Colorado Man Charged for Standard Capacity Magazine

Rio Laxas · Nov 2, 2015

The Associated Press said:
"Colorado man charged for having high-capacity magazine"

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — Northern Colorado authorities have charged a 29-year-old with illegal possession of a high-capacity magazine, making use of a controversial law for the first time

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29059273/colorado-man-charged-having-high-capacity-magazine

Another article with more detail: http://www.coloradoan.com/story/new...acity-magazine-charge-filed-larimer/74887236/

More details on the arrest: http://www.coloradoan.com/story/new...llegedly-threatening-front-range-cc/74692168/

So much for the law not being enforced.

Edited to add: Apparently he was a convicted felon already and was charged with illegal possession of a firearm.

Gottahaveone · Nov 2, 2015

So much for the law not being enforced.

Well, given recent history, and the threats he allegedly made, I find it no surprise that the put that charge on him. In spite of state law, they would probably have charged him with federal charges for marijuana if they had found weed in his car too.......

ClickClickD'oh · Nov 2, 2015

almostfree said:
So much for the law not being enforced.

I'm just going to go out on a limb here and say... This guy might not be the post child we want for fighting against this law.. Probably best to let this one go by without much comment.

X-Rap · Nov 2, 2015

I think you will see it done as an enhancement of charges. Pretty hard to resist piling up charges, especially in the case of mass shooting threats.
I'm betting that you will see it added to many offenses in the future, even in gun friendly jurisdictions.

Salmoneye · Nov 2, 2015

From the article linked in the OP:

According to court records, he was arrested after a psychologist reported he was making threats about shooting a security guard and burning down a building at Fort Range Community College.

I agree...

Let this one go by...

morcey2 · Nov 2, 2015

ClickClickD'oh said:
I'm just going to go out on a limb here and say... This guy might not be the post child we want for fighting against this law.. Probably best to let this one go by without much comment.

An unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on the perspective) state of affairs is that many test cases for bad laws aren't good guys that accidentally violate the law, but bad guys that violate a bad law (10-round mag limit law) while in the process of violating other not-so-bad laws (making terroristic threats). He may not be the poster child we want, but his case may be useful in getting this overturned.

Matt

Turftech1 · Nov 2, 2015

This is a really hard one, because it sounds like he probably shouldn't be armed at all. The danger is that if he is convicted for possession of a "high capacity" magazine, and sentenced, then that sets a precedent, which can be cited and used when it's just a regular, no intent to kill anybody, law abiding citizen who gets charged.

Probably best if the DA is pressured into pursuing other charges, or a plea agreement where he loses his guns and receives mental care.

Rio Laxas · Nov 2, 2015

ClickClickD'oh said:
I'm just going to go out on a limb here and say... This guy might not be the post child we want for fighting against this law.. Probably best to let this one go by without much comment.

I don't disagree with you at all. Apparently he was already a convicted felon. This guy probably deserves what is coming to him.

Nonetheless, it useful to know that this law will be selectively enforced even in areas where the sheriff is opposed to it.

The Coloradoan said:
“The truth is that magazine restrictions are about as effective at deterring criminals as gun free zones. Both can make certain people feel good, but in the end, they do nothing to protect the community,” [Larimer County Sheriff Justin] Smith wrote in an email Sunday.

While he commended Fort Collins police for their work on the case, he said time will tell how the prosecution pans out on the magazine charge. Felons are already banned from possessing firearms. This charge adds a new element that has to be proven.

“Even if you believe the restrictions were reasonable or effective, you also have to essentially find a receipt proving when the individual came into possession of the magazines,” he said.

http://www.coloradoan.com/story/new...acity-magazine-charge-filed-larimer/74887236/

old lady new shooter · Nov 2, 2015

He was released with an ankle monitor? Maybe the LE folks here can explain how this works, does it have an internal GPS that someone has to monitor all the time to see where he goes? Or would he be ordered to be confined to his house and it just alerts authorities if he leaves? Then what?

old lady new shooter · Nov 2, 2015

The one ray of sunshine in this story is that his psychologist reported him for the threats, enabling authorities to stop him before he carried them out.

MErl · Nov 2, 2015

If you cannot trust your shrink who can you trust... Who says the threats were real and are they even threats when discussed in a clinical setting? (Article behind paywall for me)

CoalTrain49 · Nov 2, 2015

The prosecutor will tack on as many charges as he can. SOP. Then the plea bargaining starts. No plea, no slack. That's the way it works. He's going to jail, just a matter of how long.

newfalguy101 · Nov 2, 2015

old lady new shooter said:
The one ray of sunshine in this story is that his psychologist reported him for the threats, enabling authorities to stop him before he carried them out.

the flip side of that would be:

An individual seeks counseling for a mild case of depression, what my grandma used to say she was "feeling blue" and the phycologist ( who just happens to be anti-gun ) contacts the local authorities about a depressed person having firearms....

I wasn't able to read the entire article, was the guy in court ordered counseling??

CoalTrain49 · Nov 2, 2015

If you cannot trust your shrink who can you trust... Who says the threats were real and are they even threats when discussed in a clinical setting? (Article behind paywall for me)

In some states the doctor has to report it by state law.

This guy doesn't appear to be the sharpest tool in the shed.

old lady new shooter · Nov 2, 2015

newfalguy101 said:
the flip side of that would be:

An individual seeks counseling for a mild case of depression, what my grandma used to say she was "feeling blue" and the phycologist ( who just happens to be anti-gun ) contacts the local authorities about a depressed person having firearms....

I wasn't able to read the entire article, was the guy in court ordered counseling??

He didn't say he was "feeling blue", he made specific threats: "he was making threats about shooting a security guard and burning down a building at Front Range Community College if administrators didn't re-enroll him"

Sunray · Nov 2, 2015

Got a loonie off the streets. Sometimes a bad law can work for you.

usmarine0352_2005 · Nov 2, 2015

Problem with this guy is he'll most likely be rightfully convicted and appeal his case and he's a horrible client and he's the test case that will make it to SCOTUS over magazine size limits and we'll lose.

old lady new shooter · Nov 2, 2015

usmarine0352_2005 said:
Problem with this guy is he'll most likely be rightfully convicted and appeal his case and he's a horrible client and he's the test case that will make it to SCOTUS over magazine size limits and we'll lose.

I didn't get the impression that the magazine limits are really the charge, more of an add-on. As a convicted felon he was anyway prohibited from even owning a gun.

Robert · Nov 2, 2015

That is just it. No law abiding person has been charged or even looked at sideways due to this stupid law, that I know of. This guy was making threats and this was simply tacked on as yet another charge to give the DA room to negotiate a plea deal and avoid trial.

This is not an assault on law abiding citizens, at this time. But the law is still on the books and our state LEOs will not always be so right minded on the application of this law.

MagnunJoe · Nov 2, 2015

In 10 years we will have 30 states with laws against any magazine that hold more than 10 rounds. Sign of the times. We will also have 30 states with UBC.

newfalguy101 · Nov 2, 2015

old lady new shooter said:
He didn't say he was "feeling blue", he made specific threats: "he was making threats about shooting a security guard and burning down a building at Front Range Community College if administrators didn't re-enroll him"

Interestingly enough, it appears as if the "threat" wasn't deemed credible enough by the prosecutor to charge him...... at least not yet

All I saw was felon in possession, "educational interference", drugs w/o a script, and a scary Hi-cap mag. The article also referred to "indirect threats"..............

As mentioned above, who is to say the guy wasn't having a lousy week and just shot off his mouth................and who hasn't ever done that?? Last I knew, the DR-client privelage thing was pretty important

Turftech1 · Nov 2, 2015

MErl said:
If you cannot trust your shrink who can you trust... Who says the threats were real and are they even threats when discussed in a clinical setting? (Article behind paywall for me)

If you are a convicted felon, with firearms in your car, and you are thinking about shooting the security guard at your school and lighting fires, and you think you can tell your shrink about it, and nothing will happen. Then you probably have some real mental problems.

old lady new shooter · Nov 2, 2015

newfalguy101 said:
Last I knew, the DR-client privelage thing was pretty important

Apparently he caused enough of a disturbance at the school that they sent him to a "counselor". The only type of "counselor" who would be a physician would be a psychiatrist. I think if they had sent him to a psychiatrist the article would have said "psychiatrist" rather than "counselor".

Ironicaintit · Nov 2, 2015

The magazines arent even at issue...not sure why the first article pointed to that.
He wasnt trying to transfer magazines over the 15 round limit: he was a felon in possession of firearms!
That he made the threats and called attention to himself, may have been a good thing.

hso · Nov 2, 2015

Fort Collins police who on Monday arrested a convicted felon for allegedly threatening to burn down buildings at Front Range Community College say they found a semi-automatic rifle, a handgun, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and illegal drugs in a search of the man's house.

....

Campus leaders met with Moscow earlier this month to assess his mental stability and determine his enrollment eligibility. Investigators report that while speaking with a counselor on Oct. 20, Moscow said if the college didn’t re-admit him as a student that he was going to, “burn the building down, and he was not kidding.”

The therapist felt the threat was credible and notified campus officials and Fort Collins police. Moscow was taken in for a 72-hour hold after an Oct. 23 traffic stop.

There's no defending this guy. The counselor met with him on behalf of the college and this moron made the threats against the college. He's a felon in possession of firearms, he made threats to a college representative not his own therapist, it triggered an investigation and search and he got busted for everything they found (which included the magazines). The prosecutor is going to pile every individual count on them they can.

Colorado Man Charged for Standard Capacity Magazine

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