Posted on 10/19/2018 12:07:06 PM PDT by Kid Shelleen
A 70-year-old Texas man was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty to buying an automatic rifle in the 1980s, CBS station KTVT reports. Alfred Pick of Plano purchased the M14 rifle at a gun show that was similar to the weapon he had as an Army lieutenant in the Vietnam War.
"This gun was very rare," Pick attorney Ryne Sandel told KTVT. "You see, at that time it was rare to see one, so he instantly, you know, had a connection to it."
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives raided Pick's house last year on a tip about the weapon, KTVT reports. Two weeks before the raid, his wife of 40 years had died of cancer, according to the station.
Pick and his wife had a gun collection of about 14 weapons, Sandel said. "Many of them were collector's items," he said
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
WTF?
Whatever that meant, I am sure that this fellow has no issue with his service. Sounds like you do, with yours, “sailor”.
He could have purchased one of several M14 clones ( M1A etc) and had everything but the fun switch, and not be in federal custody right now. It is the law. Break it and pay follow it and work to overturn it.
It’s not that you couldn’t it’s more like how often do 70 year olds without an extensive criminal history suddenly go on crime sprees?
Yes there was the one former sniper/Vietnam vet who shot a bunch of cops with his M14 in South Carolina recently, but that’s extremely rare.
Gun rights proponents work their asses off to get Republicans elected. It’s time to give us something back in return. We’re wasting opportunities and people are still going to prison.
Sending thousands of weapons to mexican drug lords like Obama did is an honest mistake and very excusable. What this guy did however was a real threat to public safety...NOT!
I can foresee a Trump pardon by Christmas.
Never show a neighbor your guns. Even if you become best friends. Because if he gets divorced the person who will rat you out is his ex-wife.
The M14 was designed as a semi-automatic weapon and an automatic weapon. The intent was that most of the squad were armed with the semi-automatic version. Two members of the squad were designated as automatic rifleman. Their weapon had a selective switch with the associated internal parts, a bipod and a different stock. An armorer could make the conversion with the right parts.
My understanding is that this inherent design was the reason that M14’s were never made available as military surplus. So this guy did three no no’s:
Converted or bought a previously converted M14 with an automatic selection switch
Possessed a weapon with a defaced serial number
Possessed a prima facia stolen weapon since the government never sold any.
Do I have it right?
Im sure the BATF agents brandished at least a dozen full auto weapons in this raid. What in the hell is the justification for non military federal agents posessing thousands of machine guns? Im pretty damn sure when the founders wrote the second amendment they intended to BAN agents of the central goverment carrying machine guns from raiding a private law abbiding citizens home for possesion of the same type arm. This needs to stop now. where the hell is the NRA? This needs to go all the way to scotus.
If that is all he did. 1 he should never been arrested 2 he needs to be released and 3 all his guns should be returned..
The crime is "possession," not "purchase." So the statute of limitations never started running as long as he kept it.
So true,
It was The EX!
Someone remind me again about how many good and true fedpukes went to prison for Operation Fast and Furious?
I carried an M-14 in basic training in 1966. As I recall, you had to have a special tool to change an M-14 to full auto. We were never issued any such tool. M-16 was all I ever carried that only required flipping a switch to auto-fire.
BATFE are just another collection of JBTs who prefer a disarmed public; of course, smuggling illegal weapons to Mexican drug lords, well, that’s another story.
An Army vet (and there are lots of them, of all kinds, some not at all good citizens) who was not willing to obey the existing law and obtain a Class 3 Federal Firearms License that covers automatic firearms, and refuse to own or keep a firearm with obliterated serial number. Seven years is not a bad sentence for a deliberate law-breaker.
Crone, Marcia A.
Born 1952 in Dallas, TX
Federal Judicial Service:
Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
Nominated by George W. Bush on May 1, 2003, to a new seat authorized by 116 Stat. 1758. Confirmed by the Senate on September 30, 2003, and received commission on October 3, 2003.
Other Federal Judicial Service:
U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, 1992-2003
Education:
University of Texas, B.A., 1973
University of Houston Law Center, J.D., 1978
Professional Career:
Private practice, Houston, Texas, 1978-1992
Why is it that when people deliberately cheat the government out of thousands of dollars in taxes, when they get caught they have to pay it back plus a fine and probation, rarely any jail time. However if it involves a measly 5 dollar tax to the atf for a sawed off shotgun or a 200 dollar tax on a full auto rifle, they go to jail?
I;m looking for a POTUS pardon, here!
That was true at one time, but now most tax evaders get serious time. The Federal Sentencing Guidelines for evasion of between $30,000 and $80,000 of taxes, assuming no prior criminal record, call for a presumptive sentence of 15-21 months. Between $400,000 and a million the presumptive sentence is 33-41 months.
Vietnam Vet or not, there was no excuse whatsoever for him owning this rifle in violation of the current laws.
With that being said, if offered that rifle for sale, I would have gone out of my way to use the parts numbers to try and determine the actual serial number of it then try to verify it with BATF and try to get the auto firearms stamp........
Considering the circumstances, I don't agree with the sentencing. At worst, the rifle should have been confiscated and the guy forced to pay a fine...........
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