Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
Posted on 07/13/2006 5:19:30 PM PDT by freepatriot32
SPRINGFIELD - A federal jury yesterday found Michael A. Crooker guilty of a firearms crime that will mean a 15-year mandatory prison sentence.
The jury, made up of eight men and four women, delivered its verdict shortly after 2 p.m. yesterday after deliberating about 10 hours during two days.
Crooker, 51, formerly of Agawam, had been charged with being a previously convicted felon "causing a firearm to travel in interstate commerce."
Crooker was accused of trying to mail an air rifle and sound muffler to an Ohio man in 2004. Air rifles are not considered firearms under federal law, but silencers that can be used on regular guns are. Testimony during the trial centered on whether the black metal cylinder mailed with the air rifle qualifies as a silencer and therefore a firearm. Felons are prohibited from owning firearms.
The jury yesterday morning came back to Judge Michael A. Ponsor with a question, basically asking for more of a definition of a silencer under federal law. Ponsor told them he could not give any more of a description than had been given in his jury instructions.
Crooker sat silently and without obvious expression beside his lawyer, Vincent A. Bongiorni, as the verdict was read.
In an interview after the verdict, Bongiorni said that there is not much to say about a verdict from a jury. "It was tried on a factual basis," he said.
Sentencing for Crooker was set for Oct. 20 at 2 p.m. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Regan said after the jury's decision that he is pleased with the verdict.
In closing arguments on Monday, O'Regan told jurors they should have no question Crooker shipped the sound muffler knowing it was capable of being used on a regular gun.
Bongiorni said in his closing arguments that jurors cannot conclude that Crooker knew the muffler could work on anything but the air rifle. He said he defied the jury to find any evidence that Crooker had actual knowledge that it could work on a powder-burning, or regular, gun. The trial began on June 28.
ping
Unintended Consequences
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
From the linked-to original article on this, it appears that the airgun silencers, once modified to fit, reduced the sound of a .22 one-hundredfold.
Isn't that just two db, since the decibel scale is logarithmic? BFD!
Just damn.
BATFAGs pulling the wool over the eyes of the public, creating prosecutions out of thin air, is my first impression.
Judicial jury-tampering; sounds like a script from Law and Order.
A lawnmower muffler and some steel wool would do about that much.
I feel so much safer.
If a part is used on a Non-Firearm, then it shouldn't be concidered any threat. It would be no different than having a muffler on a lawnmower.
Does this case claim a person can go to jail if they have a muffler on their lawnmower just because it "could" be installed on a firearm?
FreedomPoster wrote:
> Isn't that just two db, since the decibel scale is logarithmic? <
The decibel scale is indeed log-based. But I think you've got your numbers wrong.
Here's the way I THINK it was taught to me, 40 years ago:
Three dB is an approximate doubling of power, and ten dB is approximately a ten-fold increase in power.
So a hundred-fold decrease would be a decrease of ca. 100 dB.
Looks like it's 20 db.
dB = 10* log (x/y), where x and y are sound power measurements in watts.
So 10 * log (100) = 20 db
Not that much, in the grand scheme of things. I can think of several ways you could probably get more, with common household items.
> Isn't that just two db, since the decibel scale is logarithmic? <
The decibel scale is indeed log-based. But I think you've got your numbers wrong.
Here's the way I THINK it was taught to me, 40 years ago:
Three dB is an approximate doubling of power, and ten dB is approximately a ten-fold increase in power.
So a hundred-fold decrease would be a decrease of ca. 100 dB.
Almost. The first ten fold is 10 dB the second ten fold (10x10 = 100) is also 10 dB. So the total would be 20 dB.
However, the original article linked above indicated a 100 fold decrease in decibels which is quite significant. Who knows if the reporter got it right.
A good discussion of the decibel scale: http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/GBSSCI/PHYS/CLASS/sound/u11l2b.html
Does this mean a felon cannot own a rifle sling for his air rifle? Would it be a felony for a felon to attach a bayonet to an air rifle?
I think I know what the BATFE would say, but this seems a surprising result from a jury given that the silencer was shipped with an air rifle. One would have to be much more certain of the meaning of the 20,000 anti-gun laws than I am in order to be pleased by this jury's decision.
Since the 1934 NFA Act is an Unconstitutional "law", this man is innocent ... period!
It is actually 20DB
Go here. http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/sound/db.html#c3
Divide and conquer. Bit by bit, one person at a time, one "gun" at a time, we're going to lose our Second Amendment rights.
In this case, since 1986: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wbardwel/public/nfalist/crooker_v_batf.txt
And the BATF fastened this guy's muffler to a .22!? What wouldn't silence a .22 as well as this guy's muffler?
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.