Posted on 12/10/2004 1:37:50 PM PST by SASsySIGster
WATERBURY -- It never dawned on William Bechard that the two old Smith & Wesson revolvers he found for sale earlier this year in the Bargain News would get him arrested.
The classified advertisement newspaper led Bechard, 52, to a man in Hartford who was selling a .32-caliber revolver and a .38-caliber revolver. Bechard, of Waterbury, is an avid gun collector and trader who owns nearly 100 rifles and handguns, nearly all of them more than 50 years old.
Bechard said he bought the two revolvers in April for about $300.
The man Bechard bought the guns from called about a week later and said Bechard needed to contact the State Police to transfer the guns' registrations. Bechard recalled Thursday night that he called the State Police to do so, but it didn't have a record of the two guns.
Guns made before the late 1890s are considered antiques and don't have to be registered. Believing the guns were antiques, Bechard said he didn't give the matter a second thought until Thursday morning. Two State Police detectives knocked on his door Thursday around 7:30 a.m., Bechard said. They were there to arrest him for illegal transfer of a handgun.
"I said, 'I'm a law-abiding citizen,'" Bechard said. "They said, 'Well, now you're not.'"
State Police spokesman Sgt. J. Paul Vance said Thursday that Bechard was arrested because the guns remained registered to the man Bechard bought them from. Bechard said State Police told him Thursday they have no record of him calling about the registrations.
The police, according to Bechard, said one of the guns was made in 1902 and the other in 1903, which would mean they are not antiques and would have to be registered. Bechard, a federally licensed gun collector, said his library of gun catalogs strongly disputes that; he is certain they are antiques.
Bechard faces two counts of illegal transfer of a firearm, a felony, and up to 10 years in prison if convicted of both charges.
"The significance is these weapons, and all weapons, sold within the boundaries of the state of Connecticut must be registered," Vance said. "It's a matter of finishing the paper work, that's what is."
Bechard was released on $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Hartford Superior Court on Dec. 29.
"I didn't think I was doing anything illegal," said Bechard, who has not decided yet whether he will hire a lawyer for his court appearance.
Bechard said he's already sold the two guns to people out of state. He has a federal license to sell what are known as curios and relic firearms, which are on a list of specific guns that are at least 50 years old.
The license allows him to buy and sell curios and relic firearms with people in different states, as long as they exchange copies of their licenses. They don't have to register the guns with either the federal or state governments.
This further confused Bechard because in Connecticut the transfer of such guns would have to be registered.
"I thought my federal license would cover it," he said.
Bechard has a passion for old weapons. In his house, a room no more than three paces wide -- protected by two dead bolts and pepper spray rigged to trip wire -- contains an arsenal of history. He has a rifle used in the Civil War and an ivory-handled Colt.45 Peacemaker, the same model used by famed outlaw Jesse James.
He worked most recently as a dispatcher for a moving company in Bridgeport. But Bechard said he also makes a few dollars selling antique weapons, military uniforms and other historical items on the Internet.
To make it worse, if convicted he would have to turn in all of his historical pieces, and they would most likely be destroyed.
your missing the point you see these fine upstanding state cops are keeping you safer from al quada and gang banging illegal immigrants be turning clerical errors into felonys and being very smart alecky and smarmy about it. if he gets a lawyer he needs to sapena the telephone records of the police statino and when his call shows up he needs to sue and sue big both the state police and the individuals that actually placed him under arrest
Scratch Connecticut off my list of potential places to live.
gun grabber ping for you
A bunch of wannabes chomping at the bit to take someone down on a technicality.
Do pigs like these cops arrest everyone who buys a used car, and who is slow transferring the registration? Do they raid the homes of suspected uninsured drivers and take them in? Or is this ANOTHER Left Coast double standard? Seems like everyone in the NE is just plain cowardly - afraid of inanimate objects.........
we had a local gun shop by where I used to live in St.Paul.
the guy specialized in antique firearms, but the local
namby-pamby libs said he was a target for gangs to get guns
via theft and therefore made the community dangerous.They eventually sued him out of existence.
The ways you have to contort your mind to come to liberal
conclusions....
You know, I've never understood that. Our local court docket is filled with "failure to transfer title within 45 days". Why is that such a big criminal deal in itself? Always been a mystery to me.
Step 1: subpoena the phone records to establish that he called that number. Throw enough doubt on the state's case and it might be enough to keep the prosecutor from pressing charges.
"I didn't think I was doing anything illegal," said Bechard, who has not decided yet whether he will hire a lawyer for his court appearance.
When facing a felony charge and 10 years in prison, only an idiot wouldn't employ counsel.
Gun loving ping
This is how the Nazis harrassed small businesses. If the paperwork wasn't correct or you made an error, you were subject to fines, confiscation of propery and jail.
In 1939, Vanguard Press in New York City published, "The Vampire Economy: Doing Business Under Fascism" by Guenter Reimann, a 35-year-old German writer at the time. Through contacts with German business owners, Reimann documented how the "monster machine" of the Nazis crushed the autonomy of the private sector through onerous regulations, harsh inspections and the threat of confiscatory fines for petty offenses.
"Industrialists were visited by state auditors who had strict orders to examine the balance sheets and all bookkeeping entries of the company or individual businessman for the preceding two, three or more years until some error or false entry was found," explains Reimann. "The slightest formal mistake was punished with tremendous penalties. A fine of millions of marks was imposed for a single bookkeeping error."
Reimann quotes from a businessman's letter: "You have no idea how far state control goes and how much power the Nazi representatives have over our work. The worst of it is that they are so ignorant. These Nazi radicals think of nothing except 'distributing the wealth.' Some businessmen have even started studying Marxist theories, so that they will have a better understanding of the present economic system.
While state representatives are busily engaged in investigating and interfering, our agents and salesmen are handicapped because they never know whether or not a sale at a higher price will mean denunciation as a 'profiteer' or 'saboteur,' followed by a prison sentence.
You cannot imagine how taxation has increased. Yet everyone is afraid to complain. Everywhere there is a growing undercurrent of bitterness. Everyone has his doubts about the system, unless he is very young, very stupid or is bound to it by the privileges he enjoys. There are terrible times coming. If only I had succeeded in smuggling out $10,000 or even $5,000, I would leave Germany with my family.
Business friends of mine are convinced that it will be the turn of the 'white Jews' (which means us, Aryan businessmen) after the Jews have been expropriated. The difference between this and the Russian system is much less than you think, despite the fact that we are still independent businessmen."
Citizens are enemies of the state in this brave new world.
No, these fine upstanding state cops are afraid of al quada and gang banging illegal immigrants - they like to pick on law-abiding older citizens because they know they are law-abiding older citizens.
More blue state nonsense...
With full protection of our Rights as they are supposed to be, there would be no CRIME here. No injured party other than a randomly enacted BS government statute is not a JUST law. What happened to the Rule of Law and Justice in this country?
Disband the BATFE now. Enforce the Second Amendment. Let all the out of work Enforcers move to a border State and help the Border Patrol.
They should have used common sense discretion after checking this law abiding collector out. Unfortunately, only illegal aliens get the nod from our government.
This just goes to show that if the government makes enough laws they're bound to trip you up some day.
They win
You are assuming LIBERALS make an effort to come to a liberal conclusion "NOT". Coming to a liberal conclusion takes no effort.
Bechard has a passion for old weapons. In his house, a room no more than three paces wide -- protected by two dead bolts and pepper spray rigged to trip wire -- contains an arsenal of history.
Then suddenly he transformed from a collector to a certified Gun Nut. Is it normal for people to booby trap their collections? I know mine isn't.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.