Jeff Thomas
New member
As reported via email, and also see www.keepandbeararms.com - as well as www.maadigriffin.com .
KeepAndBearArms.com SPECIAL REPORT
*********************************
http://www.keepandbeararms.com/newsarchives/XcNewsPlus.asp?cmd=view&articleid=280
U.S. vs. STEWART -- ATF MISFIRES AGAIN
TODAY'S HEARING IN COURT REVEALS ATF INEPTITUDE
by Angel Shamaya
Executive Director http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com
(Phoenix, Arizona) July 10, 2000
Bob Stewart will be sleeping in his own bed again tonight.
All arguments in the government's current case against him have
been heard, cross examinations of the only two expert
witnesses in today's hearing have been conducted, and
the judge is expected to offer his opinion as court
reconvenes on Thursday, July 13, at 10:30am in the 9th
circuit court in Phoenix.
If you've been on summer vacation for the last month
and missed this case, Mr. Stewart and his family were
raided by 10 BATF agents and 3 Mesa police at their
home in Mesa, Arizona on June 16. Mr. Stewart has for
the last several years sold incomplete .50 caliber rifle
kits bearing no serial numbers. His position is that
the kit is not a firearm as it is incapable of firing
a live round without significant modification. The
BATF raided his home in contention that the non-firing
kits are in fact guns because they are "readily made
functional as explosive devices which fire a projectile."
(You can read the past news reports on this case here: http://www.maadi-griffin.com/.)
Judge Anderson is a Vietnam veteran (according to AZ
libertarian party unaffiliated chair, Liz Andreasen,
who was present and taking copious notes to report for
SierraTimes.com.) The judge who fought in the war our
own President evaded is hearing a case that could lead
to a Second Amendment battle. And from what happened
today and in Mr. Stewart's June 22 hearing, it looks
like the judge is committed to issuing a fair opinion.
Following are detailed accounts of today's hearing for
people who wish to know more.
Today's arguments revolved around whether or not the
.50 caliber kit is legally classifiable as a firearm.
At issue is the definition of the word "readily" as in
"readily made to fire a projectile". Mr. Stewart doesn't
have a federal firearms license and, if the court rules
that he was selling guns without a license, Stewart
could be facing prison--again--and this is where this
case gets sticky. Mr. Stewart was convicted of a felony
in 1994 for manufacturing and transferring fully automatic
machine guns. Bob Stewart spent 1 year and 4 months of
his life behind bars for what both he and his lovely wife
hold to this day as "a setup to run us out of business".
He is a convicted felon, and the government says a
convicted felon cannot have possession of a gun, period.
(Yes, that includes residents of Maine who get caught with
a lobster under the legal weight requirement, and yes, that
includes women who've been raped three times in Massachusetts
and get caught carrying a gun because they aren't interested
in there being a 4th. Felony means no gun in your possession
unless the felony is expunged from the court records, sayeth
King George. Please pardon my digression.) But court rulings
since Mr. Stewart's conviction are expected to get his
conviction overturned, so a legal web is weaving itself
in odd circumstances aplenty. Back to today's hearing...
BATF's attorney, Mr. Welty, in his opening statements today
held up an assembled .50 Maadi-Griffin rifle kit and said,
"We're here today to answer the question 'Is this a gun?'"
The issue was not whether or not a converted Maadi-Griffin
kit is a gun; the issue hinges on whether or not a
Maadi-Griffin KIT is "readily" rendered into a workable
firearm. The judge let it ride, and so did Bob Stewart's
defense attorney, Mr. Haney. The opening statements otherwise
seemed rather bland. At one point, the judge urged both
counsels to "get to the reason we are here."
A partial kit that was stolen from Bob Stewart's home during
the raid on June 16 was entered as evidence. The kit that BATF
purchased through an undercover agent and PARTIALLY (more on
that in a moment) converted was also admitted as evidence.
The instruction manual for converting the kit was admitted,
as well.
And then the hair splitting began.
Each side called one expert witness apiece, and each side
cross examined the other's witness. BATF got first dibs
and called Curtis Barlett, the BATF Chief of Firearms
Technology from their D.C. office. Mr. Bartlett has been
at his job "classifying firearms" for 26 of his 27 years
with the agency. Though he claims he has testified in
approximately 300 court cases for his employer, the federal
government, he cannot remember the last time he has converted
or heard of the conversion of a kit for investigation-"maybe
10 years". In the same breath, he testified that he knows of
many similar kits of various makes and models advertised in a
magazine he claims to read: Shotgun News.
Expert Witness Bartlett explained that he was able to assemble
the entire kit into a firearm in a total of 80 minutes: 15
minutes to read the manual, 35 minutes to cut and otherwise
modify the receiver, and 30 minutes to assemble the contraption
into a workable firearm. Here is where the BATF exhibits a
severe case or moronism: Mr. Barlett explained that he then
fired a blank cartridge (not a bullet, a primer inside a .50
caliber shell casing) to "prove" that it was now, after 80
minutes of focus, a firearm! Yes, you read that right. He
didn't fire the only ammo the gun is designed to fire and
traveled all the way across the nation at taxpayers' expenses
to testify on the conversion time of the kit he didn't fully
convert. Brilliant move, BATF.
Cross examination by defense attorney Haney posed an obvious
question: How much more time would you have put into the job
of converting this kit into a firearm if you were going to
fire a real round of live ammunition? Barlett's response
after much quibbling: probably twice as much time. Further
questioning of this "expert" government agent revealed that
several of the required modifications of the kit were not
made, either. These required modifications as spelled out
in the assembly manual of which BATF has numerous copies
include welding, determining proper fit (headspacing) to
assure safe firing of a live round, fastening of the muzzle
brake, and a couple of other things stated in plain English
in the instruction manual, suggesting that along with having
a propensity for invading people's homes in Nazi-style no-knock
raids and pointing unregistered machine guns at little kids,
BATF cannot read or follow simple instructions.
Agent Bartlett defended his lack of complete conversion by
stating that "as long as it can fire one round, it is a firearm,
and our conversion could be made to fire one round." How much
money we could collect in a pool to get him to fire his
incomplete conversion will forever remain a mystery, but
I'd put up my best rifle just to watch him shoot the
partially-modified "firearm"--but I'd be watching with
interest from a distance. I've never seen a government
agent's head blown off of his body due to utter incompetence,
and I think that would be worth a good rifle. The .50 caliber
bullet holds as much gun powder as a hand grenade; it is best
to assemble it properly.
The next witness was called by Bob Stewart's defense attorney,
Mr. Haney. Mr. Haney called Bill Richardson to the stand.
Mr. Richardson is a firearms manufacturer consultant of 18
years, and apparently a specialist in the field of
computerized machining equipment. While Mr. Richardson
stated plainly that to do the job right on a conversion
of a Maadi-Griffin kit would require specialized skill or
a good amount of time for a novice, he did concede that
the machining of the receiver could be accomplished in the
amount of time it took the BATF's primer-firing Chief of
Firearms Technology if someone was skilled in the craft of
firearms conversion. Nothing seemed to be gained or lost on
either side from Mr. Richardson's testimony, but his bias
toward the defense of Mr. Stewart was readily apparent.
Of the 23 people in the courtroom audience, I also estimate
that 18-20 of us were there in support of Bob Stewart, as well.
The judge was paying attention to this shenanigans displayed
by the BATF's "specialist" who didn't even finish the
conversion OR fire a real live round of real live ammo,
and his eyebrows went up more than once during Bartlett's
testimony. My personal opinion is that he will come back
and rule that a complete conversion was never made, because
it wasn't. (We will know for sure on Thursday.) But I don't
think this case will hinge on the amount of time it took for
the feds to partially convert Bob Stewart's kit. This case is
going to get much bigger than that. Bob Stewart believes his
case is going to require a ruling on the Second Amendment, and
he may just be right. Allow me to elaborate.
If the judge rules that the kit is NOT a firearm, according
to the rules of admissibility in the district court, the BATF
will not be allowed to admit any other evidence outside of the
items mentioned in the search warrant. Bob Stewart says he will
then sue the BATF for a host of infringements and infractions
against himself and his family. Pointing a gun at his 7-year-old
boy. Cuffing his wife, Naomi, in their front yard for all the
neighbors to see. Cuffing Mr. Stewart for two hours with two
thugs holding glock pistols to his head while they trashed his
home without ever bothering to show him the search warrant he
was vocally requesting, stole his computer, all his files and
records, the kits he was repairing for his customers, et cetera.
If Mr. Stewart was breaking no law, these guys screwed up
royally--and he intends to make them pay for their mistake in
money he says will go to set up a legal defense foundation to
help other gun owners who are similarly victimized by the hired
thugs of federal agencies.
On the other hand, if the judge rules that the Maadi-Griffin kit
IS a firearm, Bob Stewart intends to appeal based on his Second
Amendment right to keep and bear arms. According to Mr. Stewart,
should the judge rule that the kit is a firearm, when court
rulings that have occurred since his conviction overturn that
conviction and restore his rights, he genuinely believes he
can ride this case to a jury trial--and win. Lofty? Yes.
Doable? Bob Stewart is convinced.
We shall see.
I will attend the judge's ruling on Thursday, June 13, and I
will offer a full report to all who are on our email list at
that time. If this report was forwarded to you, feel free to
sign up for our email reports on our site at http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com.
We are also offering a brand new, fully operational, all
stainless steel .50 caliber Maadi-Griffin to a lucky member
of our organization. As soon as we reach 2,500 members, we're
putting all the names in a hat and picking the lucky winner.
All you need to do to get your name in the hat is support our
organization by becoming a member for $29.95. We genuinely
require financial assistance, and we just made the commitment
to give 20% of every penny generated from this membership drive
from this day forward to the Bob Stewart Defense Fund. You'll
get a one-year membership with our organization plus a chance to
win a fine rifle plus a chance to help Bob Stewart. Contrary to
his earlier statements, he does in fact need financial help if
this case is to go much further. Please help us press on.
Please help us help Bob Stewart's legal drive. Please join
our organization and get your name in the drawing to win the
king of all rifles--the Maadi-Griffin .50 caliber Stainless
Model 89. http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/members/
You can see a picture of the rifle we are giving away here: http://www.keepandbeararms.com/newsarchives/XcNewsPlus.asp?cmd=view&articleid=260
GOD BLESS AMERICA ! ! !
[This message has been edited by Jeff Thomas (edited July 11, 2000).]
KeepAndBearArms.com SPECIAL REPORT
*********************************
http://www.keepandbeararms.com/newsarchives/XcNewsPlus.asp?cmd=view&articleid=280
U.S. vs. STEWART -- ATF MISFIRES AGAIN
TODAY'S HEARING IN COURT REVEALS ATF INEPTITUDE
by Angel Shamaya
Executive Director http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com
(Phoenix, Arizona) July 10, 2000
Bob Stewart will be sleeping in his own bed again tonight.
All arguments in the government's current case against him have
been heard, cross examinations of the only two expert
witnesses in today's hearing have been conducted, and
the judge is expected to offer his opinion as court
reconvenes on Thursday, July 13, at 10:30am in the 9th
circuit court in Phoenix.
If you've been on summer vacation for the last month
and missed this case, Mr. Stewart and his family were
raided by 10 BATF agents and 3 Mesa police at their
home in Mesa, Arizona on June 16. Mr. Stewart has for
the last several years sold incomplete .50 caliber rifle
kits bearing no serial numbers. His position is that
the kit is not a firearm as it is incapable of firing
a live round without significant modification. The
BATF raided his home in contention that the non-firing
kits are in fact guns because they are "readily made
functional as explosive devices which fire a projectile."
(You can read the past news reports on this case here: http://www.maadi-griffin.com/.)
Judge Anderson is a Vietnam veteran (according to AZ
libertarian party unaffiliated chair, Liz Andreasen,
who was present and taking copious notes to report for
SierraTimes.com.) The judge who fought in the war our
own President evaded is hearing a case that could lead
to a Second Amendment battle. And from what happened
today and in Mr. Stewart's June 22 hearing, it looks
like the judge is committed to issuing a fair opinion.
Following are detailed accounts of today's hearing for
people who wish to know more.
Today's arguments revolved around whether or not the
.50 caliber kit is legally classifiable as a firearm.
At issue is the definition of the word "readily" as in
"readily made to fire a projectile". Mr. Stewart doesn't
have a federal firearms license and, if the court rules
that he was selling guns without a license, Stewart
could be facing prison--again--and this is where this
case gets sticky. Mr. Stewart was convicted of a felony
in 1994 for manufacturing and transferring fully automatic
machine guns. Bob Stewart spent 1 year and 4 months of
his life behind bars for what both he and his lovely wife
hold to this day as "a setup to run us out of business".
He is a convicted felon, and the government says a
convicted felon cannot have possession of a gun, period.
(Yes, that includes residents of Maine who get caught with
a lobster under the legal weight requirement, and yes, that
includes women who've been raped three times in Massachusetts
and get caught carrying a gun because they aren't interested
in there being a 4th. Felony means no gun in your possession
unless the felony is expunged from the court records, sayeth
King George. Please pardon my digression.) But court rulings
since Mr. Stewart's conviction are expected to get his
conviction overturned, so a legal web is weaving itself
in odd circumstances aplenty. Back to today's hearing...
BATF's attorney, Mr. Welty, in his opening statements today
held up an assembled .50 Maadi-Griffin rifle kit and said,
"We're here today to answer the question 'Is this a gun?'"
The issue was not whether or not a converted Maadi-Griffin
kit is a gun; the issue hinges on whether or not a
Maadi-Griffin KIT is "readily" rendered into a workable
firearm. The judge let it ride, and so did Bob Stewart's
defense attorney, Mr. Haney. The opening statements otherwise
seemed rather bland. At one point, the judge urged both
counsels to "get to the reason we are here."
A partial kit that was stolen from Bob Stewart's home during
the raid on June 16 was entered as evidence. The kit that BATF
purchased through an undercover agent and PARTIALLY (more on
that in a moment) converted was also admitted as evidence.
The instruction manual for converting the kit was admitted,
as well.
And then the hair splitting began.
Each side called one expert witness apiece, and each side
cross examined the other's witness. BATF got first dibs
and called Curtis Barlett, the BATF Chief of Firearms
Technology from their D.C. office. Mr. Bartlett has been
at his job "classifying firearms" for 26 of his 27 years
with the agency. Though he claims he has testified in
approximately 300 court cases for his employer, the federal
government, he cannot remember the last time he has converted
or heard of the conversion of a kit for investigation-"maybe
10 years". In the same breath, he testified that he knows of
many similar kits of various makes and models advertised in a
magazine he claims to read: Shotgun News.
Expert Witness Bartlett explained that he was able to assemble
the entire kit into a firearm in a total of 80 minutes: 15
minutes to read the manual, 35 minutes to cut and otherwise
modify the receiver, and 30 minutes to assemble the contraption
into a workable firearm. Here is where the BATF exhibits a
severe case or moronism: Mr. Barlett explained that he then
fired a blank cartridge (not a bullet, a primer inside a .50
caliber shell casing) to "prove" that it was now, after 80
minutes of focus, a firearm! Yes, you read that right. He
didn't fire the only ammo the gun is designed to fire and
traveled all the way across the nation at taxpayers' expenses
to testify on the conversion time of the kit he didn't fully
convert. Brilliant move, BATF.
Cross examination by defense attorney Haney posed an obvious
question: How much more time would you have put into the job
of converting this kit into a firearm if you were going to
fire a real round of live ammunition? Barlett's response
after much quibbling: probably twice as much time. Further
questioning of this "expert" government agent revealed that
several of the required modifications of the kit were not
made, either. These required modifications as spelled out
in the assembly manual of which BATF has numerous copies
include welding, determining proper fit (headspacing) to
assure safe firing of a live round, fastening of the muzzle
brake, and a couple of other things stated in plain English
in the instruction manual, suggesting that along with having
a propensity for invading people's homes in Nazi-style no-knock
raids and pointing unregistered machine guns at little kids,
BATF cannot read or follow simple instructions.
Agent Bartlett defended his lack of complete conversion by
stating that "as long as it can fire one round, it is a firearm,
and our conversion could be made to fire one round." How much
money we could collect in a pool to get him to fire his
incomplete conversion will forever remain a mystery, but
I'd put up my best rifle just to watch him shoot the
partially-modified "firearm"--but I'd be watching with
interest from a distance. I've never seen a government
agent's head blown off of his body due to utter incompetence,
and I think that would be worth a good rifle. The .50 caliber
bullet holds as much gun powder as a hand grenade; it is best
to assemble it properly.
The next witness was called by Bob Stewart's defense attorney,
Mr. Haney. Mr. Haney called Bill Richardson to the stand.
Mr. Richardson is a firearms manufacturer consultant of 18
years, and apparently a specialist in the field of
computerized machining equipment. While Mr. Richardson
stated plainly that to do the job right on a conversion
of a Maadi-Griffin kit would require specialized skill or
a good amount of time for a novice, he did concede that
the machining of the receiver could be accomplished in the
amount of time it took the BATF's primer-firing Chief of
Firearms Technology if someone was skilled in the craft of
firearms conversion. Nothing seemed to be gained or lost on
either side from Mr. Richardson's testimony, but his bias
toward the defense of Mr. Stewart was readily apparent.
Of the 23 people in the courtroom audience, I also estimate
that 18-20 of us were there in support of Bob Stewart, as well.
The judge was paying attention to this shenanigans displayed
by the BATF's "specialist" who didn't even finish the
conversion OR fire a real live round of real live ammo,
and his eyebrows went up more than once during Bartlett's
testimony. My personal opinion is that he will come back
and rule that a complete conversion was never made, because
it wasn't. (We will know for sure on Thursday.) But I don't
think this case will hinge on the amount of time it took for
the feds to partially convert Bob Stewart's kit. This case is
going to get much bigger than that. Bob Stewart believes his
case is going to require a ruling on the Second Amendment, and
he may just be right. Allow me to elaborate.
If the judge rules that the kit is NOT a firearm, according
to the rules of admissibility in the district court, the BATF
will not be allowed to admit any other evidence outside of the
items mentioned in the search warrant. Bob Stewart says he will
then sue the BATF for a host of infringements and infractions
against himself and his family. Pointing a gun at his 7-year-old
boy. Cuffing his wife, Naomi, in their front yard for all the
neighbors to see. Cuffing Mr. Stewart for two hours with two
thugs holding glock pistols to his head while they trashed his
home without ever bothering to show him the search warrant he
was vocally requesting, stole his computer, all his files and
records, the kits he was repairing for his customers, et cetera.
If Mr. Stewart was breaking no law, these guys screwed up
royally--and he intends to make them pay for their mistake in
money he says will go to set up a legal defense foundation to
help other gun owners who are similarly victimized by the hired
thugs of federal agencies.
On the other hand, if the judge rules that the Maadi-Griffin kit
IS a firearm, Bob Stewart intends to appeal based on his Second
Amendment right to keep and bear arms. According to Mr. Stewart,
should the judge rule that the kit is a firearm, when court
rulings that have occurred since his conviction overturn that
conviction and restore his rights, he genuinely believes he
can ride this case to a jury trial--and win. Lofty? Yes.
Doable? Bob Stewart is convinced.
We shall see.
I will attend the judge's ruling on Thursday, June 13, and I
will offer a full report to all who are on our email list at
that time. If this report was forwarded to you, feel free to
sign up for our email reports on our site at http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com.
We are also offering a brand new, fully operational, all
stainless steel .50 caliber Maadi-Griffin to a lucky member
of our organization. As soon as we reach 2,500 members, we're
putting all the names in a hat and picking the lucky winner.
All you need to do to get your name in the hat is support our
organization by becoming a member for $29.95. We genuinely
require financial assistance, and we just made the commitment
to give 20% of every penny generated from this membership drive
from this day forward to the Bob Stewart Defense Fund. You'll
get a one-year membership with our organization plus a chance to
win a fine rifle plus a chance to help Bob Stewart. Contrary to
his earlier statements, he does in fact need financial help if
this case is to go much further. Please help us press on.
Please help us help Bob Stewart's legal drive. Please join
our organization and get your name in the drawing to win the
king of all rifles--the Maadi-Griffin .50 caliber Stainless
Model 89. http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/members/
You can see a picture of the rifle we are giving away here: http://www.keepandbeararms.com/newsarchives/XcNewsPlus.asp?cmd=view&articleid=260
GOD BLESS AMERICA ! ! !
[This message has been edited by Jeff Thomas (edited July 11, 2000).]