Posted on 07/10/2019 4:48:05 AM PDT by marktwain
U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- In 1938, Congress, for the first time, created categories of people who could not legally possess firearms under federal law. In 1968, those categories were expanded. In 1986, under pressure from gun owners and the National Rifle Association, the law was reformed, so a person had to know they were in violation in order to be prosecuted. On 23 June 2019, the Supreme Court upheld the reform in the 1986 law.
Prosecution normally requires a person to know they are committing a crime, or that they are doing something wrong. From the decision:
As this Court has explained, the understanding that an injury is criminal only if inflicted knowingly “is as universal and persistent in mature systems of law as belief in freedom of the human will and a consequent ability and duty of the normal individual to choose between good and evil.”
The phrase “ignorance of the law is no excuse” does not refer to acts where an ordinary person would believe they were engaged in innocent conduct. The phrase means a person does not have to be a legal scholar to break the law knowingly. People are expected to research the law if they are knowingly acting in areas that could reasonably be expected to be constrained by law. It has been perverted to mean a person can be convicted of crimes they committed without criminal or wrongful intent. There are few such cases; they are the exception, not the rule.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
“Numerous people were transformed into prohibited possessors without their knowledge.”
Reminds me of the guy in NY State who recently shot dead two people who broke into his house. He used an old handgun that his father passed down. He was arrested for not having the gun registered in his name, and having the required background check done.
If this ruling means anything, this case should be dropped...unless it can be proved that the State of NY made a good-faith attempt to inform him of what he was required to do.
The constitution was written in “ordinary” language so as to understood by everyday folks.
Per guns, the only thing that the court should presume that others “know” is that “shall not be infringed” thing.
I cannot believe they cited good versus evil.. what a joke. Their version of good is whatever the mobacrasy demands is good, subject to change.
Their willful, malicious rulings against The Constitution and the will of We The People (citizens) are evil. Taxation without citizen representation is evil, and yet the citizenship question.
Black robed tyranny is tyranny is tryanny nonethless.
“The Supreme Court holds that in nearly every case, in order to be prosecuted, you must know you are committing a crime, or at least, would be expected to know you are doing something wrong.”
I hold a Federal C&R license. The ATF used to send me a hard copy of all the firearms laws on the books every time I renewed it. It was the size of the Chicago phone book. I suppose they did it so if I were ever to be prosecuted I couldn’t say I didn’t know the laws. After all they sent them to me.
L
My father passed away in NY State (Nassau County) last year.
Because I am a gun nut, I WAS aware that firearms must be surrendered to the police upon the death of the owner, unless you already have a pistol license and a license to possess that particular firearm, it also being registered in your name. There are many, may other NYS gun laws, which vary a bit by locality - NYC has its own laws which are much worse.
A Nassau County pistol license takes 9-12 months to obtain, and is not issued to non-residents of NY. NY is, I believe, the only state with no non-resident licensing system. NJ and MD make it impossible for a non-resident to obtain a license AS A PRACTICAL MATTER, but such licenses do exist in theory.
Now, in my case, arrangements well in advance avoided any lawbreaking (except for the fact that unlicensed transport to the Connecticut line is also illegal). But changes in the laws since I grew up there (we shot .22 rifles in my backyard, perfectly legally) have indeed transformed many people into criminals.
I can’t understand why they put up with it.
DO NOT list any firearms in your will. That is my advice.
I don’t. If you feel the need, put your wishes in writing elsewhere.
“DO NOT list any firearms in your will. That is my advice.
I don’t. If you feel the need, put your wishes in writing elsewhere.”
Definitely agree. And if you live in a Blue State, you risk getting your airs in trouble, if they don’t know how to proceed - in that case either hand them off to the air early, or let them revert to the state.
I’ve never listed a set of rules regarding firearm ownership, but if I did, one of the top ones would to let as few people as necessary know you have them. No NRA Bumper Stickers, no ‘bragging’ and showing off, no letting left-wing relatives know about them, and absolutely no need for strangers knowing anything (as happens when a will is read)
Criminals are not required to register firearms because they would have to violate the 5th Amendment prohibition against self incrimination.
Think about that for a minute.
The BATF&E will continue to do what they do, regardless of law, and dare the common, honest gun owner to spend the bucks to take them to court.
“Criminals are not required to register firearms because they would have to violate the 5th Amendment prohibition against self incrimination.”
See how far that defense gets, at least outside of a major city.
Read it and weep.
Which is ludicrous considering the number of laws on the books.
Like I'm going to sit down and waste my time nit picking about every detail in my life to see if I'm doing something *illegal*?
Immoral is easier but considering the draconian laws and the over reach of the government, I would not be surprised to find out that by breathing I am breaking some sort of law.
If you are not a criminal and you don’t register your guns you are a criminal and you don’t have to register your guns.
It has been said, and I do believe it is probably true, that there are so many laws on the various jurisdiction books, and some are even contradictory, that a person breaks several of them every day.
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So wouldn’t that mean that if someone files their taxes and makes a mistake unknowingly that it is not prosecutable?
Using the same thought process.
I was always under the impression that “lack of knowledge of the law is not an excuse”
Immediate family can turn over to LEO within 30 days and reregister without providing it to a licensed gun shop for background check. Son in laws are not considered immediate family according to the law.
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