Posted on 05/26/2010 6:08:29 PM PDT by NavyCanDo
SEATTLE -- There are more questions than answers in the case of a suspected international arms dealer caught in Washington state with a stockpile of sniper rifles.
Oliver King is an Iranian citizen who, in the past, has been a licensed gun dealer. King appeared in court in Seattle on Wednesday, accused of keeping a stash of guns and ammunition hidden in a storage unit near the U.S.-Canada border.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, King lied to enter the U.S. near Blaine last week. Agents with U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement became suspicious of King when he showed up at the border with a brand new passport, and a story about picking up his wife at Bellis Fair Shopping Mall in Bellingham.
Upon searching his car, agents found King's original passport, which has three visas for Iran and lists King's name as Hamid Malekpour.
At King's storage locker in Ferndale, agents found $30,000 worth of police-grade sniper rifles, handguns and ammunition.
(Excerpt) Read more at komonews.com ...
I reload as well. Typically, I like to use a full tray of 100 primers at a time. That's what fits in the tube of the Dillon 550. It amounts to two boxes of 50 rounds. 5 trays consumes a bulk box of 500 bullets. No big deal on a progressive building .38SPL. It's a lot more work to use a single stage to load .50 cal. Especially 450 in a sitting.
My point was that, given the information provided, no crime has been committed. Given that he has been arrested, his property confiscated, and he is being tried in the court of public opinion as a potential terrorist this whole affair is pretty disturbing. As I stated in my other post, this characterization is what we can all expect once the government starts going after gun owners.
There isn't even any indication that the guy is an illegal alien or anything else. If that were the case then he would not have been allowed through the border checkpoint. It is legal for non-resident aliens, visitors, and other lawful non-residents to possess firearms in the US.
ping
Does he have a permit to buy and sell weapons within the United States? He is not an American citizen, and lives in Canada. At the very least he is breaking International trade laws
Was he going to smuggle them to the Iranian regime or to the resistance? If the latter then the Feds should be helping him.
The news just said so far he is being charged with lying to Border officers and for being an Alien in possession of firearms. So back off defending the guy just because he is appears to be a gun dealer.
My point is that he was using the label "hunter" to excuse the variety of firearms under discussion. None of them is particularly suited to hunting. Most of my hunting has been for cottontail rabbits. They taste good and the pelts aren't half bad. A good .22LR is sufficient. If hunting for deer was on my "to do" list, the lever action 30-30 or T/C Encore with 270 barrel would be just fine. Elk might demand the .30-06 barrel. I certainly wouldn't cart a 7-10 lb "police grade" bolt action rifle. A 45 lb .50bmg would be an insane choice for chasing down deer.
No permit is necessary to buy and sell weapons if it was for his own collection. There is no evidence yet disclosed that he owned the gun shop. No article states that the guns were in international trade. They went from a shop in the US to a storage unit in the US.
A Canadian citizen who is in the US legally can buy firearms provided certain paperwork requirements are met.
You may have missed the part that he is CANADIAN, not a USA Iranian immigrant. It was his CANADIAN passports that were in question; and note that one is in his ‘real’ name; the other in his alias’ name.
Note that as a non-immigrant, temporary visitor to the USA, he, in general, can not purchase firearms.
The statement he made about ‘going hunting’ was an attempt to cover his tail by asserting a permissible exception, PROVIDED he has the proper hunting license...and he didn't.
The crime leading to confiscation is most likely illegal purchase/possession by a nonresident alien, but the 'false staements' charge was enough to hold him while the rest gets investigated.
You are correct, “police grade” is a sales term and does not denote anything special, unique or restricted about the gun in question. He can be a hunter but also enjoy collecting and shooting other types of non-hunting firearms including a .50bmg rifle. Until an inventory is released we don’t know if he had a .22lr in his collection.
I had an FFL for a number of years and enjoy all types of firearms. Bolt action rifles or hunting firearms hold about the least interest for me.
He is innocent until proven guilty and should not have had his collection confiscated just because he’s Iranian and happened to have some guns (legally).
Possession of firearms by non-resident visitors is legal, even if they are residents of Canada and an Iranian national. That does not mean he entered the country illegally. Whether he purchased them here or if they belong to someone else has yet to be determined.
Think what you like. You people are jumping to a lot of assumptions that are downright dangerous. I’ll pick the side that says “innocent until proven guilty” regardless of the accused’s nationality.
Oliver is an Iranian Citizen.
As a former FFL, would there be problem with that?
If he was a legal immigrant with a hunting license and utility bills showing 3 months of continuous residence in that state then he can purchase all the long guns he wants from an FFL provided all state laws are followed.
The same person can possess firearms that belong to someone else (borrow, shooting at a range, etc.) legaly. He can not buy them in a private party transaction because the seller (a non-FFL) can’t legally sell to a non-citizen.
I understand your point but starting his case with an obvious lie makes him criminal to begin with.
His original passport was washed with his clothes?
Really?
And then they find his original passport upon a second pas?
He is already making a case his future
Next time you fill out a 4473 read the inside pages. They lay out all the details covering what is and isn’t a legal transaction. It’s kind of dry but many people would be surprised to find out that non-citizens can buy a firearm and that there are certain conditions under which even a DV conviction isn’t a disqualifier.
The laws covering purchasing and possessing firearms are vastly different. A person may be prohibited from purchasing but not possessing.
IIRC, 50 cal rifles are prohibited under current Canadian law, so he’s not a Canadian gun dealer. He’s not a hunter either.
I enjoy reloading as much
You are a very odd duck
(SNIP)...old one, which was not set to expire until 2013, had been canceled, but it was not immediately clear why...
It would appear that the old one was canceled. That makes his possession of it irrelivent. I don’t know why he lied, but people do some pretty silly things when they are nervous. Hence the best advice is always to exercise your 4th and 5th amendment rights.
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