It’s no secret that our federal government is infested with people who hate liberty and hate the Second Amendment. The judicial system is also way too full of anti-gun nuts.
In a recent case, a felon got convicted for having a gun under USC 922. This code only pertains to weapons involved in commerce between states, since the federal government has no power to regulate state matters unless they cross state lines.
The individual who was convicted is a man called Luke Burning Breast. However, Burning Breast’s appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit is what’s really intriguing and important here.
What Happened in the Case?
In the case itself, Burning Breast was found guilty of the two charges. An ATF witness said that Burning Breast moved a weapon between states illegally.
However, as the Appeals Court stated, it’s much more complicated than the conviction would suggest. That’s because the way the feds caught Burning Breast was by tracking the serial number on the lower for the AR-15.
His defense team argued that it wasn’t the same gun, since other than the lower Burning Breast had mixed and matched many of the parts. During the trial, the ATF ignored this and said the tracked lower counts as a weapon.
Here’s the problem: it doesn’t legally count as a weapon, according to the federal government’s legal requirements for what constitutes a weapon “receiver” and thus doesn’t meet the definition of a firearm.
#guntwitter EMERGENCY
ATF currently is proposing new rules that will require:
1) parts kits to be transferred as firearms
2) require weapons like the AR-15 to serialize the upper, lower, and bolt carrier as separate firearms.— Central Florida Ordnance (@CentralOrdnance) August 13, 2021
An Important Dissent
Burning Breast’s conviction was upheld by the Eight Circuit, but one of the judges by the name of Jonathan Kobes wrote an important dissent.
In the dissent, he questions the ATF expert who said Burning Breast was guilty of interstate commerce transporting a weapon.
In fact, as Kobes notes, the receiver, by government definition, does not meet the conditions found in the lower that was traced to Burning Breast.
The idea that an AR-15 lower is a firearm is a government fiction designed to take away guns. As Kobes noted, the government tried to falsely argue that a lower is a gun. As Kobes notes, the ATF is basically trying to tell us what the law is and lying about it.
In Eighth Circuit opinion upholding a felon in possession conviction, Judge Kobes dissents, arguing that AR-15 lower receivers don't meet the definition of "firearm" and the government didn't have enough evidence that it moved in interstate commerce. https://t.co/fWE7tl8M8w pic.twitter.com/8Kgvce4EHx
— Rob Romano (@2Aupdates) August 13, 2021
The ATF witness even called the lower a “firearm” multiple times in the trial. As Kobes notes, this is total deception. A lower is not a firearm, and the ATF is not greater than the Second Amendment.
Burning Breast is still convicted; Kobes doesn’t have the power to change the result of this case, but he makes important points.
The federal government is overstepping its bounds; meanwhile, the ATF is getting so arrogant it thinks it can just legally redefine a firearm if it wants to.
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