence that it was tested at all?

They made a preliminary firing of the weapon and it fired on three round burst three times before jamming. Even I can tell you that is a machine gun.