David Olofson--Have you heard this?

[legion]

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

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.

[charleskieffner]

this guy pissed someone off real bad for this to go this far. feds are correct that if it shoots more than one bullet per one trigger pull someones got problems. big problems.

this is a real clear wake up call to anyone here that plays with files and other clubbed tools making a semi-auto into a full auto. full autos are not toys any more than other guns. i respect ATF for their job. its not a good job by any stretch. but there are far too many dead bodies around because of illegal firearms. and if yer not willing and intelligent enough to know the laws, follow the laws, and correctly apply for a FFL full auto stamp/a SBR stamp/ a suppressor stamp, have a clean background, and pay for a registered full auto firearm..........you have NO BIZ OWNING ONE in my humble(yeah right) opinion.

hell 99.9999% of the u.s. populace has never fired a full auto and those of us who have will tell you it aint what its cracked up to be unless its a "ma-deuce" or quad fifty! hits on target is about zero unless trained and even then its usually spray and pray.

and thats why the FBI changed from full auto trigger groups on their HK MP-5's to semi-auto trigger groups because they got more hits on target to stop the threat. also the M-14 was changed from full-auto to semi-auto because out of 20 rds fired maybe 2 hit the target and the other 18 were skyshots!

live here in the state of arizona, which has the greatest number of illegal firearms exported to mexico , have friends who live in mexico who give you daily e-mails about the cartels and the violence and you too will get an attitude about illegal weapons holders.

[Rick Lee]

I've read a very different version of this case. It was commented on a lot on our local AZ gun BBS and believe me, we're all gun nuts. Olofson is not quite the angel this piece makes him out to be.

First of all, even if he made no modifications to this gun, he knew it had this occasional malfunction, which makes it just insane to let the gun out of the house and especially onto a public range, where the unmistakeable sound of full auto fire is sure to draw attention. In the version I read, Olofson had, in fact, installed some full auto components of the LPK (lower parts kit), but not all of them. I forget if it was the sear or what he left off. But it was not bone stock, that's for sure. And since the ATF lives for stuff like this, he was just a complete fool to even tempt them with a gun containing any NFA parts whatsoever.

I've borrowed and loaned guns out before. But I wouldn't even think of doing so with a gun I did not know 100% worked perfectly 100% of the time. In fact, I was babysitting a Pelicanite's M4 years ago and believe it let off a three round burst once at the NRA range. I didn't shoot it in public again after that. ATF has a hard on for NFA violations and they couldn't care less if it's accidental or not. Their evidence was likely heavily tainted, but Olofson still handed them this case.

[HardDrive]

I think Mr. Olofson broke the law.

I follow gun laws strictly. If a person decides not to follow the law, he should be prosecuted.

What kind of idiot lends a malfunctioning AR15 rifle to another person? Would you loan a friend a malfunctioning power saw, and not tell them about it?

[charleskieffner]

well rick..............if this guy placed parts in the lower to make it full despite not all of them that shows me as a juror here in arizona, THAT HE HAD INTENT! case closed.

david koresh had intent. documented on his ar-15's. despite the horrific circumstancrs involved atf did there job.

if ya want to point the finger at who screwed this all up, point at clyde and bonnie barrows. ie. bonnie and clyde. using a full auto BAR kind of pissed alot of people off during the depression and alot of people got dead around them. feds kind of frowned upon this poor social behavior and thats where the full auto ban came from.

i have no sympathy NONE for people that play with semis to make them full illegally. i know what it takes to own a suppressor/sbr/or a full auto trigger group. and one of the first rules of full auto ownership is you NEVER under penalty of the law loan out your full auto. the only time someone other than yourself can have that in their possession is with YOU THE FFL HOLDER standing next to him.

atf/fbi/local cops aint playing games with this and thats fine by me. i sleep better at night knowing meth crazed POS are not running around with full autos knocking over circle k's and doing home invasions. i sleep better knowing my cop friends dont have to deal with this and its a fairly well understood law. "play with a full auto w/out a fed stamp..........and you is TOAST!" DO ARIZONA-DO TIME!

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by charleskieffner

david koresh had intent. documented on his ar-15's. despite the horrific circumstancrs involved atf did there job.

If murder and mayhem is their "job" they most certainly did.

[charleskieffner]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

If murder and mayhem is their "job" they most certainly did.

well heres how laws werk. if you drink and drive, the man is gonna get 'cha. simple.

if you have an illegal machine gun or destructive device...........the man is gonna get 'cha........wayyyyy simple.

if you threaten da man while he is doing his job................well yous gonna be TOAST! wayyyy wayyy simple to understand.

if you engage in illegal firearms sales.............da man is gonna get 'cha.

i live in the cop VORTEX here in carefree/cave creek. 27 bars no real mfg or industrial job base. only income to be made is support roles for touristas(snowbirds). ie. golf/horseyback rides jeep tours restaurants etc. all income derived from bars. its called DISTRICT IV MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE. there are really cool good cops here, and some real redneck dumb ass rookies here. werking at the aeropuerto here i have pretty much met all of them or recognize them. the good cops patrol the back roads here and do a great job. the bad cops here sit on their ass and hand out 35-25 mph zone tickets all day long as well as tickets for window tint too dark(my son). they also hand out noise ordinance violations by the bucket full to bikers cruising thru.

my point being all cop agencies have good cops and bad cops just like our civilian society. atf is NO DIFFERENT. what occurred with randy weaver and koresh are examples of things getting wayyy out of hand. BUTT! both of these guys HAD ILLEGAL FIREARMS PERIOD! so did this guy mentioned above.

no sympathy for them. yes i have sympathy for the others tragically involved.