'Broken gun' conviction upheld by court

'Broken gun' conviction upheld by court: "'Broken gun' conviction upheld by court
Rules government does not need to provide evidence to defendant


Posted: May 04, 2009
10:05 pm Eastern


By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

What a federal agent did during a testing procedure to result in 'automatic' fire from an AR-15 has no bearing on the case of a man convicted of transferring a 'machinegun' after he loaned to a prospective buyer the gun he considered a semi-automatic rifle, according to a ruling from a panel of appellate judges.

The ruling has come in the case of David Olofson, a Wisconsin man sent to prison for 30 months after a semi-automatic rifle he loaned to a prospective buyer unleashed several bursts of multiple rounds and then jammed.

His defense team had explained the case is about nothing more than a malfunctioning gun, and there was evidence to support that. But according to judges Daniel Manion, Michael Kanne and Virginia Kendall of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals the weapon is a machinegun, and government information about the tests that determined that are not pertinent.

Constitutional lawyer Herb Titus, who argued at the appellate level on behalf of Olofson, said the government's case was simple: 'Olofson's malfunctioning semi-automatic rifle functioned as a machine gun because it fired more than one shot at the single pull of a trigger.'

However, Titus contended the government's position is contrary to fact, established law and precedent."