WI:Milwaukee Jury Troubled by Gun Muffler Case

Gun Watch ^ | 24 February, 2014 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Fake gun muffler mounted on barrel

A case has been sent to the jury in Milwaukee, where the BATFE appears to have used a career criminal to entrap a citizen who is both a gun collector and a lawyer.  In many ways it is bizarre, because it is clear that the criminal worked very hard to get the citizen to commit an illegal act of buying what amounts to an ersatz gun muffler.  Under the BATF administrative rules, any device that can be attached to a gun, that decreases the sound by *any* amount, is considered to be a gun muffler, and is illegal unless the $200 tax is paid and the paperwork, which often takes months, if not years, to accomplish, is done.   This level of over regulation of what amounts to a safety device, has never been justified.  The "silencer" in this case only reduced the noise level from 147 to 141 DB.  It is doubtful that an ordinary person would be able to consistently notice the difference.   Given the BATFE's history of lying in court, I am not surprised that a jury would have trouble convicting Mr. Barrett, who was never in trouble with the law before.  There are lots of fake suppressors on the market.  From the jsonline.com:

A jury spent more than five hours Thursday deciding whether a lawyer and gun collector committed a crime when he bought a "hit man's gun" with an illegal silencer.

But jurors couldn't reach a verdict and will continue deliberating Friday.

Thomas Michael Barrett, 54, a Wauwatosa lawyer, was arrested in August 2011 during a reverse sting outside Mayfair Mall. 

Michael Barrett took the stand to defend his actions:

Barrett said as soon as he met Bond, he became a bit nervous that he was perhaps being set up to be robbed. He said he kept trying to do some "fast talking" to get out of the situation without upsetting Bond. He said he initially offered to buy the gun without the silencer for more than Bond had been asking.

But Bond kept insisting Barrett should buy both and then offered to sell them for $400, well less than the $600 they had discussed over the phone.

"I didn't want to piss him off," Barrett said. "He wouldn't take no for an answer."

I am interested in seeing how this case turns out.  Barrett is risking his entire career on this on principle.  I am sure he could have cut a deal, but he has refused to do so.  There seems to be some real doubt in the case.   Perhaps the storefront scandal in Milwaukee, that jsonline.com covered extensively, has produced a little well deserved skepticism of the BATFE and their operations.

Here is the only comment on the story so far:

I was cop for 25 years, and I wouldn't have convicted him. For 2 reasons: 1) 147 db reduced to 141 db this is still extremely loud, and still have a painfully loud "Report" If the silencer reduced the report from 147 db was down to 105 db then maybe I would consider it a silencer, and 105 db is still very very loud!!!
2) The test for entrapment is called the "origin of intent rule" Who came up with the request for the silencer first. If the government agent offered it first, then its entrapment. If the Atty ask for the silencer first then he's guilty. Then it should be a real silencer, down to 105 db or less...

This helps explain why police are routinely excluded from juries.  They know too much.

It is possible that there is a little jury nullification going on here. It is one of the strong checks on government overreach that has consistently been eroded for the past hundred years. Then again, perhaps this is simply a weak case.

©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.

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[marktwain]

There is no justification to regulate gun mufflers any more than other firearm accessories, such as sights or stocks.

[SkyDancer]

So what would it be like if mufflers were removed from cars?

[marktwain]

We are lucky that car mufflers were common before FDR was elected.

[JimRed]

There is no justification to regulate gun mufflers any more than other firearm accessories, such as sights or stocks.

I often (well, occasionally) wonder why folding stocks are illegal in New Jersey.

[trisham]

I’m guessing because it makes them easier to conceal.

[GeronL]

Are pillows banned?

[marktwain]

Update: Michael Barrett convicted:

From jsonline:

“A jury found a Wauwatosa lawyer guilty Friday of buying what he called “a hit man’s gun” with a “highly, highly, highly illegal” silencer during an undercover reverse sting in 2011.”

http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/milwaukee-county-jury-convicts-lawyer-of-having-illegal-gun-silencer-b99210909z1-246601631.html

[Dead Corpse]

Agreed. I’ve long thought that Hollywood hype beat out common sense and physics when it comes to suppressor laws.

Tried getting them changed here in MN a couple years back. May try again if we can change the make-up of our legislature again...

[marktwain]

“I’m guessing because it makes them easier to conceal.”

But pistols are even easier to conceal, and they are Constitutionally protected. To ban folding stocks, when pistols are protected as a constitutional right, makes no sense.

[Dead Corpse]

I hope he has his appeals lined up already.

[trisham]

I could be wrong. :)

[I want the USA back]

This is entrapment.

[Cboldt]

If the jury convicts him, no appellate court is going to rule agains the BATFE. The government says it respects gun rights, but does everything it can get away with to disarm the public, one person at a time, if that’s what it takes. The courts are especially adept at this.

[Paladin2]

Why can’t a rifled barrel that fits a “shotgun” receiver be just 16” long?

[Dead Corpse]

Then we need to go bust him out of jail...

This is a crime against our Rights.

[Blood of Tyrants]

And why do you have to register and pay a special tax on short barreled rifles?

[Navy Patriot]

A jury found a Wauwatosa lawyer guilty...

No problem, eventually it will be their turn in the dock, or their kids'.

[dkazz]

Fake suppressors apply to center fire firearms. Dude messed up. Sorry.

[Dead Corpse]

People like you are the reason we’ve lost as much of our RKBA as we have.

Sorry.

[marktwain]

And why do you have to register and pay a special tax on short barreled rifles?

More insanity that makes no sense, now that pistols are confirmed as Constitutionally protected.