July 31st, 2009
Replica rifle has Brooklyn man at odds with cops
Michael Littlejohn is under fire from the NYPD over a replica Revolution-era flintlock rifle:
Littlejohn fired the first shot when he hired a Tennessee blacksmith to recreate the vintage rifle. It arrived at his Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, apartment in June – followed quickly by city cops.
Police claim it’s illegal for Littlejohn to keep the flintlock without a gun license.
Littlejohn, 50, cites the earliest American patriots as his inspiration while refusing to surrender his firearm or apply for a license.
The social worker is also clinging to a little-known exemption in the city’s strict gun laws.
The loophole allows license-free ownership of “antique firearms” – defined as rifles that require the bullet and gunpowder to be loaded separately.
The way it’s described here, anyway, it sure sounds like he can legally own and possess this rifle without a license.
What Murdoc finds even weirder is how the cops found out about the rifle:
The NYPD learned about Littlejohn’s $825 rifle when he left a receipt inside a Staples copy center, prompting a call to the cops.
Find a random receipt for a gun and call the cops on it?
Tags: NY
July 31st, 2009 at 10:23 am
As far as I’m aware any musket guns, rifles or pistols aren’t even considered guns by the ATF. You can walk into a sporting goods store and get a muzzle loader or black powder pistol and walk out the same way you can as if you were buying ammo. Hell you can get them shipped to your door without a problem. So this is just absurd.
July 31st, 2009 at 3:00 pm
[...] Tactical Assault Flintlock Replica Revolutionary War rifle has NYPD all worked up. [...]
July 31st, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Black powder weapons, except those which use in-line mechanisms, are exempt from federal forearms laws, and the laws of almost every state. In fact, if you read the Federal definition of a firearm from the 1968 gun control act, you will find that it specifically exempts antique weapons, and replicas thereof as even being a “firearm” for the purposes of the act. That definition has never been changed.
And UPS will not only deliver a muzzle loader to your door, they will also deliver black powder.
respects,
respects,
July 31st, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Shippers have some restrictions on shipping any firearms. Including I think flintlocks and black powder as they fall under the ‘dangerous goods’ category. One is asked this at any manned FedEx station, “Does this Package contain any dangerous goods?” If they have the authority, not all branches do, they will ship it. Call ahead if you plan on doing so.
July 31st, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Mr. Littlejohn has contacted New York attorney Jerold E. Levine (thegunlawyer.net), and Mr. Levine has agreed to represent him pro bono. Mr. Levine has much experience fighting the anti-gun NYC bureaucracy.