Posted on 04/23/2023 3:59:49 AM PDT by ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas
Autokeycard.com Seized By the ATF, Owner Arrested For Selling A Drawing In the Autokey Card case, a jury found Matthew Hoover, better known as CRS Firearms on YouTube, and Justin Ervin guilty.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) charged the men with violating the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934 for selling machineguns and conspiracy. Ervin faced an additional charge of structuring. The case stems from Mr. Ervin selling a metal card with an image inspired by a lightning link etched into it. Ervin sold the cards as a novelty and contracted with Mr. Hoover to promote the card on his popular YouTube Channel.
The ATF arrested Ervin in April of 2021 and charged him with transferring unregistered machineguns. Mr. Ervin was denied bail and has been locked up since his arrest. Hoover used his platform to raise money for Ervin’s legal defense. The ATF viewed the fundraising activities as conspiracy and accused the men of running a criminal enterprise. A year after Ervin was arrested, the ATF raided Hoover’s house and took him into custody.
This time a Wisconsin judge released Hoover on his own recognizance, saying he didn’t believe the YouTuber was a flight risk or a danger to society. The U.S. Attorney pushed for Hoover to be kept in custody, but her arguments fell short.
The trial ran for two weeks. AmmoLand News recapped the first week. This week six of Hoover’s viewers testified. Four of the witnesses stated that they bought the Autokey Card after seeing it on the CRS Firearms YouTube channel but never intended to cut it out. Another witness nervously testified he bought the item to make a machinegun and accused CRS firearms of encouraging his viewers to break the law.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
Ping
Yet another example of an aggressive, weaponized, and agenda driven DOJ abusing our rights.
My goodness! I hope this conviction is overturned!
This is what a lot of people who were voicing concerns about the bumpstock ban were trying to sound the alarm about. It was never about the product itself, just the ATF, among other individual(s) within the Executive branch, abusing power. First it was about a gimmick product, now it has expanded to laser etched flats of steel, and also slivers of metal.
If they can reclassify a stock, a sliver, or a rectangular piece of metal to be a machinegun; what’s to stop them from reclassifying a muzzle device to be considered a suppressor/silencer? Or reclassifying AOW shotguns to be short barreled shotguns?
Folks were saying “this case could bring down the ATF!”
Cripes, the hopium people spew.
Uh, what is "structuring"?
Wisconsin...where one’s votes are counted as Democrat votes...no wonder.
From the article:
“Mr. Ervin was found guilty on one charge of structuring. Structuring is a financial crime where a person structures withdraws to avoid red flags. Withdraws over $10,000 triggers and automatic investigation. In addition to the structuring charge he was also charged with conspiracy. Conspiracy is an agreement between two or more people to commit an illegal act. The final ten charges were ten counts of transferring machineguns.”
Read that carefully and tell me we live in a free country. He withdrew his own money and etched a pattern on a card. In the meantime manufactured auto sears are flying across the border from China like fentanyl.
This will be overturned on appeal I’m sure.
It isn’t that hard to turn any semiauto into full auto. Carefully file off the sear pin. Of course, every time you pull the trigger you empty the magazine. Stupid if you do it.
I am sorry to be so stupid
So this Autokey card could be turned into a machine gun?
You thought that avoiding $10K transactions would avoid investigations? We made it a crime to do so! I don't know what the purpose of that money was supposed to be. If you were smart like the Bidens you could hide your shenanigans in Ukraine.
My theory is that the DOJ is better at seating ignorant and/or prejudiced jurors than the lawyers we can afford.
Thanks.
From STDS9:
“On Cardassia, the verdict is always known before the trial begins. And it’s always the same.”
“In that case, why bother with a trial at all?”
“Because the people demand it. They enjoy watching justice triumph over evil every time. They find it comforting.”
– Gul Dukat and Commander Benjamin Sisko, 2370 (”The Maquis, Part II”)
Cardassian law was the legal system of the Cardassian Union. Cardassian jurisprudence was premised upon “swift justice”; where all crimes were solved and all criminals were punished.”
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Cardassian_law
We’ve reached the SiFi level of “justice”!
Meanwhile the DOJ is not interested in election interference by Blinken and 50 security state exes (Clapper, Brennan, Hayden).
Interesting “crimes”. Who were the victms?
30 years after Waco, it sure looks like the ATF is just as evil.
I wish the feds were as aggressive toward the drug cartels in our country. The feds are going after soft targets that don’t shoot back I guess.
Or a 4 oz piece of plastic that they said was legal 4 months ago but, now, changes your weapon into a regulated NFA item, potentially, turning 10-40,000,000 law abiding Americans into felons.
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