David Olofson More Information
I was thrilled tonight when David Olofson decided to post a note on my blog. It was for the article I wrote entitled 2nd Amendment Under Fire, What’s Next? The original CNN broadcast from Lou Dobbs is here: http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2008/03/13/ld…
Remember, there are commercials here but the story follows. So anyway, I was going back over notes and noticed that it had said Lou Dobbs was going to do a follow up the next night. I went back searching for the transcripts. Here that is: It is close to the bottom of the page if you want to read it from CNN’s Lou Dobbs for yourself.
DOBBS: The conviction of a Wisconsin gun owner on federal weapons charges is raising serious questions underlining the constitutional right to bear arms and bringing disproportionate — the disproportionate weight of the federal government down on one of our citizens? Last night we reported to you on the arrest and trial of Army veteran David Olofson, the father of three, a family man in Wisconsin in a community of 5,500 people.
Tonight we look at what some are calling the questionable methods used by the federal government to pursue the case and to prosecute Mr. Olofson. Bill Tucker has our report.
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: David Olofson’s defense at his trial in January was simple. He had lent his Olympic Arms AR-15 to be used on a firing ranges. The 20 year old gun fired two separate rounds with multiple shots and jammed each time. Olofson’s lawyer argued this is a problem in older AR-15s, not a crime. Initial testing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agreed.
BRIAN FAHL, FEDERAL DEFENDER SVCS. OF WISC.: The field agent for ATF didn’t like that. Go test it again and use this different ammunition, which is easier to cause multiple firings if you have a malfunction.
TUCKER: A gun maker and an expert witness for the defense is critical of ATF’s testing procedures.
LEN SAVAGE, HISTORIC ARMS LLC: The problem is they don’t have any written firearm testing standards. They decide the testing criteria on a case-by-case basis.
TUCKER: The ATF did find a malfunction. It’s called a hammer follow and it can cause a semiautomatic weapon to fire multiple rounds, just like it did in this semiautomatic test of a different gun fired by this ATF agent.
It was enough to convince a jury to find Olofson guilty on the charge, transferring a machine gun. But the malfunction can also cause other problems, some of which can cause the gun to explode, a simple enough argument for fixing it, argue gun owners.
What no one can or will explain is why the government brought the full power of the federal authorities down on Olofson, an honorably discharged Army veteran, a man who was serving in the Army Reserves at the time of his conviction, a man who still believes he will be cleared.
DAVID OLOFSON, CONVICTED GUN OWNER: I still have confidence that the legal system will work. We’re not done with it yet. The process still has a couple more steps to go through. As far as my opinions of how things have been handled up to this point, we’ll have to wait before I can give you those.
TUCKER: There are efforts underway in the Congress to correct the testing irregularities pointed out by the defense. The bill is known as the Fairness in Firearms Testing Act or HR-1791. It would require all firearm testing and examinations be videoed by the ATF.
I did a search for this bill but it seems the bill never made it past the discussion phase. According to GovTrac.US the bill never made it off the floor of the House. Here is a bit about it from GovTrac.us
Legislation > 2005-2006 (109th Congress)
H.R. 1603 [109th]: Fairness in Firearm Testing ActTo require the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to make video recordings of the examination and testing of firearms and ammunition, and for other purposes.
OverviewSummary
Articles About This Bill
Sponsor:
Rep. John Gingrey [R-GA]show cosponsors ( 8 )
Cosponsors [as of 2007-01-07]
Rep. John Barrow [D-GA]
Rep. Virgil Goode [R-VA]
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter [R-MI]
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave [R-CO]
Rep. Ronald Paul [R-TX]
Rep. Mike Ross [D-AR]
Rep. Mark Udall [D-CO]
Rep. Zach Wamp [R-TN]
Cosponsorship information sometimes is out of date. Why?
Bill Text:
Summaries (CRS)
Full Text
Status:
Occurred: Introduced Apr 13, 2005
Not Yet Occurred: Scheduled for Debate -
Not Yet Occurred: Voted on in House -
Not Yet Occurred: Voted on in Senate -
Not Yet Occurred: Signed by President -
This bill never became law. This bill was proposed in a previous session of Congress. Sessions of Congress last two years, and at the end of each session all proposed bills and resolutions that haven’t passed are cleared from the books.
Last Action:
May 10, 2005: House Judiciary: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
Show All Related Votes
Committee AssignmentsThis bill is in the first stage of the legislative process where the bill is considered in committee and may undergo significant changes in markup sessions. The bill has been referred to the following committees:
House Judiciary
House Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
House Ways and Means
Related Legislation
Other Bills with the Same TitleThe list below shows legislation in this and previous sessions of Congress that had the same title as this bill. Often bills are incorporated into other omnibus bills, and you may be able to track the status of provisions of this bill by looking for an omnibus bill below. Note that bills may have multiple titles.
110th Congress: H.R. 1791Introduced
Subject Terms
I can’t find any other bills currently before Congress on this issue. Maybe someone else knows of more information than I have at this time? I’d be happy to hear about it. I’m curious why it didn’t even get past discussion here. But there is nothing to do about it now. This is pretty much ancient history.
TUCKER (on-camera): Now, LOU DOBBS TONIGHT contacted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who declined comment on the case, noting that it is still pending until Olofson is sentenced. Likewise, the attorney’s office in Milwaukee also declined comment.
Olofson’s sentencing is set for May 15. He’s facing somewhere between 18 months and just over six years in prison along with a possible fine of $250,000. And Lou, just a few moments ago I did spoke with the ATF agents again. They just say simply on the record they stand by their prosecution of Olofson, noting that they did prevail in court with a jury in finding the conviction.
DOBBS: We’ve heard that before, unfortunately, and as much respect and regard we have for the agents of ATF, someone, whether it’s a U.S. attorney in Wisconsin, whether it is the senior levels of ATF, it seems, has made a completely disproportionate judgment on prosecution here. This makes no sense on any level that we have been able to find.
TUCKER: No. It would be one thing if they could point to something and say, look at this. And they …
DOBBS: Well, we’re going to look at this and continue to look at this. We’ll be talking with the National Rifle Association next week. We’ll be talking about with the congressional delegation of Wisconsin about this and the U.S. senators of Wisconsin about this and see what in the world is going on. It might not be happening to a citizen in 2008 and it should in any year not happen to a citizen in the United States of America. Bill Tucker, thank you.
I have not seen anything recently on Lou Dobbs that would be a follow-up on this article. Now I don’t see all of his shows. I didn’t start taping them until about a month ago, so I’ve missed some and don’t begin to want to go through ever transcript looking for this one article.
What I do have is something that I assume to be Mr. Olofson’s own account of this terrible miscarriage of Justice and it can be found Here: david-olofson I copied this down while looking for information on this case. It is an amazing read. I find this still one of the most outrageous court cases I’ve ever had the misfortune to read about. The travesty here is beyond belief.
If I lived in Wisconsin, I’d be at that court house every time this case came up and be protesting such a travesty! A gun that malfunctions is a gun that has malfunctioned. That the Prosecutor in the case had to practically manufacture a failure of the weapon again for testing purposes proves that this was a very SMALL incident that was made into a mountain.
Another thing I don’t understand is how they found out about it in the first place? I’ve seen nothing mentioned on that score. If someone has that information I’d like to hear about it. It might make more sense if we knew that part of it. Someone had to have told the ATFE or the Prosecutor. So who was that??? Seems to me that this was a setup. But why? To get guns out of the hands of We the People?
Olofson has filed a motion for DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR JUDGMENT OF ACQUITTAL. You can find that information HERE: If you have problems finding it, check out this addy:
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STUPID PROSECUTION….THIS IS A EXAMPLE THAT I BELIEVE ONE DAY WILL PIT GUN OWNERS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT….WE GUN OWNERS NEED TO AMKE UP ARE MMIND THAT SOME DAY WE WILL NEED TO SACARFICE OUR LIVES AGAINST OUR OWN FED GOV DENFENDING OUR RIGHTS TO BEAR ARMS ND BE LEFT ALONE….THE ATF IS A BS ORGANIZATION ANYWAY…REALLY DONOT NEED THEM…W AS CITZEMNS NEED TO START STANDING UP TO THESE CRIMINALS WITH FORCE IF NECESSARY…LIKE HESTON SAID..WILL TAKE MY GUN FROM MY COLD DEAD HAND…EXACTLY!!!….AT LEAST GO DOWN FIGHTING.
Hello Dave,
I think we need to find out what is REALLY going on here first before we decide to do anything else. It makes me mad too what is happening to David Olofson, but we can’t help him by going off half cocked here. We need to find out what is going on behind the scenes, what they are really trying to do. There is more to this than meets the eye.
For instance, in my last article on David Olofson, I found out the prosecutor withheld evidence. That can’t be good for them now that it is widely known. I also found out the FBI and the ATF had it out of him. Let’s find out what is behind all this first.
I did find last evenings broadcast surprising to say the least. Here is a link to part 3 & 4. Please note that half of the net broadcast is not there, that being the part with the LEAA ripping the ATF on their practices. But the first half is still intact. I would hope everyone who hasn’t already would drop Lou Dobbs a note and thank him for what can only be described as unwavering and steadfast support for gun owners the likes of which I have never seen on a major network. It looks like we now have one singular friend in the mainstream media not afraid to stand up on our rights and take a rock solid stand, not just give it passing lip service. Don’t let that support go unnoticed.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/05/07/ldt.gov.guns.cnn
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2008/05/08/ldt.tucker.govt.guns.cnn
I hear you there! And yes, I do thank him. But here is a link you can use to email Lou Dobbs if you feel so inclined.
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?9
I’ve also got several updates to this article for you and everyone who is concerned about this issue. Just check on the right side of the page, the articles are listed with your name on them.
Thanks for posting David!
According to Lou last night, the rifle was being used at a range where automatic rifles were outlawed. When the 3 shots fired in succession, the owner thought someone was using an automatic rifle and called and turned him in. Don’t think it was a setup.
I’m not talking about him being set up by the rifle range, I’m talking about him being set up by the BATFE. That is the agency that I’m concerned with. Updates to this article are available on the menu bar at the top of this page to the right.
The Feds (BATF) are scared Shitless about Heller eroding their turf.
These Prosecutions are being used to Carve out specific exceptions to Heller.
BATFE is not authorized by the Constitution. It is a rogue agency dedicated to jack-booted thuggery and should be abolished. Remember Ruby Ridge, Waco, and the persecution of Red’s Trading Post. This case is just part of the continuing BATF tradition of poor judgment and incompetence.
Are you telling me that the BATFE isn’t legal? That the government created an agency it doesn’t have the legal right to create? Not that this would surprise me too much, but I am curious where this information came from. It would be a great article.
Date: May 28, 2008
Subject: Abuse of Power and Travesty of Justice in David Olofson Persecution
By ATF, US Attorney, and Federal Judge in Wisconsin which affects all who
Love Freedom and understand the principals upon which this (once) Great
Country was founded. As Jefferson stated, “It is time to take pen to paper.”
Background: Search the internet as no information will be, nor has been, promulgated by the major Networks or Fox either. However, Lou Dobbs, surprisingly did cover this atrocity, which is how I became aware of it.
Today, May 28th, I learned of the fate of David Olofson who was unjustly sentenced to 30 months imprisonment for committing no crime. The criminals in this case were the ATF agent, the US attorney, and the Federal Judge – they should be held accountable for this gross injustice.
Regardless of how one views the 2nd Amendment, this case has severe,
adverse, consequences for all Americans.
From Internet 28 May 2008:
Olofson Sentenced
Written by Jeff Knox, on 05-19-2008 10:36
Olofson Sentenced to Thirty Months
David Olofson, the Army Reservist who loaned a twenty-year old AR15
rifle to a prospective buyer and was charged with illegally transferring
a machinegun, was sentenced to thirty months in prison by a Federal
Judge in Wisconsin. Olofson, his attorneys, and many legal observers
were surprised by the sentence. The long delay in sentencing was
interpreted as an indication that the judge was uncomfortable with
certain irregularities in the prosecution. They speculated that he was
delaying sentencing with the intention of quietly setting the conviction
aside, or at least ordering a new trial. Instead he went right in line
with the prosecution’s requests and dismissed defense complaints about
improperly suppressed evidence.
The case, aside from being a travesty of justice and senselessly
destroying David Olofson’s life, has dire implications for anyone who
owns any semi-automatic firearm. Under the standards of this case, any
gun that malfunctions and fires a multiple round burst is a machinegun
and the owner is at risk of prosecution.
My Comments:
This sentence and the entire case is devastating to freedom and a miscarriage of justice. The US Attorney, the ATF agent and the Judge have all conspired in an abuse of power to convict David Olofson by interpreting a bad law in the extreme in order to convict this man to justify their violation of the very laws they have sworn to uphold.
Every freedom loving American should take note of this travesty and contact their
state and federal legislators as well as the “so called” news media.
Jefferson stated, “Be careful how indifferent you are to your neighbors plight, because one day his plight may be yours.” The Olofson case is most definitely such an instance.
This is yet another example of a bad judicial/legal system that improperly convicted Compeon and Ramos, two Border Patrol Agents for doing their job; Harold Fish for defending himself; and the most recent incident in Boston in which an employer was improperly charged by a Boston Police Chief on two counts for shooting a shotgun to shoot out the car tires (I believe) to stop a robber from escaping – remember Compeon and Ramos? Of course, Boston seems to have poor Police Chiefs as was evident in the late 80’s in the Stuart Heights incident. These incidents and the recent fiasco in the David Olofson case, point out the need for reform of a judicial/legal system that is out of control
and violates the very laws it is suppose to uphold – there is really no justice in our Justice System. If you doubt this fact, do some research. Yes, occasionally we get lucky. Whitman wrote in Leaves of Grass, “As if Justice could be anything but the same amble law, expounded by natural judges and saviors, As if it could this thing or that according to decisions.” I do believe he has a point!
The conviction of David Olofson, is reminiscent of the Taney decision in the Dred Scott case and of the most recent flagrant violation of Individual Rights by the Supreme Court, before we finally got a couple of Judges who seem to have some understanding of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, on Eminent Domain. Another example of how one misuses language to take away freedom.
Is this the United States of America? This is exactly what happened in Germany under Hitler which resulted in the Nuremberg Trials at the end of WWII. Those “animals” who were prosecuted attempted to justify their actions just as the US Attorney, Judge, and ATF agent have done in the Olofson case.
Jefferson stated, “The people must be protected from the greatest violators of Individual Rights – Government.” For this reason he fought to have a Bill of Rights and he did not think it was enough but took what he could get. There is a reason that the 1st and 2nd Amendments are so listed. If you do not think they are as important today as in 1789, then you had better do some careful introspection – they are even more important. Unfortunately the first is severely abused but it was in 1803 as well, and Jefferson was on the receiving end of a vicious attack by the Federalist press which prompted him to say he was tempted to silence it. However, he stated he would rather have a free press and suffer the abuses than have one that was controlled. Unfortunately, today we have a “free” press controlling and prohibiting the flow of information to the electorate.
Do I sound angry? I am in fact livid! Americans had better wake up and take a very close look at what is happening in this country. Americans should start by making those jackasses in Washington aware of their outrage at what has happened to David Olofson.
And, they should demand that the US Attorney, Federal Judge, and ATF agent be held accountable – they are the criminals in this case.
I would like to close by pointing out that I voted for George Bush twice and I am presently very dissatisfied with his presidency. I support his position on Iraq. I do not, nor have I ever, supported the asinine “Patriot Act” as a whole, or “McCain-Fiengold” bill either. I paraphrase Patrick Henry by stating, “Give me my Liberty and keep your damn false security.” I do not like Mr. Bush’s position on Amnesty, and it appears most of his domestic policies other than a tax cut have failed middle America. I now wonder if he truly supports or understands the 2nd Amendment or Bill of Rights for that matter. If President Bush does not show outrage at what has happened to David Olofson, then I must put him in the same category as Willie “the Dilly D” Clinton who in my opinion is the worse individual that has ever been in the White House - this is being polite. Clinton and “Dillery” brought politics to the lowest level it has ever been in this country. I have nothing but distain for these individuals. I certainly hope George Bush does not fit into this category but I am having my doubts.
___________________________
Signed: James E. English, PE
Hello James,
I’m sorry you are only now getting involved with this. I and others have been involved a little longer, thanks in great part, to Lou Dobbs. I have many articles here on exactly what has happened to David Olofson and he has posted here also. And yes, we are angry right along with you.