Gun owning PHONIES sick Feds on "Liberal Artist"

[Unrepentant Fenian]

Take a look at this link ,there is an "update" on pg 3. This group of gun owners have sicked the Feds on an artist for making art out of smashed guns. They seem to think that people should be able to own fully functional machine guns, but if you're a "Liberal Artist" using non functional guns, you are supporting terrorism. Are these people winy, nuts, paranoid or do they have a valid gripe? I'm going with winy, paranoid sour grapes.
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=687805

[I work for workers]

1. Maybe they support enforcing the law as currently written?

A machine gun is a machine gun, whether you bring it to the range or make a statue out of it. If they are right, there is an artist looking at some serious trouble.

[Unrepentant Fenian]

2. They're NON FUNCTIONING machine guns!!!

[NickB79]

3. Define "non-functioning"

By law, to destroy a firearm and declare it non-functional, the receiver must be cut into at least 3 pieces with 1/4" of metal removed between each cut so that it can never be re-assembled. This is known as demilling, and appears to be what the posters are talking about at your link. The BATF is very strict on this. You could remove the trigger, stock, magazine and even the barrel, yet the gun would still be illegal because the receiver is intact and could be rebuilt to a functional state.

Also, if the artist is IMPORTING the guns BEFORE demilling them, that is also a big no-no according to US weapons import laws.

[Unrepentant Fenian]

5. What would he be charged with?

What would he be charged with? Possession of scrap metal? Doesn't seem like he could be charged with possession of a machine gun. Would you feel just as compelled to "Rat" on a fellow employee who had a gun in his car while in the company parking lot if it would get him fired? Or is it just because the guy is anti-gun and exercising his first amendment right to express those thoughts?

[Pavulon]

6. Violation of NFA of 1934

10 year mandatory prison time and 10,000 fine. That is a gun law that is ALWAYS enforced. One single part a machine gun makes.


You are comparing a civil matter, weapon on company property vs criminal violation of federal law.

[NickB79]

11. Except it isn't scrap metal according to the BATF

If it wasn't demilled properly, it's still a machinegun in the eyes of the law.

[I work for workers]

4. If the receiver is functioning, then they just need some parts added on.

The ATF isn't very nice. They don't really care if you take the stock off and glue your gun to a poster. I'm sure the sculptor isn't intending to smuggle machine guns into the country, but if that is what he inadvertently did, he's in for a world of hurt.

Internet people love to p0wn each other. This is a pretty open and shut case of p0wnage if the gun forum guys are right.

[Occulus]

8. The ATF can find a work of art "illegal"?

Imagine that.

Here's an 'illegal' haiku epic:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/DeCSS/Gallery/decss-haiku.txt

RELEASE THE HOUNDS!

[Unrepentant Fenian]

10. Maybe you're right...

Let's help the ATF to flex their muscle more. I own guns and would NEVER consider turning this guy in, or anyone who breaks ATF technicalities. Why help them exagerate the "gun problem"?

[I work for workers]

12. Like I said, open and shut case of p0wnage.

The artist thought he could p0wn the gun guys by destroying precious guns. Unfortunately for him, he apparently did not understand the function of guns or America's gun laws. The AR-15 guys do, and they seem to have alerted the ATF that he is illegally smuggling machine guns into the country.

The internet doesn't care about right and wrong. It cares about p0wnage. This artist just got p0wn3d in the worst way. If he actually goes to jail, this will easily make the top 10 p0wnag3s I've ever seen.

[aikoaiko]

14. I tend to agree with you -- I saw this a while ago and never thought about turning him in....

...but when anti-gun zealots get a taste of the boot of the ATF they might reconsider some of the ridiculous laws that they enforce.

[AX10]

7. Must be from the Ted Nugent camp.

[Wickerman]

9. I like that the patriots on the site vacillate between

turning him in for treason since he is trading with the Afghans for the weapons and turning him in for having the audacity of destroying the very weapons they would love to have.

Of course, this treasonous bastard is actually trading the guns away from the militants. Guns away from the terrorists? Good.

If he is guilty of weapons violations he should be charged. I kinda think that is between the artist and the BATF. I find the reasons the message board in question is going after him to be specious at best, disingenuous to be polite, and frankly, downright shitty.

[aikoaiko]

13. Valid gripe

The ATF mercilessly pursues people who have illegal machine guns. Of course some people are knowingly purchasing illegal made or imported machine guns or converting semiautos (tougher to do than many people think), and they should be zealously prosecuted.

But the ATF also crosses the line from time to time for violations of the law where there was no intent to violate it (e.g., David Olofson charged over a malfunctioning rifle) and sometimes the ATF is just ridiculous (e.g., shoestrings as machine guns).

So yes, when an anti-gun critic is importing illegal machine guns (the receivers are what is really important) that aren't properly demilled, then I think they have a valid gripe.

It is not at all hypocritical for pro-gun people to say that to the ATF that if they are going to hammer pro-gun people with the law, then you have to hit the anti-gun people just as hard when they are in violation, but still want to change the law for everyone.

[Squatch]

15. For the record, people CAN own fully-functional machine guns

provided they obtain the permit and pay the requisite fee.

[I work for workers]

16. Yes, but the point is that this guy didn't.

I don't even think he has a FFL. He has some sort of silly Cali-only "gun breakers" license that apparently he used to get around the law.

[Squatch]

17. Yup. I was just refuting the OP.

[krispos42]

18. The problem with this is that....

In California, there is a ban on "assault weapons". After 2000 all existing "assault weapons" must be registered with the State, and new "assault weapons", including AK-47-pattern rifles, cannot be sold or transferred to anybody within the state.

If Ricker is importing AK-47-pattern semi-automatic rifles (such as is legal in Nevada) into his San Fransisco studio and working with them, he is violating California law.

I suppose this state license for gun destruction might be saving him, though, although if he's bringing them into other states that have similar bans on "assault weapons", such as Connecticut or Massachusettes, he might well be in trouble.

He might also be in trouble for "brandishing" weapons, especially when his has his forge set up in an urban area. Waving around a few non-destroyed rifles in a public area? Throwing guns that might contain ammunition into a fire?

And how about bringing those guns into a Gun-Free School Zone? I seem to recall that we're suppose to be coming down harshly on that.


Sounds like he's a victim of the gun laws people that don't like guns advocate for.




There is no mention in the article about fully-automatic weapons either way.

The piece includes curving AK-47s Ricker purchased from a Czech arms dealer...

There are plenty of arms importers that import from the Czech Republic, and since "AK-47" is usually used generically to mean "AK-47-pattern rifle" in the media, that term in and of itself is meaningless.

<edit: typo>