Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Just When Was That Revolver Manufactured?
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_11_16-2008_11_22.shtml#1227051379
[1]KETV (Omaha) reports:
U.S. attorneys had a conundrum on their hands -- they had the
evidence to prove a convicted felon was in possession of a gun, but
they couldn�t prove the gun was a gun.
What [they] had on their hands was an American double-action
revolver that was manufactured between 1880 and 1941.
The problem is that federal code states that the weapon is not a
firearm unless it was manufactured after 1896....
I take it the reference is to 18 U.S.C. �� 921-922, which ban felons
from possessing firearms, but define "firearm" to exclude any "antique
firearm," which is to say "any firearm ... manufactured in or before
1898." (The 1896 date appears to be an error in the news report.) So
indeed the prosecutors didn't have the evidence to find the defendant
guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of possessing a firearm manufactured
after 1898, which is what the statute requires.
Fortunately for the prosecution, the felon-in-possession statute also
bars felons from possessing ammunition, and the defendant was
convicted of that.
Thanks to Sean Sirrine for the pointer.
References
1. http://www.ketv.com/cnn-news/18003873/detail.html
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