Montana Gun Free School Zone Case: Freeing Gabriel from Jail

AmmoLand ^ | September 12, 2023 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Gabriel Metcalf was arrested in Billings, Montana, for violating the Gun Free School Zone Act on August 22, 2023. The Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Thomas K. Godfrey asked for pre-trial detention at the August 25, 2023, preliminary hearing. The reason for pre-trial detention is listed in the image. The  Magistrate Judge, Timothy J. Cavan, granted the Order of Detention for Gabriel Metcalf.  The reasons checked on the order of detention pending trial form is a claim the judge believed the Government had proven, by clear and convincing evidence, that no condition or combination of conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of any other person and community. A second claim is Gabriel Metcalf has a  “History of Violence or Use of Weapons.”

Both claims rest on extremely shaky and dubious foundations. From the order of detention, Judge Cavan expounds on his reasoning:

Defendant lives on a busy street in Billings, Montana, across the street from an elementary school. He has been charged with possession of a firearm within a school zone. According to testimony at the detention hearing, Defendant believes possession of the firearm and patrolling the area around his property within the school zone is necessary to protect he and his mother from a perceived threat posed by a former neighbor. Testimony established that he has possessed the firearm on public property within the school zone, and has chased automobiles he believes may be associated with his former neighbor. He has previously been advised that he is prohibited from possessing a firearm within the school zone, but he has stated his belief that the law is unconstitutional and has asserted his right to do so. Given the Defendant’s belief that he has a right to possess a firearm within a school zone,

[marktwain]

Gabriel Metcalf has no criminal history. He has no history of violence. He is being held in pre-trial detention because he believes in the Second Amendment and the Constitution.

[marktwain]

Gabriel has no history of violence. His "use of weapons" consists of carrying a shotgun.

[redfreedom]

And while this guy sits in detention some left wing whacko is likely planning another school massacre with an “assault rifle”.

This will be a nut job the cops, most likely the FBI, have had their eye on for some time, is known to be violent, a radical and likely threatened a school via social media. Yet this guy will be allowed to run loose while the Billings guy is falsely charged with a lefty crime.

[joe fonebone]

So, because of where he lives, he is not allowed to possess firearms in his own residence?

[marktwain]

He is alleged to have walked on the sidewalk outside his home. It appears he did. The sidewalk outside his home is in the federal gun free school zone.

Why he is in pre-trial detention, with no history of violence, no criminal history, and the only "use" of a weapon is carrying the shotgun, without pointing it at anyone, or threatening anyone.

[BitWielder1]

What gives them rights to create zones outside school property?

[algore]

CA the govt probe that he has used weapons?

and I do not mean shooting skeet or target practice

[algore]

prove not probe :(

[marktwain]

CA the govt probe that he has used weapons?

I believe they can show he carried a .22 rifle ten years ago, and carried a singleshot shotgun this year.

I do not see them even alleging he ever fired a firearm.

[marktwain]

The government has no such power under the Constitution. The Gun Free School Zone act has already been ruled to be unconstitutional once.

Gabriel and his mother, Vivian are poor as church mice, but they value their constitutional rights.

Gabriel’s mother has set up a GiveSendGo site to help defend their home, the Second Amendment and work to free Gabriel from this unjust pre-trial detention.

[joe fonebone]

I want to understand this.
If I live next to a school, my second amendment rights are null and void?

[marktwain]

If you live withing a thousand feed of the boundary of any school, private, public, or religious, your Second Amendment rights are severely curtailed.

Her is a link to the history of the law and were it stands.

[Retain Mike]

“Never venture unarmed into a gun free zone. People in a gun free zone can expect the same security as chickens in a Foster Farms processing plant.”

[zeugma]

What gives them rights to create zones outside school property?

Governments don't have rights. They have powers. In this case, as in most others, the thing that 'gives' them this power is that they will not hesitate one second before killing you for disobeying their orders. The cops are willing and eager enforcers in this.