(Hypothetical Question:)
Say you get busted for an AWB violation today but your lawyer gets the hearing postponed till Nov, 2004 and the AWB sunsets in Sept 2004, would you still be able to be prosecuted for said violation?

Absolutely.

Yep.  Because it was the law at the time you broke it.  

Would you get delayed and would they nol pros?  Good chance, a hundred percent chance of it working in your favor? NO.  There isn't any real good reason to take that kind of a chance right now.

Anyone who prosecutes a violation that isn't a violation anymore is an idiot.  

I would like to see a prosecuter try to explain to taxpayers why he is wasting their money on something that isn't a crime anymore.

Like George Carlin said: "There are people doing eternity in Hell for eating meat on Friday!"

the only way you are going to get busted for having a "illegal" weapon is if you committ a crime with it, and are caught.....then the local ATF lab will go over the gun to see if it's a illegal modified machinegun, or has some other violations, then they'll just tag on the extra charge.

if you recall back in the early 90s of the guy that shot up the white house with the SKS....the charge they initially held him on was a weapons violation....having a folding stock on a postban SKS. the the other charges where added to later.

the ATF isn't going out of their to check every weapon out there to see if it's in violation. that would be like arranging sand grains on a beach by size.

i work in law enforcement and let me say that courts are hardly a place for justice.  they are a place for people to decide which manilla folders get filed and which ones get another court appearence.

there is some truth in prosecuting a charge that is no longer a crime...BUT REMEMBER the AWB wasn't about stopping crime, it was about generating more (just other types) of crime, generating revenue, and taking guns away from ordinary people.

As I recall the last person killed by a fixed bayonet was during the civil war.  But thank God for the AWB making sure it won't happen again!

Just a rant

Hard for me to believe, but I am not an attorney nor a Californian. But I don't see how you can be prosecuted for a law that is no longer on the books. Could my dad still be prosected at age 88 for drinking during prohibition ?

But I don't pretend to know anything about the law. Only a question.  

Once I was getting sued. I told my attorney that everything he sent me would go into a folder I had labled "bullshit". he said "you're gonna need a bigger folder".

RTFQ

Can you get prosecuted for an act that was illegal at the time you committed the crime and were arrested for that crime.  Leve guns out, leave emotions out.  

Yes you can be prosecuted.  Which is the correct answer.  Can meaning physical possibility.  Will you?? You may not, meaning that someone in the Prosecutorial side has to decide to prosecute or not.  They likely won't.

As far as Prohibition, no, the Statute of Limitations has run.  Statute of Limitations is the legal amount of time that is allowed between the commission of a crime/tort and when you can be arrested/indicted/prosecuted/sued.  It varies  from State to State, type of crime, what can stop the clock, etc.

Was talking with a dealer about putting together a tactical rifle. We got to talking about the legalities of having preban features on a post ban platform. This is a large gun store with many employees, several of them used to carry a badge. (I guess its either open a bar, work security, or sell guns).

They all got in to our conversation and mentioned that the DOJ is not going after lawfull citizens who may or may not add an evil feature or two to their post ban weapon, such as a collapsable stock, flash hider, etc. They are going after weapons dealers, licensed or not, who are selling illegal weapons. More money and notoriety in it. Here in WA state, the ATF is going after Bullseye Guns in Tacoma, the store that the beltway sniper ar15 was stolen from. The ATF also ran a sting and busted a guy who owned Top Guns. They stung him for possessing M16 parts.. Gave him a second chance, told him that he was not to be involved with dealing weapons again directly with customers, but he could work in the back room doing paperwork, etc. So a couple of undercover agents go to his store a few months later, ask the sales woman some questions about guns that she couldn't answer, and the undercover agents ask to talk to "that guy". So he comes to the counter and starts to answer their questions about this gun or that gun, this feature, that feature. They have the entire conversation on tape and video. They arrest him on the spot and now he is doing time in a federal pen.

Moral to this story is this.
There are bigger fish to fry than the individual law abiding citizen...who may or may not have an evil feature on their weapon.

How many atf agents have you seen at your local rifle range asking to see your rifle, examine it, compare its serial number to the list of exempt weapons, etc. NONE.

I am fairly certain there are more than a few of you out there who have a collapsable stock on their post ban lower.

Having said all of that, it will be legal again in just over a year....

Amen.

BTW fuck bill clinton. (woops already been done)

"How many atf agents have you seen at your local rifle range asking to see your rifle, examine it, compare its serial number to the list of exempt weapons, etc. NONE."

ATF agents are not stupid enough to do that anywhere they are outnumbered by armed civilians.

Just rember this:

A good lawyer knows the law.
A great lawyer knows the judge.

--QD

There was a person in Milwaukee who was "busted" for having a LEGAL pre-ban...had to spend $money$ to go to court and clear his name...he won, but the weapon was already "lost" (destroyed?) and he recieved no compensation whatsoever. In BATF-land...you can get busted for no reason at all.

Its not the ATF being at the range, that you have to worry about. It's the local cops that stop you going to/from the range, or even the shooter next to you at the range, who calls the ATFE and tells them you have an illegal assault weapon.

ATFE doesn't have to check, all they have to do is wait by the phone.

None, but I've only been to an outdoor range once when I didn't see a local or state LEO looking around at the equipment.  There is no way I'd ever take anything questionable to a shooting range.

As to prosecuting something that's no longer illegal, of course if it was against the law when you broke the law, that won't stop them and that isn't a valid defense.  My unlucky great-nephew was busted for buying Rogaine.  At that time, there weren't any local doctors that would prescribe it.  The local cops busted a large distributor, and to get out of jail time, he turned over a list of his buyers.  My great-nephew ended-up on probation [b]after[/b] Rogaine became legal for sale OTC.  The local guys didn't consider it a waste of time to pursue a case against a guy who was trying to keep his hair, and I'm sure they'd love even more to bust someone for a "gun" violation.z

Remember this:

The ATF will only go after you if it suits their purposes or is politically expidient.

CRC