Olofson machine gun transfer conviction upheld

May 4, 3:19 PMGun Rights ExaminerDavid Codrea

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David R. Olofson's conviction "for knowingly transferring a machinegun in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(o)" has been upheld.

A May 1 ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held on May 1:

In sum, the defendant’s proffered jury instruction was not a correct statement of the law, and the district court properly rejected it. Furthermore, the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to sustain Olofson’s conviction, and 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(o) and 924(a)(2) are not unconstitutionally vague as applied to the facts of this case. In addition, the district court did not abuse its discretion in either excluding the defendant’s firearms expert from the courtroom during the government expert’s testimony or in denying Olofson’s motion to compel the production of evidence he had requested from the government. Accordingly, we AFFIRM Olofson’s conviction.

Earlier today I reported on my WarOnGuns blog that exclusion of expert witness Len Savage from the courtroom during testimony by his government counterpart was held to be "not an abuse of discretion." The Wisconsin Law Journal case digest can be read here.

Olofson's legal options at this point appear to be to request the Seventh Circuit Court to hear the case en banc, to petition the Supreme Court, or to accept the decision. A relief fund has been established to fund his legal costs by Gun Owners of America.

More information on developments in this case will be reported as they're made known.

Click here to download the decision.

For those unfamiliar with the case, see the additional information at the bottom of this post.  In short, Olofson had a semiautomatic rifle that could misfire if certain ammuniton was used.  It was determined that even though it was a malfunction, it legally met the definition of a machine gun.

More info:

Olofson reporting from Examiner.com

Olofson reporting from WarOnGuns

Olofson reporting from WorldNetDaily

Olofson reporting from Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership

Lou Dobbs on Olofson (You Tube)

"How You Can Become a 'Gun Felon'" (Guns Magazine)