Sometimes the 2A "community" is its own enemy.
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You couldn't have said it better!! To answer the question, no not yet..
IMG_5624 by 556 Channel (HD), on Flickr
Sometimes the 2A "community" is its own enemy.
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Caeb75...I remember something like that maybe 20 years ago. The reporter had a meltdown on live tv and then was re-assiged to another state.
Actually the language regarding SBRs in Maryland is such that I believe MD LEOs have the right to see your stamp (I don't have the language in front of me and am too lazy to use the Google right now).
I don't want to turn this into a flame war, but I find it a bit odd how people are treating NFA registration as "tax records" like a 1040 or something. The form 4 is titled "Application for Tax Paid Transfer andI would be very interested in specifics on that. State law that allows state or local law enforcement to look at your Federal tax records? Honestly I kind of doubt it. Are you perhaps thinking of the state machine gun registration? I can't find any law anywhere that says anything about LEOs having access to your Federal tax records in Maryland. SBRs are currently treated as handguns for the purposes of transport and use laws, and other than that MD law doesn't have much to say about them.
I don't want to turn this into a flame war, but I find it a bit odd how people are treating NFA registration as "tax records" like a 1040 or something. The form 4 is titled "Application for Tax Paid Transfer and
Registration of Firearm" and it is the REGISTRATION portion that is of interest to the state.
It is the registration that the state is interested in, not the $200 tax you paid to the feds.
All right, so I'm backing off here. A Maryland LEO doesn't have an explicit right to see your papers. http://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2005/gps/5-203.html
But since a "short-barreled rifle [must be] registered with the federal government in accordance with federal law" and in "a prosecution under this section, the defendant has the burden of proving the lawful registration of the . . . short-barreled rifle" then I think you'd be opening the door pretty wide to immediate confiscation if you failed to produce your papers when asked by a Maryland LEO.
Sure, we can get into a great discussion about Probable Cause, and I'd agree that, absent explicit law requiring that the registration be carried and produced or other facts that indicate a crime is being committed, that the mere possession of an SBR should not be PC. But I'd rather just whip out my Form 1 or Form 4 and end it right there.
So Hawkeye I stand corrected sir.
Now thats funny because when I got my first can I went to CA. I told the guy behind the counter I had a can asked if needed to see my F4 just because I didn't know any better. The young man told me that I was only required to show an ATF agent and have fun. I have been there a handful of times and never been asked. This was with cans, not MG's. I figure if a range asks to see my F4, I am just going to show them.
Freestate has never asked me.
Yeah, this is the rub of it - the burden of proof that the SBR is properly Federally registered is on the defendant is all it says. It doesn't say when or how you have to produce that proof, or talk at all about confiscation if you can't come up with it immediately. That doesn't mean that a cop isn't going to try to take your gun if you don't have a copy of your paperwork with it though, so that's probably the end of that.
It's funny reading on here about how people who used cans at OnTarget got asked by the employees there to show their papers. That is the EXACT place I would've guessed would ask to see paper when it's none of their gosh darn business. On Target drives me up the wall with how bad they are. I hate that they are the closest range (by far) to me.
I bought a suppressor from Freestate and am on day 70 of waiting for the stamp to come back. Cannot wait!
I just don't see an upside to saying "No" to a Maryland cop (and I'm not suggesting anyone here is advocating that approach).
You stand a decent chance of having your SBR confiscated (or at least facing the threat of it; something tells me that 99.99% of the people who initially refuse would grudgingly cough up the paperwork once faced with a real threat of confiscation and possible arrest over this principle). For what? The opportunity to later show a State's Attorney and/or judge the very paperwork you refused to show the cop? That makes no sense.
I basically agree with you there. This is one of those times when there isn't much of an upside to standing up for yourself. It's unfortunate, and wrong, but real-world, what else are you supposed to do?
Cop sees you shooting at a range with your SBR, comes over, and asks "so, is that registered?" And you're basically left with three choices of response:
1)Say "yes" and whip out your paperwork.
2)Say "yes" and try to go back to minding your own business.
3)Say "none of your business." We all know what's going to happen here.
The flip side I ASSume is I can't imagine most Maryland Police agencies letting their employees be "cowboys."
Simple Yes/No question but I get the feeling people are fear mongering being handcuffed by some off duty/possible out of jurisdiction law officer?
Wouldn't the "sarge" back at the department say "Why are you getting involved with this?" when some City cop explains why he handcuffed a guy at a gun range 50 miles away? Sounds like a good reason to get fired.