Posted on 04/05/2002 2:39:01 AM PST by toddst
Reread the actual warrant and not the press report. It will merely say that he's been convicted of a crime that could be punished by more than one year in jail. The part about him being a felon is the newspaper reporter's mistake, same as the "pipe bomb" possession charge (it's actually "bomb preparation material").
He's a bit confused about the true meaning of 'Free', apparently.
If I really thought that (and given Puckett's problems with other folks in Kentucky, I sincerely doubt that he REALLY thought that--do a search on "Charlie Puckett" and "amateur radio"), I'd simply announce to the world that I wasn't intending to commit suicide, disappear, or violently resist arrest. That makes it politically impossible for the ATF to do anything like you describe.
According to the fedgov gasoline, bottles, rags and matches are bomb making materials. Possession of pipe, threaded pipe caps, gunpowder (for reloading) or loaded ammunition (source of gunpowder) constitutes possession of bomb making materials.
I'm guilty. Check your basement and garage...are you? Think about the charges they could pile on your local hardware/sporting goods store.
"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible to live without breaking laws."
-- Ayn Rand, (“Atlas Shrugged”)
"There is none more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free!"
-- Johann W. von Goethe
Regards
J.R.
No, they have to say he's been convicted of a crime that is punishable by more than one year in jail.
Don't believe me; look up the Gun Control Act of 1968 yourself. You will NOT find the word "felon" in that law.
...Which is what they are doing!
Actually, they aren't. You're confusing the "convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in jail" with "felon." In most states, those two terms are interchangeable, but not, apparently, in West Virginia (where Puckett acquired his criminal record).
At least I engage in reasoning, unlike some folks, Alex.
Re: the ex post facto issue you raised. What's your take on the constitutionality of a law that requires sexual predators to register with the local police, even if they were convicted prior to the law being passed?
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