Rapper T.I. arrested on federal weapons charges

[krispos42]

Source: CNN.com

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Rapper T.I. was arrested Saturday as he allegedly tried to add three machine guns and two silencers to what authorities said was an "arsenal" of weapons that, as a convicted felon, he was not allowed to own.

<snip>

Three other guns were found in the vehicle he was driving, authorities said, and police executing a search warrant at his home in suburban College Park, Georgia, found six additional guns, five of them loaded, in his bedroom closet.

<snip>

The guns were not registered on the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record as required by law, and the witness -- who was worked as a bodyguard for Harris since July -- told authorities he was purchasing them for Harris, and had bought about nine guns for him previously, the statement said.

On Wednesday, authorities said, Harris arranged for the witness to pick up $12,000 in cash from a bank to use in buying the guns. After being arrested and agreeing to cooperate with ATF, the witness had a series of phone calls with Harris, which authorities recorded, the statement said.

<more>

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/10/13/rapper.arrested/index.html

---

Looks like they caught him trying to buy actual-factual automatic weapons. Not civilian-legal semi-automatic "assault weapons" that were targeted unsuccessfully by the 1993 Assault Weapons Ban. This is full-auto rock-and-roll stuff.

The National Firearms Registry, which is where all fully-automatic firearms, artillery, grenades, and explosive shells are registered, was closed to new additions in 1986. So even if he was able to buy such weapons with the appropriate federal permit, he could only legally buy from the list of weapons already on the list. And he didn't have the permit. And he's a convicted felon who can't own ANY gun. And he was carrying concealed.

These are serious federal and state violations. He might not get out for decades.

They arrested him hours before the BET Music Awards, where he was nominated for nine awards, the most of any artist, just FYI.

The ATF needs to investigate this very thouroghly and the DoJ needs to come down like a hammer on the people that buy and sell weapons illegally.

[rocktivity]

1. No doubt his supporters will scream racism because of the timing of the arrest

Another example of "the man" holding a brother back. Maybe T.I. can claim the guns were necessary to establish his "street cred" and deduct them as a business expense.

:eyes:
rocknation

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

6. this guy has a criminal record a mile long, cry me a fucking river

It seems you can't arrest a fucking criminal anymore without somebody crying something,

[rocktivity]

12. AND AWAYYYYYYY WE GO!

EXCLUSIVE NEW INFO ON TI ARREST!!! HE WAS SET UP!!

...According to a person intimately close to the investigation, TI's bodyguard's was arrested earlier this year on gun possession charges. But instead of accepting the charge, the bodyguard agreed to cooperate with federal agents and participate in a sting operation designed to catch rapper T.I.

And the sting worked. The insider told MediaTakeOut.com that earlier today, the bodyguard managed to coax T.I. into purchasing a machine gun from him. That's when, we learned, the feds moved in and arrested TI...

:boring:
rocknation

[BronxBoy]

24. Most of the comments....

seem to suggest that he was a dumbass for getting involved in this.

They certainly don't seem to be circling the wagons around him although you do have the few clueless ones yelling set up

[bluestateguy]

2. I don't know what this man's individual situation is

but to me, if you've served your time, including parole and probation, why shouldn't you have the right to own a firearm and defend yourself?

If the guns he owned are illegal (fully automatic machine guns), though, he must be held accountable.

[monktonman]

4. So if I stuck up your grandmother..............

with my pistol and stole her Social security money,
I should be able to carry a gun after serving my sentence??
Just askin.

[bluestateguy]

7. Yes

with my pistol and stole her Social security money,
I should be able to carry a gun after serving my sentence??
Just askin.

Yes.

[monktonman]

8. So violent crime means nothing to you?

Your curt answer alone lets me know I'm wasting my time.
Forget I said anything.

[Middle finga]

3. America is a crazy gun loving nation so what's the big deal?

[benEzra]

18. When the gun is an illegal machinegun, a whole different set of laws come into play...

Possession of any automatic weapon without Federal authorization is a Very Big Deal. As in, 10-year Federal felony for each offense big deal. As in, the Waco raid in '93 was based on suspicion of that crime.

Prosecutors don't always treat possession of a gun by a criminal as a big deal (gun offenses are often the first to be plea-bargained away), but when the gun is an illegal machinegun, a whole different set of laws come into play.

[slackmaster]

19. Must be racist cops

Yeah, that's the ticket.

[BadgerLaw2010]

23. Possession of military weapons.

Contrary to the "assault weapon" hype, fully automatic weapons are neither common nor legal.

The government seriously does not like them.

[mark414]

5. if this keeps him from ever recording another song, then the system works

and i say that as a big hip hop fan....

[LiberalVoice]

9. As a big hip hop fan I say...

TI ain't hip hop. And I agree with you completely :D

[PFunk]

10. Same here.

In fact TI and his (corporate-backed) ganster rap crap practicially helped killed real hip-hop (or at least drove it underground).

[UncleTomsEvilBrother]

11. I know I'm on the verge of sounding fascist here, but.....

....where in the hell in the US does a person need a machine gun, anyway? This dude has millions. There is no need for him to have enough firearms to rival an American high school student.:sarcasm:

[guntard]

22. Most full auto weapons in the US are used for recreational purposes

As you can see here.

[Toots]

13. If only he would donate all of his guns to the school system

All violence at schools would end immediately..We all know how effective death penalties are for deterrence so the same would apply at the schools..:crazy:

[-..__...]

14. "He might not get out for decades."

10 years and/or $250,000 per NFA violation (and that's without any prior felony conviction). It would be nice if he got sentenced even to 1/4 of that, but he won't.

Too bad they didn't bust him live on stage with the cameras rolling. That would have been priceless! :rofl:

[rocktivity]

20. His record of prior convictions is surprisingly fuzzy

...T.I. was convicted of a violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act in 1998 and given seven years probation, the Department of Justice said....
link

...In May 2006, T.I.'s best friend, Philant Johnson, was killed and three others were injured in a gun shootout after a post-performance party in Cincinnati. The killer remains at large, and T.I. was briefly locked up a few days after the funeral on suspicion of failing to perform community service stemming from a 2003 arrest.

...After years of hustling to launch his rap career...his first taste of success came with his 2003 album "Trap Muzik." But the next year, warrants were issued for his arrest on probation violations for a drug conviction, and he was sentenced to three years behind bars. It wasn't clear Saturday how much of the sentence he actually served.
link

By the way, TI won two BET awards, sharing one for Album Of The Year. I guess sharing is preferable to a sore loser initiating another shootout. I'll stick with headbanging, thank you--all we do is slam dance and worship Satan.

:headbang:
rocknation

[ldf]

15. i was going to say "great career move"

but apparently he has already established his street creds in that area.

you ain't cool unless you done some time...

the sarcasm smilie doesn't fit here. it is a sad state of some of today's music scene subcultures, but apparently true.

:shrug:

[wellst0nev0ter]

16. I Wonder Why He's Fighting Jail Time

Wouldn't it improve his street cred? :eyes:

[mitchum]

17. Meet Me In The Joint

[AlCzervik]

21. it's going down, meet me in the club it's going down.

:rofl: