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Lou Dobbs at CNN is covering the frightening story of how feral federal agents are savaging David Olofson for loaning a broken tool to a neighbor.

[update]

Part Two,  revealing that the BATFX fraudulently kept exculpatory evidence from trial. Again, via War on Guns.

And don’t miss Kevin Baker’s excellent discussion, with many tasty links, over at The Smallest Majority.

[/update]

At the range one day, Olofson let his friend use his completely legal, semiautomatic rifle, an AR-15. (The civilian version of the full-auto rifle that is standard military issue.) The friend fired hundreds of rounds, one trigger pull at a time.

Then the 20 year old gun malfunctioned, and began firing multiple times with single trigger pulls.

Olofson was arrested, charged, and convicted of “transferring” a full-auto machine gun. The arrest was performed through a full-dress SWAT raid, including forcing Olofson’s door with a hydraulic ram. His guns, computers, and even gun books were confiscated, although nothing illegal was found. He was not shown a warrant.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, known here as the BATFX, tested his weapon and found it was not a machine gun. Unhappy with this result, they tested it again with different ammo known for having sensitive primers, and this time determined that it was.

Olofson, heretofore a law-abiding citizen, an Army veteran and Reservist with a spotless record, is now a convicted felon awaiting sentencing. He could face six years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

For possessing a malfunctioning tool, a malfunction so subtle the BATFX themselves couldn’t find it the first time they tried.

Under BATFX rules, apparently, I am myself a dangerous federal felon, as I’ve noted before, having used a malfunctioning pistol that double fired.

The CNN report notes that BATFX testing procedures are undocumented, and defendants are not allowed to witness tests. (And, if you can muddle through the orange-on-black type, Mark Knapp notes here that Olofson’s own expert, Len Savage, wasn’t even allowed to examine and test Olofson’s gun in preparation for the trial.) There are two bills before Congress, HR 4900 and HR 1791, requiring written testing procedures, and the video taping of every test.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: as the BATFX currently operates, firearms agents cannot report for duty without violating their oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. They are traitors acting under color of authority, and deserve to be put up against the wall and shot, after being allowed the same due-process consideration they’ve accorded David Olofson.

Remember, folks: these are the Only Ones gun-grabbers say are fit to keep and bear arms. They, and the BATFX, want us to be docile, helpless sheep–and they themselves are not sheepdogs, but wolves.

Not at all by the way, kudos to Lou Dobbs and CNN for covering the Olofson / BATFX story. This is real speaking-truth-to-power here, not only to the BATFX, but to the generally anti-gun, pro-tyranny press as well. Thanks, Mr. Dobbs, and keep up the good work. I hope this story gets legs and wider coverage.

Via The War on Guns.

Video here.

My comment (April 4, 2008 07:00 PM):

“Pass common sense gun laws…Every child has to have a license to drive a car. Why is it, when you sell guns, you don’t need a license to sell guns? That is unfair.”

Mayor Daley, you do have to obtain a license to sell guns–it’s called the Federal Firearms License. Not only are you required to undergo a federal background check to obtain one, but your business must submit to annual inspections by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The BATFX demands dealers achieve an error rate far below what they themselves are able to maintain, and routinely deny and revoke FFLs for trivial errors in filling out their onerous forms. But then, what can you expect from an agency that conflates one of the two tools explicitly protected by the Constitution (the other being the printing press) with two of the most addictive and destructive drugs in popular use?

And that is nothing, NOTHING, sir, to the licensing obligation the state of Illinois places on gun owners. While many states issue licenses for concealed carry, IL is one of the few states to require owners to be licensed.

“Reasonable” laws would make it easier for Illinois citizens to arm themselves for defense of themselves and their liberty, and would indeed be an improvement.

I, for one, would be thrilled to see gun owners be licensed like car drivers: easily and ubiquitously, with minimal training offered by public schools, minimal background check, subject to revocation only after due process, and licenses from any state honored by all other states (as demanded by the full faith and credit clause in Article IV section 1 of the Constitution).

But then, you’re perfectly willing to abrogate Article II of the Bill of Rights, and Article I section 22 of the Illinois Constitution, so what’s one more little bit snipped out?

Of course, Illinois is almost as dangerous as Washington D.C., which routinely vies with Chicago for the prestigious “Murder Capitol U.S.A.” award.

[Update: see this Wiki note on Chicago's and Illinois' gun control laws. Excerpts:

Illinois has some of the most restrictive firearm laws in the country.

There is no state preemption of firearm laws, with the result that some localities have outlawed the possession of handguns.

...

Some municipalities, most notably Chicago, require that all firearms be registered with the local police department.^[41] Chicago does not allow the registration of handguns, which has the effect of outlawing their possession, unless they were grandfathered in by being registered before April 16, 1982.^[42][43] Additionally, Cook County has banned assault weapons and magazines that can hold more than ten rounds of ammunition.^[44]

…

Lack of preemption makes it difficult to travel throughout Illinois with a firearm while being sure that no laws are being broken. [My emphasis--djm]

Illinois is one of two remaining states that have no provision for the concealed carry of firearms by citizens. Open carry is also illegal, except when hunting. When a firearm is being transported, it must be unloaded and enclosed in a case.^[46]

Yeah, yeah, “reasonable”. Sure, sure. You betcha.

It’s worth noting that Chicago’s gun-control laws were enacted during the 30s, when Chicago was owned and operated by the mob. Gee, it’s heartwarming, how those wise guys were willing to forbid themselves to own guns, as opposed to rendering their victims defenseless, right? [Ack, I'm unable to confirm that these laws were passed when the Mob was in its ascendancy. Researching.]

And check out this map of Illinois counties that have passed a resolution asking for relaxed concealed carry laws. Too bad Cook County outweighs the entire rest of the state.

The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (BATFX) is working to rid America of gun stores, just like the DEA is trying to rid us of drugs.

Difference is, the DEA is trying to go after outlaws who evade the law and do not file paperwork, and they are losing. The BATFX are attacking citizens who bend over backwards to abide by the law and file correct paperwork–and they have successfully shut down over 70% of the nation’s legitimate gunshops.

Most of their victims are people who have undergone thorough background checks, and who bend over backwards trying to dot every “i” and cross every “t”. This does not protect anybody but the bureaucrats. It simply provides convenient handles for the BATFX to grab you with. They are living proof of why having to register to exercise a fundamental right is a very bad idea.

Here’s a couple of Lou Dobbs segments [part 1 : part 2] introducing the problem. The David Olofson case, in which a licensed gun dealer is being railroaded because he lent a rifle to a prospective client which occasionally (once every few hundred rounds) would fire two rounds with one trigger pull, then jam.

The fundamental issue here is that the BATFX do not have set procedures for testing firearms. They simply arrange test procedures that get the results they want–and what they want is to deprive citizens of their right to keep and bear arms. In the Olofson case, for instance, they tried different ammunition until they found a type that would cause the jams.

The firearms expert shown in part 2 is Len Savage, who’s had his own run-ins with the BATFX, including a unique video of him proving the incompetence of the BATFX technician.

Another pending case is that of Red’s Trading Post, which the ATF is trying to shut down a dealer for less than perfect paperwork. The interesting thing here is that their own paperwork is very sloppy–and yet, some years ago, Thomas Busey, Firearms branch director, stated in an ATF internal training video that despite known problems, agents would always testify in court that the Bureau’s records were “100%”.

Sorry, I can’t get myself worked up over this, seeing as I believe in both the First and Second amendments.

No, wait, I can get worked up, but worked up over the response in comments, not the original article.

Folks, the instructions as given assume the hard part: possession of explosives and ordnance. If you already have the boomstuff, all this is obvious to the meanest intelligence, even jihadists. Do a search for “shaped charge”–all kinds of lovely stuff out there, even demos from the Discovery Channel on Youtube.

For example, here’s the Wikipedia instructions for preparing TNT:

TNT is synthesized in a two-step process. First, toluene is nitrated with a mixture of sulfuric and nitric acid to produce mono- and dinitrotoluene. Next, the mixture of mono- and dinitrotoluene is further nitrated with a mixture of nitric acid and oleum, a more potent nitration recipe. The waste acid from this second step can be recycled for use in the first.

This is not a recipe for preparing TNT. This is a recipe for blowing your idiot self to smithereens. The article that the LGFers are so upset about is even less useful.

A workable recipe, two pages of fine print, is found in Tenney L. Davis’ WWII classic The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives. It’s in print, and you can it buy from Amazon for $25. Hint: stock up on ice.

All you folks reporting this to the Feds: thank you ever so much for stroking the BATFX egos. Thank you for telling them you approve of suppressing this info. Thank you for playing the Zumbo card. Thank you for doing your part to make the purchase of things like nitric acid and lab glassware even more difficult than it already is. Don’t forget to vote for Giuliani.

Here’s what I want: Ahmaidjit not remotely dreaming of going to a New York where the 2nd Amendment is in effect, and where books on improvised explosives and ambush techniques are in every bookstore, because he knows he wouldn’t make it in from La Guardia. Too bad that can’t happen.