Author Topic: BATFE out of control (Read 2044 times)

azshooter · « **on:** May 09, 2008, 04:30:26 AM »

Synopsis: Army National guard member facing 6 years in prison over an AR-15 malfunctioning. BATFE did not rule it a machine gun the first time so they tested it again to get the answer they wanted. Eye opening series from by Lou Dobbs of CNN. If you don't think the BATFE is the modern day SS - this will change your mind.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/03/13/ldt.tucker.govt.guns.cnn?iref=videosearch
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/03/14/tucker.government.guns.part.2.cnn
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/05/07/ldt.gov.guns.cnn
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2008/05/08/ldt.tucker.govt.guns.cnn

DalesCarpentry · « **Reply #1 on:** May 09, 2008, 12:29:10 PM »

I just watched all of these videos. I have to say my blood is boiling. They are going to ruin this good mans life over a malfunction. It just is not right. I would think he would would lose his retirement over this to. Dale

torpedoman · « **Reply #2 on:** May 11, 2008, 12:33:42 PM »

Just think how bad it is going to get now that our gun supporting president just appointed a super liberal to head up that department.

quickdtoo · « **Reply #3 on:** May 11, 2008, 01:53:31 PM »

Here's more info on the David Olofson case including a link to his 60 page thread at AR15.com on the issue.

Tim

http://www.firearmscoalition.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=192&Itemid=37

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?a=subscribe&b=1&f=6&t=507483&sub=Update+on+Berlin+BATFE+Raid

Echo4Lima · « **Reply #4 on:** May 13, 2008, 05:04:12 AM »

It surprises me that some of you are just NOW realizing the BATFE is a problem.....

Ray Cover · « **Reply #5 on:** May 13, 2008, 07:41:45 AM »

As an FFL holder I can say that all the Batfe agents and representatives that I personally have delt with have been very professional and reasonable. Apparently that is not the case in WI.

I hope and pray the when the dust settles the officials involved are reprimanded, disbarred, and criminally/civilly held accountable for this blatant abuse of power.

Justice prevailed when that overzealous prosecutor falsely prosecuted those boys form Duke (I think it was) for raping a stripper. HE was disbarred and did not get the notch on his belt he thought he was going to get. I hope MR Olefson gets justice in this case too. I am glad to see CNN picking this up and making a public issue out of it.

JMHO,
Ray

DalesCarpentry · « **Reply #6 on:** May 13, 2008, 11:59:56 AM »

Quote from: Ray Cover on May 13, 2008, 07:41:45 AM

As an FFL holder I can say that all the Batfe agents and representatives that I personally have delt with have been very professional and reasonable. Apparently that is not the case in WI.

I hope and pray the when the dust settles the officials involved are reprimanded, disbarred, and criminally/civilly held accountable for this blatant abuse of power.

Justice prevailed when that overzealous prosecutor falsely prosecuted those boys form Duke (I think it was) for raping a stripper. HE was disbarred and did not get the notch on his belt he thought he was going to get. I hope MR Olefson gets justice in this case too. I am glad to see CNN picking this up and making a public issue out of it.

JMHO,
Ray

Well said. I could not agree more. Dale

Davemuzz · « **Reply #7 on:** May 14, 2008, 12:00:22 AM »

Must of been a jury of Mom's in California! The ones who send money to support "save the cougars".

Dave

Ray Cover · « **Reply #8 on:** May 14, 2008, 03:10:55 AM »

Your not far off. The Madison and Milwaukee areas in WI are as liberal as CA or NY (Maddison is probably worse than Milwaukee). WI has the same problem my state of MO does. The State as a whole is fairly rural and conservative but those two large cities are liberal. I suspect that if his trial had been held on the other side of the state the judge would have thrown it out and we never would have heard about it.

My 2 cents,
Ray

Ray Cover · « **Reply #9 on:** May 14, 2008, 03:17:24 AM »

The thing that has me puzzled with that case is that they did not charge him with possession of a machine gun but transferring a machine gun. Did he have a class 3 license? I kinda doubt it since that kind of thing would have come up in the media. So if they really thought it was a machine gun why not charge him with possession of an NFA firearm without proper license?

quickdtoo · « **Reply #10 on:** May 14, 2008, 04:53:16 AM »

Olofson sentenced to 30 months.

Tim

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=750464

DalesCarpentry · « **Reply #11 on:** May 14, 2008, 05:29:02 AM »

It looks like there is more to this story than we were led to believe. If he knew the weapon fired strings of three and had done it many times then he is negligent. He should have had the weapon fixed. Dale

Ray Cover · « **Reply #12 on:** May 14, 2008, 05:31:21 AM »

That is a shame.

One of the things of great concern to me after thinking on this for a while is the initial reaction of the authorities in this case.

Here is the scenario, Me and my kids are behind the house playing paintball with out full auto markers. A bonehead neighbor who doesn't have a clue calls 911 reporting automatic gun fire. My kids and I get mowed down by an overzealous swat team for playing paintball.

Or just as bad a neighbor who has an ax to grind reports you have a machine gun out of maliciousness. The BATFE charge in putting your family in mortal danger and destroy your house trying to find what is not there.

This whole situation was handled very poorly. If they don't get their heads on straight they are going to end up killing innocent people.

Ray

Ray Cover · « **Reply #13 on:** May 14, 2008, 05:34:11 AM »

I agree with you Dale but 2 1/2 years seems a long time for a first time offender on a crime where no one actually got hurt and no property was stolen or damaged.

I have to go back and edit this. I thought this guy had a clean record apparently that was not the case.

Ray

DalesCarpentry · « **Reply #14 on:** May 14, 2008, 05:34:54 AM »

Did this really happen to you? Dale Here is the scenario, Me and my kids are behind the house playing paintball with out full auto markers. A bonehead neighbor who doesn't have a clue calls 911 reporting automatic gun fire. My kids and I get mowed down by an overzealous swat team for playing paintball.

Ray Cover · « **Reply #15 on:** May 14, 2008, 05:49:00 AM »

No Dale it did not actually happen. I should have written that a bit more carefully.

My point was that if the BATFE serves warrants the way they serve that guys warrant such a scenario could happen to anyone. IF all it takes is someone reporting that you have a machine gun to get that reaction I can see where a persons enemies could use the authorities as a personal weapon with nothing more than an anonymous phone call.

Law enforcement in my neck of the woods tends to behave more like Andy Griffith in Mayberry. Of course the community I live is more like Mayberry. We have responsible and reasonable law enforcement officials here. Now if I lived an hour north in St Louis that type of swat action would be a concern to me.

Ray

30-06man · « **Reply #16 on:** May 15, 2008, 04:12:12 AM »

http://justmytruth.wordpress.com/2008/05/09/david-olofson-latest-lou-dobbs-coverage/

http://loudobbs.tv.cnn.com/2008/05/09/gun-owner-convicted-for-malfunction/

30-06man · « **Reply #17 on:** May 15, 2008, 04:15:35 AM »

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/05/08/ldt.tucker.govt.guns.cnn Part 4

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2008/03/13/ldt.tucker.govt.guns.cnn Part 1

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/03/14/tucker.government.guns.part.2.cnn?iref=videosearch Part 2

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/05/07/ldt.gov.guns.cnn Part 3

Earlier this year, the government tried and convicted David Olofson on the charge of transferring a machine gun. The Army veteran, Army reservist, husband and father of three contended that his gun was not a machine gun but simply a more than 20-year-old rifle that misfired. But instead of ordering him to repair the rifle, the government took Olofson to court.

Now, Olofson, who had no prior criminal record, is facing five years in jail, and the loss of his position serving his country in the Army Reserve. His sentencing is on hold thanks to a defense motion to gain access to a government memo. The Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms memo was not admitted at trial, but it may be what Olofson needs to be exonorated or have another chance at a fair trial. Please watch our four-part report on this miscarriage of justice and serious threat to the Second Amendment. Click here for part 1. Click here for part 2. Click here for part 3. And click here for part 4.

JustMyTruth · « **Reply #18 on:** May 15, 2008, 10:50:43 AM »

I am the author of the Blog JustMyTruth who has been writing about David Olofson's story. He is an Honorably discharged father of 3 who was active in the reserves when he loaned his AR-15 to a neighbor which malfunctioned. David turned himself into authorities when he found out about it.

Of two charges, one was dismissed and the other was for disorderly conduct. He had his gun with him (legal in Wisconsin)while taking his kids trick or treating. NO gun charges NO gun convictions prior to this one.

His sentence is 30 months PLUS 2 years probation and community service for a 1st offense. They (BATFE) are trying to make an example of him. Instead of allowing him to fix his gun, they charged him with transferring a machine gun. BATFE claims that a gun is a machine gun if it fires more than one round at a time, PERIOD.

Army record is clean or he would not have been honorably discharged and allowed to join the reserves.

JustMyTruth · « **Reply #19 on:** May 15, 2008, 10:54:21 AM »

Lou Dobbs is incensed by what is happening to David Olofson. What is your problem? It has nothing to do with bush. Obviously you don't know what you are talking about and haven't been following this.

torpedoman · « **Reply #20 on:** May 15, 2008, 06:02:29 PM »

From what i have learned the guy loaned his buddy a gun that was working fine it malfunctioned while his buddy was using it and he returned it to him. Just who transferred a machine gun? sounds to me like it was the guy who had it in his possession when it malfunctioned.

Davemuzz · « **Reply #21 on:** May 16, 2008, 05:24:11 AM »

Yeah......the part that I don't get....or maybe I just didn't see it....is how in the world did BATFE find out about this malfunctioning gun to begin with? I mean....it doesn't make sense to me that a AR-15 is broken, fires 2 repetative shots, and suddenly BATFE is on this guy like white on rice. Seems to me there is more behind the story that what is being told.

Dave

DalesCarpentry · « **Reply #22 on:** May 16, 2008, 08:04:41 AM »

The range he was using has a strict policy of no automatic weapons. When the people that run the range heard automatic weapon fire they reported it to the police. Dale

30-06man · « **Reply #23 on:** May 16, 2008, 09:00:20 AM »

Thanks for clearing that part up Dale.

Davemuzz · « **Reply #24 on:** May 16, 2008, 12:51:59 PM »

Wow.....good thing I wasn't at that range with my 1911 and my 10 round clips. There are times I can pull the trigger so fast it sounds like an auto. They called the police for a guy who had a gun that fired two rounds in a row from an ar-15? Man......that smells like a mackerel that's been on the hot Florida dock for at least a week! There's more to it than that. If your buyin that story.....I got some swamp land that's prime and I can get you a great price on it!

Dave

30-06man · « **Reply #25 on:** May 16, 2008, 04:41:55 PM »

I don't know about that Dave, some people around here think there is full auto fire when I fan the trigger on some of my 22's at the range. The range master asked me if it was a full auto .22 one day and I showed him what I was doing and he said to stop or I couldn't go back to that range. That was about 10 years ago and now I have my own range behind my house and I don't have that problem any more.

DalesCarpentry · « **Reply #26 on:** May 16, 2008, 04:55:58 PM »

So really what is the point!!!!!!!!!! Anyone with enough practice could fire a rifle about as fast as a full auto. Sense less laws. Dale

Davemuzz · « **Reply #27 on:** May 17, 2008, 02:28:03 PM »

30-06man....Yeah. To some, if you fire a gun fast it's some kind of indication that you are unable to control the direction of the bullet. Those guys should come to our local clubs action pistol shoot. The idea is to knock down 19 steel plates in the shortest amount of time as possible. I can tell you...it's tough to get under 15 seconds using a single shot gun.

Dave

Explorer1 · « **Reply #28 on:** May 18, 2008, 10:34:40 AM »

Like any group of people, some are great, and some are "less than great". The problem is when they have such uncontrolled power, the hazards are GREAT.
If you don't think the ATF needs some updating, why is there a bill in front of Congress (again) to update their regs? Did you know they have 2 options if they find minor problems with a FFL holder, do nothing or remove the license. Not a good set of choices for such absurd "abuses" as allowing customers to use abbreviations!
Another example of out of control agents can clearly be seen at http://www.redstradingpost.com/atf.php.

Once upon a time, there was country in which the people actually were listened to about what they wanted from Government............

30-06man · « **Reply #29 on:** May 18, 2008, 11:39:01 AM »

Quote from: Davemuzz on May 17, 2008, 02:28:03 PM

30-06man....Yeah. To some, if you fire a gun fast it's some kind of indication that you are unable to control the direction of the bullet. Those guys should come to our local clubs action pistol shoot. The idea is to knock down 19 steel plates in the shortest amount of time as possible. I can tell you...it's tough to get under 15 seconds using a single shot gun.

Dave

Yeah I know. Now I shoot mostly at my house and I don't really get into the competitions with the exception of trap and skeet.