Owner of broken rifle surrenders for 30-month sentence

WorldNetDaily ^ | July 02, 2008 | NA

[neverdem]

'The conviction of David Olofson is a gross miscarriage of justice'

A Wisconsin man today surrendered to federal authorities to begin serving a 30-month prison term for having a broken rifle, prompting the Gun Owners of America to issue a warning about the owner's liability should any semi-automatic weapon ever misfire.

"A gun that malfunctions is not a machine gun," Larry Pratt, executive director of GOA, said. "What the [federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] has done in the [David] Olofson case has set a precedent that could make any of the millions of Americans that own semi-automatic firearms suddenly the owner [of] an unregistered machine gun at the moment the gun malfunctions."

Officials with Gun Owners of America told WND they met with Olofson today before he surrendered to federal authorities for his prison term. U.S. District Judge Charles Clevert had imposed the sentence after the gun in question let loose three shots at a firing range.

"It didn't matter the rifle in question had not been intentionally modified for select fire, or that it did not have an M16 bolt carrier … that it did not show any signs of machining or drilling, or that that model had even been recalled a few years back," said a commentary in Guns Magazine on the case against Olofson, of Berlin, Wis...

[neverdem]

This is a miscarriage of justice, to say the least.

The Flushing Remonstrance

[TLI]

PING FOR REFERENCE

[arderkrag]

"It didn't matter the rifle in question had not been intentionally modified for select fire, or that it did not have an M16 bolt carrier … that it did not show any signs of machining or drilling, or that that model had even been recalled a few years back," said a commentary in Guns Magazine on the case against Olofson, of Berlin, Wis...

This is absurd.

[spanalot]

this is a travesty

[litehaus]

Damn....................

[G.Mason]

Something smells with this article.

[FocusNexus]

Beyond belief ...

The only encouraging thing is that an appeal is being prepared.

“An appeal is being assembled by a legal team at the William J. Olson, P.C., law firm, supplemented by attorney Bob Sanders, whose career stretches from being assistant director of criminal investigations at BATFE to many years in private trial law, officials said.

Constitutional expert Herb Titus also is counsel to the Olson law firm.”

[JimBianchi11]

This guy was at least guilty of being an idiot.

He had modified an M16 to full auto by installing a automatic sear.

He then loans the gun to a neighbor and tells the guy not to push he selector pass semi when shooting. What the hell was he thinking?? Is he just asking to go to jail? Is he trying to push the issue of automatic weapons ownership? Or is he just stupid?

So of course the guy does push the fire selector past semi and the full auto fire draw attention of another shooter, who I believe was LE.

When his house is searched they find more M16 full auto conversion parts.

Granted, initially the people who tested the gun did not know to push the selector past the semi position but that doesn’t mean he gets a free pass.

This guy is no hero, he is an idiot.

[xDGx]

Lou Dobbs had this story on a few months back, seems that with certain sensitive-primer ammunition they could get the AR to double, and it had some (but not all) FA parts in it (from the factory, IIRC)

[Plexi]

How did this incident come to the attention of the BATFE?

[xDGx]

Whoever he lent the rifle to took it to a range where it doubled, and some LE also at the range wandered over for a closer look. The rest is history.

[FocusNexus]

The Honorable Charles Clevert

"Judge Charles Clevert has served as a federal district judge in the eastern district of Wisconsin since 1996. Before that, he served for eighteen years as a bankruptcy judge, and before that as an assistant district attorney and assistant U.S. Attorney. He has chaired the American Bar Association's National Conference of Federal Trial Judges and served on the board of the American Judicature Society, and has been active with the Judicial Conference of the United States and the Federal Judicial Center. Judge Clevert was appointed to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton. "

Elections have consequences. I hope all the Perot voters are happy that they helped elect Bill Clinton.

Just wait until you see the judges Obama will appoint! So go ahead, stay home, vote third party and help Obama get elected, but just think of the consequences of your actions.

[montag813]

Tar and feather the judge.

[Dumpster Baby]

Something smells with this article.

Yes, because it's full of half truths and outright lies. See below.

Pay particular attention to Item 7 and Item 10 and Item 12 and Item 13 and Item 17 and Item 20 and Item 23. Read those items over thoroughly. Olofson had installed a 3-position M16 selector, which is a real no no. Whatever else was installed or modified internally is known only to the immediate participants.

A stock factory AR15 was modified with an M16 selector at the very least, and quite likely other parts changed or modified. This is a federal crime.

This is an issue that NOBODY concerned about this case will acknowledge or admit to. Instead, everyone goes into Hyper Rant Mode about Second Amendment issues and JBT's.

The sad fact is, he illegally modified an AR15 and loaned it out to some nimrod who didn't have enough sense to leave that third selector position alone at a public range.

Absolutists are in Full Meltdown Mode on most of the gun boards, and refuse to acknowledge that Olofson violated any laws.

[FocusNexus]

Even with all that, if it was really so, don’t you think 30 months in jail is excessive?

First of all there was enough ambiguity that he shouldn’t have been convicted in the first place and second of all, at worst he should have received a warning.

Child rapists are given senteces of a few months or suspended sentences and a gun owner, not having harmed anyone, gets 2 and a half years in jail -— does that sound right to you?

[G.Mason]

Ah ... the rest of the story.

Thanks to you both.

I couldn't get the link.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

[Oberon]

Something smells with this article.

It's not the first time ATF has pulled crap like that.

[G.Mason]

Thank you Dumpster Baby

That really gave the info I was looking for.

Excellent

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

[razorback-bert]

“They” have in for gun owners.

[kbennkc]

Dobbs makes things appear clear by leaving out facts which weigh against his conclusions .

[Clintonfatigued]

Bad news from Wisconsin.

[xDGx]

Hadn’t read the affadavit, thanks for posting it.

Couple notes: eBay has a pretty strict ‘no-firearms’ policy, so that part of it is BS. ‘other firearms’ including the satellite-killing ‘50 caliber sniper rifle’ are irrelevant to the complaint. It’s ‘vise grips’, not ‘vice grips’ - one would think they would have someone with a good command of the language proofread those complaints before entering them...

Anyway, the guy was not too bright messing with an AR and putting ANY FA components in it. Not to mention loaning it out. He should get a fine and lose the firearm, but 30 months is (IMO) a little out of line with the ‘crime’ especially when you see violent criminals doing far less time.

[TLI]

ooook, thats nice. Gotta admit you can read a lot of inuendo into a post that only sez "PING FOR REFERENCE."

Did ya mean to hit post 1?

[bruoz]

Back in the day you could buy “drop in auto sears” for AR15 type rifles. To convert the AR15 to selective fire all you had to do was replace the hammer, trigger, disconnect, selector,and the bolt carrier, with M16 components add the auto sear which required no modification to the receiver. The ATF soon classified the “auto sear” as a machinegun which had to registered itself. Anyway a lot of AR15 types are still around with the M16 components left in the lower receiver. If you move the selector to AUTO the hammer will follow the bolt carrier forward and possibly slam fire or “double.” The definition of a machinegun in Federal law is any firearm that will fire more than one round with one pull of the trigger. With some difficulty this individual’s AR15 was made to double and he was convicted of illegally transferring a machinegun.

[Siberian-psycho]

ping

[bruoz]

BTW, all you have to do is grind the “tail” off of the disconnect(sear) and the weapon will fire semi-auto only regardless of whether the selector is placed in the SEMI or AUTO position

[El Gato]

Something smells with this article.

That would be the BATFE.

[2harddrive]

WHY did he turn himself in? Why not go to Canada, or Mexico?

[oldoverholt]

Thanks for clearing this up... it appears that the guy really was a jerk and was just asking for it...

[dragnet2]

From your link, the 3rd and 4th down on the signers list are direct ancestors of mine.

[El Gato]

Absolutists are in Full Meltdown Mode on most of the gun boards, and refuse to acknowledge that Olofson violated any laws.

He didn't violate any laws that are in conformance to the Second Article of Amendment to the Constitution.

But notice two that the third position is supposed to be 3 round burst, yet when tested it emptied the magazine. That's the symptom of slam fire, not controllable automatic fire, let alone 3 round burst fire.

What the affidavit doesn't mention is that the first test, with the gun properly lubricated and normal "hard" primers, the gun would not fire more than one shot with a single trigger pull. Then the second BATFE test, with heavy lubrication and soft primers produced the 20 round burst behavior. Again the sign of slam fire or similar malfunction.

He may have violated BATFE regulations, if he put in an M-16 selector, but that alone does not make a weapon fire more than one round with a single pull of the trigger, the legal definition for a machine gun.

A stock factory AR15 was modified with an M16 selector at the very least, and quite likely other parts changed or modified.

Affidavit doesn't say that, and they had the gun to examine.

[Anti-Bubba182]

“..”What mattered was the government’s position that none of the above was relevant because ‘[T]here’s no indication it makes any difference under the statute. If you pull the trigger once and it fires more than one round, no matter what the cause it’s a machine gun.’..”

This is the kind of shyster reasoning that makes the Goverment, particularly the BATF, hated.

[wastedyears]

Wrong

The action was probably gummed up and it misfired, causing two cartridges to fire.

I’m pretty sure the guy didn’t have a Happy Switch on it.

And again, wouldn’t the lower have to be a different size to accept an autosear?

[ExpatGator]

“And again, wouldn’t the lower have to be a different size to accept an autosear?”

No.

[neverdem]

Couple notes: eBay has a pretty strict ‘no-firearms’ policy, so that part of it is BS.

xDGx, nice catch!

eBay to Ban Auctions of Firearms, February 19, 1999

In comment# 14, you will find Jody M. Keeku's Affidavit In Support Of Criminal Complaint. Item# 16 alleges the eBay activity.

The forum is kind enough to link a copy of The Declaration of Independence. I read it yesterday after posting it on one of my threads. I try to read it at least once a year. It's too bad that King George III wasn't brought to justice.

If you never read The Flushing Remonstrance, have at it. I linked it in comment# 1. Happy Fourth of July!!!

[supercat]

”What mattered was the government’s position that none of the above was relevant because ‘[T]here’s no indication it makes any difference under the statute. If you pull the trigger once and it fires more than one round, no matter what the cause it’s a machine gun.’..”

By the BATF's definition, would not most double-barrel shotguns qualify as machine guns? After all, by their definition, something that can be readily modified to be a machine gun is a machine gun, and most double-barrel shotguns could easily be so modified (e.g. two-trigger models could be made to fire twice with one trigger pull by simply fastening the triggers together).

[wastedyears]

Thank you

[Shooter 2.5]

Thank you for the informative post. I do remember the borrower was warned not to turn the selector to the third position. I didn’t know it has an installed M-16 selector.

[Dumpster Baby]

I’m pretty sure the guy didn’t have a Happy Switch on it.

Huh? What do you think a 3 position selector is? I guess you think every statement about a 3 position selector in the affidavit is a lie. Most of the absolutists think the affidavit is a total lie, all the Feds and LEO's lied, and the few that don't think it's all a big lie believe that Olofson did nothing wrong anyway.

[wastedyears]

You don’t think it’s strange the BATFE had to make the rifle intentionally slam fire, by using too much lubrication and soft primers?

And what’s this about ‘absolutists’? You don’t believe the Second Amendment to be absolute?

[Anti-Bubba182]

I doubt they try that, but on semi autos especially those in military style, I can see them landing on someone hard. In light of post 14 though he may actually have been in possession of a modified weapon. Also, the quote I posted was from another article and may not be what the government argued.

[Dumpster Baby]

Actually I do believe the 2A is absolute. It is appropriate for its time, before there were millions and millions of gangstas and drug addicts like we have now, and before automatic weapons and grenade launchers were even dreamed of. Second Amendment absolutists want every gun control law abolished so that they can own any type of weapon they want, just like the Revolutionary War era citizens could own any kind of firearm including cannons.

The absolutists conveniently ignore the unintended consequences of making every kind of weapon readily and cheaply available to the millions and millions of gangstas and druggies as well as themselves, no questions asked, no restrictions or regulations of any kind whatsoever.

I don't want to live in a Mad Max movie myself. Reality forces me to support a thorough background check and the same kind of tax stamp and registration procedure for automatic weapons and destructive devices. I do not support any other gun control laws. I just cannot accept every knuckle dragging gangsta zombie being able to walk into a gun store and carry out armloads of $50 MAC-10's and Uzi's, like everyone else wants to be able to do themselves.

I'm a firm believer in Unintended Consequences, and there is no other human activity that is as totally unregulated as the 2A absolutists want gun ownership to be.

Reality sucks.

[xDGx]

The Accidental Felon By Jeff Knox (January 29, 2008) There are several ways for a person to unintentionally commit a felony, but most of them are looked at by prosecutors, judges, and juries as the accidents they are and dealt with accordingly. Such is not always the case however, especially when firearms are involved; for the past 2 years David Olofson has been learning that the hard way. Olofson is a regular guy who happens to be fond of AR15 style sport-utility rifles. He loaned a rifle to a friend. While the friend was shooting it he moved the safety switch to a point beyond the Fire position. The rifle fired a couple of short bursts and jammed. Someone at or near the club called the police to complain about machinegun fire. The police notified the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and David Olofson was subsequently charged and convicted of illegally transferring a machinegun. Neither Olofson nor his friend was charged with possession of an unregistered machinegun or with illegally manufacturing, modifying, or otherwise making a machinegun. Obviously ATF did not believe they could convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Olofson or his friend had intentionally altered the rifle to fire full-auto so they prosecuted on the easier charge of transferring. Everyone agreed that the gun belonged to Olofson and that he had loaned it to his friend. That meant that the only issue in question in the case was whether the gun was a machinegun. Since ATF is the final arbiter in determining whether a gun is a machinegun, and the law defining machineguns tends to be selectively interpreted by them, the government had a distinct advantage. As a matter of fact, when the ATF Firearms Technical Branch (FTB) examined the rifle they concluded that it was not a machinegun. They did find that if the Safety switch was moved beyond its normal range of motion, the gun would fire once and jam, leaving a loaded round in the chamber. They determined that moving the Safety in such a way interfered with the trigger disconnector causing the hammer to follow the bolt as it returned to battery rather than being stopped by the sear; a fairly common malfunction known as hammer-follow. At the request of the local ATF agent, the FTB tested the gun a second time using a brand of .223 ammunition known for having sensitive primers. Those tests resulted in intermittent, unregulated, automatic fire and jamming due to hammer-follow, but this time the FTB concluded that, under strict interpretation of the law, the gun’s malfunction did make it a machinegun. The cornerstone of this charge is the government’s contention that it doesn’t matter whether a gun fires multiple shots as a result of malfunction or modification because the law defines a machinegun as; “… any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.” While on the witness stand, firearms expert Len Savage asked the Assistant US Attorney prosecuting the case if that would make his grandfather’s old double-gun a machinegun if it malfunctioned and fired both barrels with one pull of the trigger. The AUSA responded by paraphrasing the legal definition of a machinegun with emphasis placed on “any weapon which shoots… more than one shot… by a single function of the trigger.” Anyone experienced with semi-automatic firearms knows that hammer-follow is a relatively common malfunction which usually does not result in a sharp enough blow to the primer to result in ignition. When it is enough to trigger the primer, the resulting fire is very dangerous for the shooter. Semi-auto firearms are not designed to withstand the stresses of full-automatic fire, particularly unregulated automatic fire. A true machinegun has mechanical systems in place to control the gun’s rate of fire, literally pausing momentarily between shots. A gun firing by hammer-follow does not have these controls and will fire as fast as the bolt spring can cycle the action. In the Olofson case, the government entered into evidence a tightly edited video clip of one of their testers firing Olofson’s gun for a relatively long full-auto string. The cyclic rate was estimated to be near 1700 rounds per minute, more than twice that of a properly regulated M16. The shooter clearly understood the danger involved as he was holding the firearm well away from his face and body in obvious fear that the rifle would break apart at any moment. At the government’s insistence, the court refused to allow Olofson’s firearms expert to physically examine the gun; he was only allowed to observe as an ATF employee took the gun through a function check and opened the action to his view. What he saw were standard, unaltered components of the same type and configuration that were included in this particular brand of rifle from the factory over two decades ago; parts that are known by ATF to produce exactly the type of malfunction noted and in response to which ATF had once ordered a safety recall. In another recent case, ATF removed a gun from the machinegun registration rolls because the gun was manufactured as an AR15 and had been intentionally modified to fire in full-auto mode using the hammer-follow method. ATF ruled that such a gun was not a machinegun, but a semi-auto in need of repair. By removing the gun from the NFA rolls ATF devalued the gun from a market value of around $20,000.00 to about $1,500. Olofson’s judge and jury were not allowed to learn about either the ATF ordered recall or the reclassification of a rifle like Olofson’s as not being a machinegun, because ATF and the US Attorney claimed that such information was prohibited from disclosure by tax privacy laws. This contention now appears to be patently false and the judge has egg on his face for not making the government prove their privacy claim. I don’t really know David Olofson and I have no personal knowledge of any of the facts in this case. I have spoken with Olofson, reviewed the case documents and spoken with Len Savage, the firearms expert who was present for most of the trial. From those interviews and documents I can not determine with any certainty the complete facts of this case. What I am certain of is that David Olofson was convicted on flimsy evidence without a proper opportunity to present a reasonable defense. If the government can destroy his life for nothing more than loaning a malfunctioning rifle to a friend, then no gun owner is safe from the threat of government agents. David Olofson is a decorated Army veteran and member of the Active Reserves with over 16 years of service. He has a wife and three kids, including a new daughter born in the midst of this mess. Olofson is a firearms rights activist who has been willing to fight the system and face arrest for exercising his legal rights. He has won those fights and forced the police to obey the law when they were inclined not to. Now he has been convicted of a crime that doesn’t appear to have been a crime at all and is on the verge of losing his Army pension, his right to own firearms, and his very liberty. Olofson is working on an appeal of this travesty and if there is any justice left in our system this conviction will be reversed. That won’t undo the damage that has been done and you can bet that the overzealous government employees who perpetrated this abomination will not be asked to pay restitution or even have negative remarks put in their personnel files. The Firearms Coalition is encouraging concerned citizens to contact their elected representatives in Washington and demand that they take a closer look at this case and launch a full investigation. We are also working with members of Congress to get the definition of a machinegun clarified so this type of harassment won’t be facilitated by the letter of the law in the future. Until that is accomplished, I encourage gunowners to be especially cautious; a little paranoia can be a healthy thing. If you think something like this couldn’t happen to you, consider another recent case where an anonymous tip (read crotchety neighbor, disgruntled ex, or hoplophobic co-worker) called federal authorities and claimed that a young man possessed machineguns. ATF and the local police showed up, went through the man’s collection, and confiscated an “assault weapon” for testing. The fellow knows that the gun was semi-auto when ATF took it, but after learning about David Olofson’s odyssey he is very concerned about what the Firearms Technical Branch’s conclusion will be. Interested persons wishing to delve deeper into the Olofson case can find more information and much of Olofson’s documentation in an extended forum discussion at AR15.com. Olofson is the poster known as Bladerunner2347. To go to the discussion, click here. To browse through the documents without commentary, click here.

Here's 88 pages worth of the whole shebang from the people who should know (OP is the person charged in the case) http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=6&t=507483&page=1

[wastedyears]

You’re acting like the Liberals now when they talk about Castle Doctrine and concealed carry laws, that the streets will run red with blood.

Do you really not trust your fellow Americans that much?

Also, the Second Amendment affirmed the God-given right of Americans to be able to bear arms, of any type they pleased, not in connection with militia duty. I think it holds true to today.

If Washington were to come back today, learn about today’s firepower, and comes to visit me, when I don’t own any firearms yet, he’d scold me for not having any, including a few M4A1s for ‘projects’ and parts.

[Dumpster Baby]

Do you really not trust your fellow Americans that much?

Yes, I really don't trust my fellow Americans that much, at least a sizable portion of them. This is from 50+ years of observation and personal experience. At present there are 8-10 young male neighbors across the street, ranging in age from grade school to nearly 30. After observing their behavior for some time, I wouldn't trust any of them with a single shot .22 rifle. I've also heard plenty of hi-cap pistol mag dumps in the area at night, and a few 30-round mag dumps where someone was trying to mow down some other gangstas. Must be nice to live in a Wonderland where there's no gangstas and brain dead thug zombies running loose.

If Washington were to come back today, learn about today’s firepower, and comes to visit me, when I don’t own any firearms yet, he’d scold me for not having any, including a few M4A1s for ‘projects’ and parts.

If he visited me I would take him on a tour of the Section 8 housing in nearby areas and show him what the reality of present day American life is like. I stress the word REALITY. He would crap his pants in some of the areas I've been in personally, and not feeling safe even while carrying a Brown High Power and a Dirty Harry .44 Magnum and wearing a Second Chance vest.

[supercat]

The absolutists conveniently ignore the unintended consequences of making every kind of weapon readily and cheaply available to the millions and millions of gangstas and druggies as well as themselves, no questions asked, no restrictions or regulations of any kind whatsoever.

The Second Amendment recognizes the absolute right of all free persons to keep and bear any and all such artifacts as may be useful as arms for individual and/or collective defense.

Not all persons are free persons, but a person may not be legitimately disarmed without demonstrating that they are, at least temporarily, not free persons.

[supercat]

Must be nice to live in a Wonderland where there's no gangstas and brain dead thug zombies running loose.

If the government honored the Second Amendment, those ganstas would refrain from shooting up neighborhoods, either because they wanted to avoid ending up dead, or because they failed to do so.

[Darksheare]

There are those out there who fail to see what ‘deterrence’ means, no matter what.
Realistically, if the thugs were to be ventilated upon active thuggery, there’d be less thugs.
On the other hand, there are ALOT of idiots out there.
(Think Corzine driving at 100 plus with zero seatbelt and armed to get a mental image of such level of idiocy as I am hinting at.)
This is not the same country our forebears fought to create, not by any means.

[Dumpster Baby]

If the government honored the Second Amendment, those ganstas would refrain from shooting up neighborhoods, either because they wanted to avoid ending up dead, or because they failed to do so.

I guess that's why there's never been any drive by shootings, house strafings, car-to-car shootouts, or any of the nighttime shooting sprees and murder attempts that I've heard while sitting in my living room. I must have imagined seeing all the bullet holes in doors and walls here and there. The threat of getting shot in return prevents all that from ever happening, I guess .

[an amused spectator]

A stock factory AR15 was modified with an M16 selector at the very least, and quite likely other parts changed or modified. This is a federal crime.

Lying to the MySpace computer servers is also a federal crime, according to one US Attorney.

That's quite a list, OTOH. I guess Olofson didn't understand that many federal agencies are staffed by a bunch of OCD whackjobs who have got a blank checkbook and a set of federal "laws" that's beginning to rival the federal tax code.

Oddly, some people, like Bill Clinton and William Jefferson, are immune to the voluminous federal legal smorgasbord...