GOA Submits Appeal On Behalf Of Olofson
-- Olofson's wife thanks GOA members for coming to their aide
Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Gun owners across the nation are still rejoicing over the Supreme Court
decision that struck down portions of the DC gun ban as unconstitutional.
But the Heller decision has also signaled the beginning of a new major
assault by the anti-gun left.
Make no mistake, the anti-gun lobby is not going quietly into the night.
They are absolutely rabid over this decision -- and their friends in
Congress are in a strong position to legislate away those gun freedoms which
the Supreme Court has affirmed.
In the meantime, agencies like the federal BATFE (Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) appear to have no intention, whatsoever,
of stopping their attacks on law-abiding gun owners, gun dealers and
manufacturers.
In GOA's newsletter which recently landed in mailboxes (The Gun Owners,
August 18), we detailed the lengths to which the BATFE is going to trample
the rights of gun owners and dealers.
From using paid "informants" to provide false testimony, to
physically
altering firearms to turn them into "machine guns," to
abusing and harassing
mom and pop gun shops who cannot afford to legally defend themselves, this
agency appears not only to have little or no regards for the rights of
citizens, but is clearly willing even to ignore the rulings of the Supreme
Court.
As you know, Gun Owners is helping to defend David Olofson, a recent victim
of BATFE abuse who has been sentenced to 30 months in the Federal
Correctional Institute at Sandstone, Minnesota for the alleged crime of
knowingly transferring an unregistered machine gun.
GOA submitted an appeal on August 25, 2008, to get him released from prison,
and our brief is viewable at
http://www.gunowners.org/fs0806.pdf on the GOA
website.
We took on the case when we learned that the so-called "machine
gun" that
Olofson owned was, in reality, one of thousands of ordinary semi-automatic
rifles made by Olympic Arms. It happened to misfire a few extra rounds when
a friend was using it at a range -- thus drawing the attention of the feds.
However, it only became a machine gun when the BATFE, behind closed doors,
mechanically tampered with the rifle.
Getting guns to malfunction is a favorite technique of the BATFE as it gives
them a great opportunity to rack up convictions on the possession or selling
of "machine guns," which requires a special type of license.
As a result, David Olofson has been robbed of all his freedom, not just his
right to keep and bear arms. He has lost his liberty, his family, and his
life outside of prison.
It is just a turn of fate that it is David Olofson -- not you or any other
semi-auto owner you know -- who is rotting away in prison.
And that's why GOA came to his aide, and we are pleased to report that you
guys have been a tremendous blessing to the Olofson family.
David's wife, Candy, told GOA Executive Director Larry Pratt last week that
contributions from GOA members have been a tremendous help. So much so,
that she does not need to take a second job, thus allowing her to spend time
with her children.
All of this has resulted from the many GOA members who are making monthly
contributions to help pay the Olofson family's mortgage and car payment.
By the way, a lawyer friend who lives near Candy told her that GOA's brief
was superb. One could could hear the encouragement in her voice that
resulted from what the attorney told her.
So, now that we have the Olofson family stabilized, we're asking you to help
us get stabilized. This case is very expensive, and we need your help to
continue pressing ahead for his release from prison.
The costs in taking on this case are huge, although it's a burden we gladly
bear because of the danger that it presents to ALL gun owners -- especially
those who own semi-automatic firearms. If this injustice stands, it will
give the ATF the green light to put millions of additional gun owners in
their cross hairs.
GOA also needs your financial help because we are using this experience to
work with a team of experts to develop written testing standards that could
be imposed on the BATFE by law. Such a law would protect individual gun
owners, manufacturers and dealers alike, and would be the next best thing to
getting rid of The Gang (aka, the BATFE).
So please help GOA to accomplish these worthwhile efforts.
You can help GOA continue fighting to defend David Olofson -- and all gun
owners like him -- by going to
http://www.gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm on
the GOA website. Thank you.
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