Minnesota court: BB gun is a ‘firearm’

blogs.mprnews.org ^

[Red in Blue PA]

A BB gun is a firearm, the Minnesota Court of Appeals has ruled.

The court made its declaration in the case of a man who was not allowed to possess a firearm because of an earlier felony conviction for possession of a controlled substance.

This is the law that tripped up David Haywood.

Any person who has been convicted of a crime of violence, as defined in section 624.712, subdivision 5, and who ships, transports, possesses, or receives a firearm, commits a felony and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 15 years or to payment of a fine of not more than $30,000, or both.

But the law doesn’t define what a firearm is.

[NormsRevenge]

The beauty of FR.. I didn’t know that. Thanks

[WhiskeyX]

“by definition there must be “fire””

“absent fire, there is no firearm”

“compressed air lacks fire”

“QED”

You are wrong. See Post 92 to see the actual Merriam-Webster dictionary definitions for the intransitive verbs, and then open a Merriam-Webster dictionary. According to the definitions for fire and arm, as in armament, defines any weapon which lets fly and object as a firearm. Furthermore, Black’s Law Dictionary used by the U.S. judiciary as a standard reference includes a definition for “firearm” which says:

The term “firearm” means any weapon which is designed to or may readily be converted to expel any projectile to the action of an explosive; or the frame or the receiver of any such weapon. 18 U.S.C.A. Sections 232(4), 921(3). No combustion is required in such dictionary definitions.

More broadly, the term “firearm” has been utilized in the military arts and sciences to encompass a variety of small arms weapons using missiles as lethal projectiles, including the air rifles used by the European armies in the 18th and 19th Century and the Lewis and Clark expedition in the Louisiana Territory.