Mar 27 2009 2:46 PM EDT T.I.: 'I Hope That Others Can Learn From My Mistakes'

[ej510]

Source: MTV

MC answered questions after his sentencing on weapons charges Friday.

By Jocelyn Vena

After T.I. gave a statement regarding his sentencing at a press conference on Friday (March 27), the rapper, who was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for felony weapons charges stemming from his October 2007 arrest on the eve of the BET Hip-Hop Awards, took questions from reporters.

"I know for a fact that I've changed at least five lives because these are the five people I keep contacting, and it's an honor for me to do so," he told the crowd moments after being sentenced when asked who he has changed. "I've never looked at myself as a leader of a generation. This experience has taught me I have the ability to influence."

Now that the rapper faces jail time, MTV News wanted to know how the ordeal has changed him. "I hope that others can learn from my mistakes," he said. "In many ways, I think I'm a more patient person. I think I have a calmer spirit. I think I allow myself to use my mind more than my hands."

When asked why he acted the way he did before his arrest, he said, "I think my judgment was altered due to a tragic situation. In that process, I had lost sight. I guess I resolved to taking matters into my own hands, foolishly."

T.I. who seemed in generally good spirits during the press conference, said he will take things "one day at a time" now that he's been sentenced, and will be thinking about "my family, my children, my freedom ... you have to be willing to accept responsibility."

MTV News will have more from T.I. today and throughout the weekend, including Sway's exclusive interview with the rapper. Don't miss "T.I.'s Road to Redemption: The Reckoning," airing Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.

Video at the link:

Read more: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1607987/20090327/t_i_.jhtml

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Hopefully T.I. can change enough lives; so he can steer young brothas towards college.

[MADem]

1. Never heard of him. nt

[MrPerson]

2. What the fuck is a T.I? And how can I learn from his mistakes?

[WorseBeforeBetter]

7. Duh... the "southern rapper who used to be known as T.I.P."

I have no idea either, but I just Urban Dictionary'd "T.I." so I'm going with that.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=t.i.

[Ikonoklast]

3. He's lucky he has the money.

If I got caught doing what he tried to do, I would have had to do the full ten.

[ej510]

4. Money, he has we do not!

[Brucie Kibbutz]

5. 1 year for a convicted felon buying full auto weapons and

silencers. He must have one hell of a lawyer. David Olofson got 30 months for an offense that, many have argued, amounts to nothing more than a malfunction of his semi auto rifle.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/29561634.html

[Ikonoklast]

8. And a with previous felony drug conviction, no less.

Must be nice to be able to buy your way out of prison, for the most part.

It must be true that the only color Justice can see is GREEN.

[marmar]

12. No, it sees other colors. It's just that when you have green, it sees black and brown less vividly.

n/t

[Endangered Specie]

9. As I understand it, he had M16 parts in the gun...

that is a big no-no under the law, with the proper M16 parts it *may* be possible to get the gun to slamfire (which is not your typical safe controlled full automatic fire) which is what the ATF managed to get it to do (using soft primers helps considerably). The article cites that the selector had a third position, that implies he had a full auto selector. If you have a certain combination(s) of FA trigger part(s) the gun is ILLEGAL, slamfire or not. btw, slamfire, in addition to being unpredictable, is very unsafe and can cause an explosion out of battery; but usually this illegal modification results in no firing at all, or even better, the gun can lock up to the point of needing a gunsmith.

[Brucie Kibbutz]

10. They didn't prosecute him for any mods.

According to this article, he was prosecuted for transferring a machinegun, not modding an AR15 by installing M16 parts.

Neither Olofson nor his friend was charged with possession of an unregistered machinegun or with illegally manufacturing, modifying, or otherwise making a machinegun. Obviously ATF did not believe they could convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Olofson or his friend had intentionally altered the rifle to fire full-auto so they prosecuted on the easier charge of transferring. Everyone agreed that the gun belonged to Olofson and that he had loaned it to his friend. That meant that the only issue in question in the case was whether the gun was a machinegun. Since ATF is the final arbiter in determining whether a gun is a machinegun, and the law defining machineguns tends to be selectively interpreted by them, the government had a distinct advantage.

as for M16 parts:

At the government’s insistence, the court refused to allow Olofson’s firearms expert to physically examine the gun; he was only allowed to observe as an ATF employee took the gun through a function check and opened the action to his view. What he saw were standard, unaltered components of the same type and configuration that were included in this particular brand of rifle from the factory over two decades ago; parts that are known by ATF to produce exactly the type of malfunction noted and in response to which ATF had once ordered a safety recall.

http://www.firearmscoalition.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=192&Itemid=37

[Bandit]

11. What is the difference between an CAR-15 and an M-16 besides the overall length?

:shrug:

[Brucie Kibbutz]

13. M16 vs. AR15 comparison

http://www.ar15.com/content/legal/AR15-M16Parts/

[Arctic Dave]

6. When you have money for those type of toys, you have money for lawyers.