FBI Arrest of Florida Man for Short-Barreled Rifle Showcases Absurdity of NFA

[MechAg94]

https://www.ammoland.com/2022/07/fbi-arrest-of-florida-man-for-short-barreled-rifle-showcases-absurdity-of-nfa/#axzz7Z1WletSA
The article gives the narrative for how a guy in Florida was arrested for possessing a short barreled rifle without any other criminal record.  Apparently, he invited someone to go shooting who turned out to be an FBI informant.  Sounds like it isn't known if or why the FBI may have targeted this guy.  I wouldn't be surprised to learn the informant was told to set up others in order to get out of his own charges.  I have heard that is a common tactic. 

Read more: https://www.ammoland.com/2022/07/fbi-arrest-of-florida-man-for-short-barreled-rifle-showcases-absurdity-of-nfa/#ixzz7Z1ZIPwOG
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
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Mejia, a former police dispatcher, had never been arrested in his life, until he unknowingly invited an FBI informant to shoot steel plates on his five-acre property near St. Cloud, Florida.

Read more: https://www.ammoland.com/2022/07/fbi-arrest-of-florida-man-for-short-barreled-rifle-showcases-absurdity-of-nfa/#ixzz7Z1ZRdkxy
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
Follow us: @Ammoland on Twitter | Ammoland on Facebook

According to the complaint, “the CHS stated that the CHS wanted to purchase a firearm like the Scorpion, and Mejia explained to the CHS that the CHS would not be able to purchase a Scorpion with a stock, because the stock made it a short-barreled rifle.”

“As the conversation between Mejia and the CHS continued, Mejia explained to the CHS that there was a government regulation that one is supposed to comply with to have a short-barreled rifle, and Mejia suggested that he did not wish to comply with that regulation.”

[Lennyjoe]

“ Mejia suggested that he did not wish to comply with that regulation”

Well there’s the issue then.

I don’t want to either but I don’t want to spend time in jail so I comply.

[Pb]

Apparently, the snitch was a woman, ratting people out to get leniency on herself for immigration violations.

If he had a brace on it, rather than a buttstock he would be fine.

Going to prison for not paying an $200 tax.

This is idiotic.

[K Frame]

Yep, sounds to me like he knew he was evading current law.

Stupid of him to essentially admit it to someone.

Not a lot of sympathy.

[MechAg94]

I ended up replacing the OEM brace on my Scorpion as I didn't like it.  Found a better brace, not a stock.  Yes, it is not worth jail time over that.

[AZRedhawk44]

“I am currently assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force (the “JTTF”) of FBI’s Tampa Division, Orlando Resident Agency,” Shaw wrote in Mejia’s complaint. “In this capacity I investigate, among other things, criminal cases relating to international and domestic terrorism.”

So glad this horrific terrorist is behind bars.  Truly, the nation and our economy are safer now.  Just think of all the children that are safer now!

This is proof there are too many law enforcement officers, with horrifically inefficient management and targeting.  If this merited any law enforcement attention at all, it should have come from the ATF (shudder).  Not an FBI JTTF.

[Ben]

Going to prison for not paying an $200 tax.

This is idiotic.

This.

They can play up the "dangerous, illegal mass murder weapon" all they want. It still comes down to not paying a $200 tax for a stock that looks slightly different than the original. It's like going to jail for putting a different style roof on your house.

[dogmush]

We've had some discussions at my range about this kind of thing and the new pistol brace rule.  We already have a couple members that we are pretty sure are feds, but if they decide to pump their numbers with easy sbr arrests, it might get pretty annoying.

[K Frame]

I absolutely will not buy a gun with a "brace."

Sure... it's an arm brace...

Yeah.

[MechAg94]

This.

They can play up the "dangerous, illegal mass murder weapon" all they want. It still comes down to not paying a $200 tax for a stock that looks slightly different than the original. It's like going to jail for putting a different style roof on your house.

The penalty should be $200 plus a fine or something.  administrative only.

[Hawkmoon]

I absolutely will not buy a gun with a "brace."

Sure... it's an arm brace...

Yeah.

What's that saying? Oh, yeah -- "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes." Very few, if any, of us like or agree with the stupid rules the BATFE comes up with, but most of us go along because it beats the alternative. This idiot chose the alternative. This is why I studiously avoid things like AR pistols and so-called "others." I'm too old to go to prison. IMHO they serve no purpose other than thumbing your nose at the government thugs, and they have badges.

[Pb]

The penalty should be $200 plus a fine or something.  administrative only. nothing.

I fixed it for you.

[HankB]

When politicians can cheat like hell on their taxes (e.g., the Clintons, Charlie Rangel, and lots of others) to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars and not be criminally prosecuted, it's absurd to make a felony prosecution of someone and send them to jail over nonpayment of a $200 tax.

But as for noncompliance - as no less a prominent conservative thinker than Ayn Rand noted, you don't stop a juggernaut by laying down in front of it.

I really would like a pistol with a brace - but until we see what the BATmen are doing (decision due this December - supposedly) I'm avoiding it. Some analysis has said that maybe their decision will be such that merely taking off the brace WON'T take the pistol out of the SBR category if it was shipped from the factory that way. Lawsuits are sure to follow, but I don't want any part of that can of worms - certainly not over $200.

[dogmush]

Everyone is, of course, free to make there own multi-risk analysis. An SBR, be it wink, wink a pistol, or the real thing, is objectively a very handy gun, and pretty much the best home defense weapon available to most Americans.

It does have some regulatory downsides.

For me, I have a bunch of braced pistols, and un mounted pistol braces that I use for various homemade gun building projects.  I've decided I'm going to register and pay taxes on at least two, maybe three of my AR lowers to avoid any constructive possession issues, and I'll have to be pretty careful on my 3d printed guns hobby until the lawsuits get ironed out.

I'm unwilling to just give up on a useful class of firearms, because the ATF is making it difficult.  Unlike the guy in the OP I won't just tell the revenues to *expletive deleted*ck off. That upsets them.


I also echo the sentiment that jail time for $200 of unpaid taxes is bullshit. No other part of US law has that kind of penalty for such a small transgression.

[MechAg94]

Registering at least a couple of mine as SBR's is my plan too.  I have some time off next week.  I was thinking of trying to get at least one set of forms mailed off.  We will see.

[WLJ]

I also echo the sentiment that jail time for $200 of unpaid taxes is bullshit. No other part of US law has that kind of penalty for such a small transgression.

I agree it's stupid but to play devil's advocate $200 in $1934 = ~$4500 today so when the NFA was implemented it wasn't a small fee. To put that in prospective $200 just so happened to be the avg cost of a Thompson at the time.
Lets be glad they haven't adjust the fee for inflation since.

[WLJ]

This is one of the reasons I went the bullpup route. I get basically a similar length firearm without all this tax stamp and getting permission business. Add that to the fact it still has a full length barrel with all of it's benefits over a short barrel. YMMV 

[Ben]

Registering at least a couple of mine as SBR's is my plan to.  I have some time off next week.  I was thinking of trying to get at least one set of forms mailed off.  We will see.

Yeah, I'm doing it with my Canebrake because I don't know what Sig was thinking with the OEM brace on it, and nobody (IMO) makes a decent brace for that mount. I already have a Sig minimalist stock sitting in the man cave for when the paperwork comes through.

My PWS MK111 actually has an SB Tactical brace on it that is just fine. I'm keeping that one a pistol unless/until the batmen come down on SB Tactical. If they do, I will SBR it and stick on a spare BCM stock that I have.

[dogmush]

Registering at least a couple of mine as SBR's is my plan too.  I have some time off next week.  I was thinking of trying to get at least one set of forms mailed off.  We will see.

You're going to use the reform, right?  Mine take about 2 weeks for approval.