Former FBI Director Louis Freeh presents badge to John Shipley
(Photo from Shipley Legal Defense website)
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"FBI agent guilty of gun dealing," reads the headline by Adriana M. Chávez of the El Paso Times.
Jurors took less than three hours Wednesday to convict an FBI agent of six counts of dealing weapons without a permit and lying to federal agents about the sales.
...The jury convicted him on one count of importing/ manufacturing firearms and dealing firearms without a license, one count of making a false statement, and four counts of causing a firearms dealer to maintain false records.
We've discussed John Shipley's story several times before at Gun Rights Examiner (see "Related Articles" links), raising questions about the charges, the way the case has been handled, and whether Shipley is simply a very active collector caught up in technicalities. My urging at the time was to not rush to judgment, and I pointed out the irony of that coming from me, of all people, when dealing with a federal "Only One" (and a former FBI sniper at that). But the overriding principle is that rights either apply to all of us or they apply to none of us.
The thing is, after reading this latest development through and comparing it to past reporting, I still have questions about the appropriateness of the verdict, albeit what I'm getting is pieced together from remote sources and I have not, like the jury members, heard all the evidence.
You can hear Shipley's side of things on his legal defense website, at least as much as it has been deemed prudent to disclose. The defense is still insisting on his innocence, so it doesn't look like they intend to throw themselves on the mercy of the court.
But the thing that strikes me most is not the legal story, but the human one:
After the verdict was read in U.S. District Court, Shipley's wife, Katherine, bowed her head and sobbed...Shipley went to his wife and began consoling her. She hugged him tightly and said, "Don't leave me."
As heartbreaking as that is, I can't help but think about other Americans taken from their families by an enforcement apparatus Shipley has been a part of—men like Wayne Fincher or David Olofson, who harmed no one, but who nonetheless ran afoul of edicts trampling a proscription that could not be more clear:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
What the hell have we allowed to happen to us?
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From James B. Towle:
CaLEFTornia is put on "Suicide Watch"! Sirens have gone off at the Hunting Report; if you have a Caribou hunt planned in the NWT or going to Mozambique, better watch this! David Codrea asks "When did we become the Bad Guys? James Herbert sets new record Leopard in South Africa taken with a Bow. Special Guest, Marc Sheppard, Four-time Biathlon Trialist, brought guns and has coffee with James B. Towle at the Santa Barbara Yacht Club.
Click here if you missed yesterday's Trigger Sports LIVE!
Hey—Nice shirt!
Comments
"What the hell have we allowed to happen to us?"
"...all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed." -- Thomas Jefferson -- Declaration of Independence
Apparently the "evils" are still "sufferable". At least for the time being.
I'm guessing that one of the "evils" that tripped up this FBI agent is BATFE's historic refusal to define a hard number of firearms transactions that constitute "engaged in the business" and therefore require the buyer/seller to have a valid FFL.
Far too many people find out what that number is only after the fact when BATFE comes down on them like a horde of "jack booted thugs"
Any guesses as to what 'the magic number' is? Per day, per month or per year? (dare I say Lifetime?)
Not one prone to satire *snicker* that really is an honest question.
to view a partial list of crimes committed by FBI agents over 1500 pages long see
forums.signonsandiego.com/showthread.php?t=59139
to view a partial list of FBI agents arrested for pedophilia see
campusactivism.org/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=29
also see
ctka.net/pr500-king.html
Would love to be on your list of examiners...anyhow, this was a good article do you feel that he may have been guilty?
I hear it in the blogs and forum comments from many who own and even carry guns... They "know" that they are the good guys and safe to carry, but they are adamant that "somebody" - always government - must somehow control everyone else because others can't necessarily be trusted with all that freedom.
It is clearly a refusal to accept the fact that rights and just laws must apply to everyone equally, whether we are "comfortable" with it personally or not.
I agree that the laws must be applied equally to everyone, but it's difficult for me to find any sympathy for the accused in this case. After all, didn't he willingly elect to work for an organization which in many cases has violated the rights of many by enforcing unConstitutional laws? Tough way to learn it, but sometimes what goes around comes around.
karma
What Straightarrow said. Or, more pithily, payback's a bitch.
",,, and whether Shipley is simply a very active collector caught up in technicalities."
Seems rather obvious to me: The Govt/FBI wants to persecute ANYONE who is into guns, imo. They just can't have that, its bad PR...
Sweet Shivering Shiva!
Mr. Codrea,as someone who interviewed David E. Young and presumably read both his books, reprimanded me on the need for precision when I stated Lon Horiuchi was paid for his endorsement of a rifle, I am startled to note you quote the 2nd Amendment with three commas and four clauses when David E. Young has authenticated beyond doubt the proper presentation of the 2nd Amendment is with ONE COMMA and TWO clauses to wit:
A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.
In the absence of quotations from The Founders View Of The Right to Keep And Bear Arms I offer this analysis as penned by Vannrox of Free Republic:
johnjacobh.wordpress.com/2008/05/24/the-one-comma-2nd-amendment/
If we win no other battles in the 21st Century, can we at least win this one?
In Liberty,
JJH
JohnJacobH,
Never ever allow anyone to forget the single period to wit:
A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.
On BATFU v Shipley – Every once in a while it’s good practice to hang a fellow “only one” out to dry. It helps to maintain a believable facade of credibility and ethical conduct.
[W-3]
Copied from the National Archives text version, JJH. Take it up with them.
I'm aware there are different versions--some with more commas, some with more capitalization--one that went to the states for ratification, another that went to Congress, which is the version quoted here, and incidentally the one cited in the Heller opinion.
Many fbi agents are homicidal psychopaths and the fbi's snipers are often serial killers.
See worldinabox.html
QUESTIONS! geral sosbee (956)371-5210
It is quite likely that Mr. Shipley's attitude toward "We the People" has been much altered since he finds himself the dehumanized object of the jackbooted thugs he formerly represented.
Straightarrow's comment is the soul of simplicity: "karma"
The first battle was lost, however the war is still on. Check out the webpage update "Important Points and Timeline". The jury was not given evidence, other than oral speculation, insinuation, and we think. Why would an ATF Agent interview a possible felon and not tape the interview or even make a written report to his superiors? Nothing was introduced in the court to substantiate a conversation that took place more than a year before the trial date. How does one remenber the exact details? Or do they make them up as they go???
Counts 2 & 3 state that Shipley bought two weapons for another person, and therefore was not the actual buyer when he signed the 4473's. The person that bought the weapons stated in court that he never asked Shipley to buy a weapon for me or he never gave Shipley $'s to buy a weapon for me. The witness stated that he did see the weapons after Shipley had bought them and wanted to buy them. Did the jury hear this testimony or did they choose to ignore it as they found Shipley guilty on these two counts?
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