MINNESOTA COURT OF APPEALS CONFIRMS BB GUNS AS FIREARMS

GunsAmerica ^ | 12-30-2015 | Max Slowik

[VeniVidiVici]

Frankly, the judge instructing the jury to treat this CO2 pistol as a firearm is BS in this particular case. Had he used it in the commission of a felony I'd agree with the state.

[VeniVidiVici]

The accused

[Drago]

No fire/combustion = not a firearm. Wacky judges!

[Does so]

BB guns "diesel".

Notice the smoke...

[eastforker]

I agree but that is federal law, it is possible the state of Mn. did upon this mans conviction and probable plea bargain included air guns being prohibited. In other words, state law violation.

[Jeff Chandler]

And he could poke an eye out with that thing.

[Pollster1]

The law is wrong to treat this BB gun as a firearm. The judge was wrong to direct the jury to pretend something that was not true. The jury was wrong to listen to the judge. This man should not have been prosecuted.

[eastforker]

State laws can be quite interesting. For instance, a convicted felon in Texas can own a shotgun for his home five years after sentence completion. He would still be in violation of federal law but not state law.

[Eagles6]

This is a very close replica of a Walther semi. We all know why this miscreant had it and it wasn't for recreation.

He broke conditions of his parole, case closed.

[Jack Straw from Wichita]

Don’t you think if you saw this guy walk into your liquor store with this gun that you would feel differently? The kid in Cleveland certainly found out the hard way that a toy gun can very easily cause the same alarm and fear of personal harm as a real gun.

[Pollster1]

Fake on left, real on right

Even if he had it for criminal purposes, the law should specifically ban look-alike weapons for felons if they want to prosecute him for that. It's not a firearm, and they should not prosecute by pretending it is something that it is not.

[Pollster1]

If he used it in a robbery pretending it was a weapon, I would be okay with shooting him or with prosecuting armed robbery (if the armed robbery statute specifically included look-alike weapons). What I object to is the imprecise reading of any law.

[Jack Straw from Wichita]

Oh, but the statute defined firearm to include bb guns. The court was only carrying out the letter of the law. The court would be failing in its duty if it did otherwise.

[eastforker]

If the state wants to list bb guns or air rifles as a prohibited item for felons to own, the same as firearms, that is their right under the 10th amendment. I don’t agree with it but that is a states right.

[Pollster1]

The Minnesota Court of Appeals held up a statute that defines BB guns as firearms when it comes to prohibited persons.

You're right; I misread the story. The legislators are wrong to change the definition of firearms instead of changing the laws that restrict firearms for prohibited persons, but the judge was correct to apply this poorly-written law as he did.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Minnesota - Brain-free leftist aholes at all levels of government there.

[Nifster]

And yet the court disagrees with you

[aresmars]

The law in general is a farce.

Glorified dog and pony show.

[Caipirabob]

I'm inclined to agree. It's impossible to determine if it's the real thing or not going by the profile. Some of these replicas have a barrel sized the same as the real pistol so there's nothing to indicate it is not a real gun at a distance.

[iontheball]

It is inherently illogical to call an air propulsion weapon a ‘firearm.’ There simply is no firing going on in an air gun. The projectile is propelled by air not fire induced exploding powder. Why can't people use the English language correctly. Just the fact that grown adults are arguing over the issue ought to tell you something is wrong here. There is a due process argument when grown ups sit around arguing about a self-imposed illogical meaning assigned a new definition that makes conduct criminal. Why can't they just call it what it is, an air gun, and be done with it.