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Law Against Possession of Unserialized Gun Ruled Unconstitutional in West Virginia
AmmoLand ^ | October 17, 2022 | Dean Weingarten

Posted on 10/20/2022 4:32:59 AM PDT by marktwain

On October 12, 2022, in the US District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, Judge Joseph R. Gordon granted a motion to dismiss the charge of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(k) as being facially unconstitutional. Judge Gordon was appointed by President Bill Clinton.

From the decision:

Assume, for example, that a law-abiding citizen purchases a firearm from a sporting goods store. At the time of the sale, that firearm complies with the commercial regulation that it bear a serial number. The law-abiding citizen takes the firearm home and removes the serial number. He has no ill intent and never takes any otherwise unlawful action with the firearm. Contrary to the Government’s argument that Section 922(k) does not amount to an “infringement” on the law-abiding citizen’s Second Amendment right, the practical application is that while the law-abiding citizen’s possession of the firearm was originally legal, it became illegal only because the serial number was removed. He could be prosecuted federally for his possession of it. That is the definition of an infringement on one’s right to possess a firearm.

Now, assume that the law-abiding citizen dies and leaves his gun collection to his law-abiding daughter. The daughter takes the firearms, the one with the removed serial number among them, to her home and displays them in her father’s memory. As it stands, Section 922(k) also makes her possession of the firearm illegal, despite the fact that it was legally purchased by her father and despite the fact that she was not the person who removed the serial number. These scenarios make clear that Section 922(k) is far more than the mere commercial regulation the Government claims it to be.


(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2a; banglist; serialnumber; unconstitutional
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If a law banning possession of guns where the serial number has been removed is unconstitutional, all the registration schemes fall apart.
1 posted on 10/20/2022 4:32:59 AM PDT by marktwain
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To: PROCON

Ping.


2 posted on 10/20/2022 4:36:40 AM PDT by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
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To: marktwain

There is no point serialized guns.

They don’t solve the gun crime because of the serial number.

They the rime because of “use characteristics “ , fingerprints, possession, etc.


3 posted on 10/20/2022 4:42:32 AM PDT by Vendome (I've Gotta Be Me https://youtu.be/wH-pk2vZG2M)
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To: marktwain
We don't need any laws re guns. We need to execute maximum and medieval sentences on lawbreakers. Kill'em or lock'em away ..... forever. Gun crime will all but vanish and gun laws superfluous. Let's go back to the Frank Hamer philosophy of law enforcement.

Better yet, Wyatt Earp and his eradication of the gang that murdered his brother.

4 posted on 10/20/2022 5:11:35 AM PDT by LouAvul (Complacency is the enemy of courage.)
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To: marktwain

There are guns out there that were made before serial numbers were required. A lot of manufacturers gave them serial numbers anyway as a quality control thing but some did not.


5 posted on 10/20/2022 5:21:18 AM PDT by Wilhelm Tell (True or False? This is not a tag line.)
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To: Vendome

:: They don’t solve the gun crime because of the serial number. ::

How many black lives (that matter, of course) were saved by removing Uncle Ben from the packaging?
A plain Aunt Jemima syrup ended how many southside shootings?


6 posted on 10/20/2022 5:51:30 AM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel (Islam is NOT a religion of any sort. It is a violent and tyrannical system of ruling others.)
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To: LouAvul

Careful.
Wyatt Earp didn’t allow possession of firearms in his town.
Other than his own.


7 posted on 10/20/2022 5:52:38 AM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel (Islam is NOT a religion of any sort. It is a violent and tyrannical system of ruling others.)
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To: Cletus.D.Yokel

Good point.


8 posted on 10/20/2022 6:03:55 AM PDT by LouAvul (Complacency is the enemy of courage.)
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To: Cletus.D.Yokel
Some would say the Earps and Clantons were rival gangs...

As I recall the Earps ran at least one saloon and brothel, which were legal at the time...

9 posted on 10/20/2022 6:10:34 AM PDT by marktwain
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To: marktwain

The Earps were the forerunner of the FBI.


10 posted on 10/20/2022 6:29:32 AM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel (Islam is NOT a religion of any sort. It is a violent and tyrannical system of ruling others.)
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To: marktwain
So, does this mean that that law is invalidated? We can now go and file off all serial numbers? And don't need them to sell the firearm?

Somehow I don't see this surviving an appeals court, or other courts in the US.

11 posted on 10/20/2022 6:38:20 AM PDT by Reno89519 (FJB. Respect America, Embrace America, Buy American, Hire American.)
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To: Vendome

“There is no point serialized guns.”

It helps to determine the date of manufacture if you’re a collector or there is a recall and there are recalls.


12 posted on 10/20/2022 7:17:43 AM PDT by dljordan
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To: Cletus.D.Yokel

“Wyatt Earp didn’t allow possession of firearms in his town.”

Arizona didn’t become a state until 1912.

L


13 posted on 10/20/2022 7:26:35 AM PDT by Lurker (Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is.)
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To: Cletus.D.Yokel

I believe the locals were allowed to own firearms in those Kansas towns. Carrying was not.

Case in point. In Wichita, Hurricane Bill and his armed cowboys headed for the jail to break out one of their friends.
All the law enforcers took off leaving one man behind.

Someone rang the city alarm bell, and the Cowboys found themselves facing a substantial group of Wichita citizens, all armed to the teeth. Hurricane Bill’s men quietly retreated, disposing of their guns in various weed patches.


14 posted on 10/20/2022 7:32:27 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar ( FR is on GAB! https://gab.com/groups/67851)
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To: marktwain

Always good to remove victimless crimes from the books.


15 posted on 10/20/2022 7:36:25 AM PDT by TheDon (Resist the usurpers)
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To: Reno89519
It means this one person has the charges dropped for possession of an firearm which had the serial number removed.

We shall see if the state will appeal the case to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

If they do not appeal, not much more will happen right away.

16 posted on 10/20/2022 7:43:21 AM PDT by marktwain
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To: Wilhelm Tell

And if you have a rifle with a shot out barrel and replace the barrel, that new barrel will not have a serial number on it.

If the only serial number on the gun was on the original barrel, no serial number will be on that gun.

Older rifles traditionally were marked in one place only....the barrel.

Competition shooters will replace barrels many times and from after market barrel specialists.


17 posted on 10/20/2022 7:52:33 AM PDT by old curmudgeon (There is no situation so bad that the federal government can not make worse.)
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To: marktwain

But it’s still illegal to remove a mattress tag!


18 posted on 10/20/2022 8:19:53 AM PDT by MeganC (There is nothing feminine about feminism. )
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To: Vendome

There is no point serialized guns.

They don’t solve the gun crime because of the serial number.

They the rime because of “use characteristics “ , fingerprints, possession, etc.
= = =

I say there should be a “Use By” date on each gun.

And “Keep Refrigerated” after opening.

Kind of like for Milk, Wine, and Whisky.


19 posted on 10/20/2022 8:43:49 AM PDT by Scrambler Bob (My /s is more true than your /science (or you might mean /seance))
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To: Scrambler Bob

Good call


20 posted on 10/20/2022 9:39:06 AM PDT by Vendome (I've Gotta Be Me https://youtu.be/wH-pk2vZG2M)
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