D.C. businessman faces two years in jail for unregistered ammunition, brass casing

Heck, when I traded in my last pickup truck, a week later the dealer called me and said "Hey, we pulled a bag worth of brass casings out of your truck when we were detailing it, come pick it up anytime."

In IL we can carry an unloaded gun in the console, with a loaded magazine next to it. I often practice draw-load-fire drills when driving out to change rifle targets. So there's brass every-frigging-where in my cars.

(Soon, we'll have CCW and I won't have to load the gun when I practice. Just draw and fire.)

This story is shocking, BTW.

I can't even describe how that article made me feel, in words.

But... how long have they been battering down bathroom doors in riot gear with teens in the shower and holding home owners at gunpoint over reloading supplies, spent shells, and 1 dud 12 gauge shell??

On the warrant was "gun cleaning equipment, holsters, bullet holders and ammunition receipts.”

Items that are legal in Washington, DC, a place where if there is any place the Constitution and most importantly the 2nd Amendment should apply.

How am I supposed to respect the rule of law when this sort of egregious violation of the Constitution and basic civil rights keeps happening in the very capitol of our nation?

Please Second Amendment Foundation, take this one if this is a true rendition of events. I'll be more than happy to open my wallet again. If this is the good fight we should all join in.

So then, is reloading an illegal hobby in DC?

"When seconds count, the police are only minutes away"​

GS

Just curious... would a mis-fired cartridge/shell be considered 'inert', or 'live' ammo?

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Most definitely live. Until the powder is gone, it's got potential.

The kicker of the law in DC is it wouldn't matter anyway. According to the article a spent shell is considered "ammunition."

Ammunition registration is illegal, as per Volker -McClure gun owners protection laws from may 1986, when Regan stopped the manufacture, importation of machine guns in this country........same bill anyways.

Willie Sutton said:

This is obscene. We are truly becoming two nations.


Willie

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Not fast enough.

I'm still trying to decipher on what planet this all makes any sense.

Cripes.

A piece of brass?

The council members keep pushing for DC to become a state. This is crap. I hope he gets off and gets a damn good lawyer!!

The rules in D.C. are, shall we say, "flexible." A few years ago (in the late 1980's) I was given written permission from the Metropolitan Police Department to bring a live, registered M60 machine gun into the District, for the purpose of a "living history" demonstration at the Soldiers' Home. (And BTW, the ATF was fine with this "interstate transportation" as long as I had the permission slip from the Metropolitan Police.) This probably violated a host of laws, as written, but, hey, since the Metropolitan Police was in charge of enforcing those laws, who was I to argue?

This same "flexibility" was on display recently, with David Gregory and Diane Feinstein flaunting large-capacity magazines on national TV. Nothing will happen to them. It's all a question of who you are and who you know.

The moral of the story in the OP of this thread is to stay on good terms with ex-spouses. Vindictive "significant others" have been the undoing of many a good man when guns are concerned.

This may not be new, but it sure as hell isn't right. I hope the case gets tossed quickly, but considering the current bent of the courts, it probably won't.

I don't see the problem. The 4th amendment clearly states:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, the persons or things to be seized, the property to be wantonly destroyed, and the minor children to be sexually assaulted.

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Right? Isn't that what it says?

Our federal govt. is mad and sick with no cure. They are evil people with evil agendas and we keep letting them get away with it. We vote, but our votes are not counted.
This is something that I would expect in Mexico or Nazi Germany. Coming soon to a state near you if we don't put a stop to it soon.

Our federal govt. is mad and sick with no cure. They are evil people with evil agendas and we keep letting them get away with it.

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Wait...this isn't the federal government sending in troops. This was passed by the DC City Council back in 1975. Being enforced by the DC police. Your Congressman didn't tell them to go do this, and the current President didn't either. This is local politics run amok.

We vote, but our votes are not counted.

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I rather fail to see how you can draw that conclusion from this. Did you vote in any DC City Council elections?

This is something that I would expect in Mexico or Nazi Germany. Coming soon to a state near you if we don't put a stop to it soon.

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Somehow I don't think a law prohibiting ownership of an empty fired case is coming soon to any state, any where.

Let's not go completely barmy over this. It's disgusting, but it's just DC being DC. If you're not used to the local inside-the-beltway political culture it may shock you -- and it should! -- but don't assume they have anything at all to do with the rest of the nation. It's a bizarre little world in there.

DC PD is about as crooked as a winding road through the Alps. It no longer matters whether you broke the law or not. Politicians in Washington break it on a daily basis but they aren't touched. Nothing will happen to Diane Fianstein for having semi-automatic and even a few NFA firearms IN the Capitol. But this guy gets slammed for having ammo? I know the law isn't new but it certainly needs to be re done.

Disgusting.

Disgusting. The founding fathers would be rolling in their graves. I wish the Confederacy would have won.

Linked Article said:

Police based their search on a charge made by Mr. Witaschek’s estranged wife, who had earlier convinced a court clerk to issue a temporary restraining order against her husband for threatening her with a gun, although a judge later found the charge to be without merit.

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So, either his estranged wife is connected or this guy really ticked off a connected guy. Having Metro hit a Georgetown house in force to look for stray ammunition is quite an expenditure of time, effort, and political capital -- not the kind of thing a sgt or lt is going to initiate.

This kind of treatment is sending a message to someone, that's for sure. I'm not clear on who the audience is. Anyone local in DC know the players?

This is rediculous! D.C. or any other part of the nation, it's absurd!
For anyone who says this is just D.C. and a localized event, I respectfully disagree. This is a mentality that is spreading through our nation due to an unconstitutional agenda pushed on the American people by corrupt politicians.
Maybe things aren't this bad in your place of residence... yet!
Stuff like this reminds of why we REALLY have the Second Amendment.


I like Ranger Roberts' signature line a lot:
"The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it"

Hey, it's safer for all those cops to go after that guy and his family than it is for them to go after REAL criminals in the DC ghettos and 'hoods. These folks offer no resistance, the real criminals might shoot back. Plus the cops get to play with their cool toys and practice Police State tactics.

Apparently they have nothing to hold their ammo so instead of throwing away empty boxes of ammo maybe we should send it to them as long as its not illegal.

Sad, the real criminals are the ones in power and exercising 'illegal' warrants; the politicians, the judges, and the law enforcement that conduct these actions.

Lest anyone think I'm kidding - when you pass and enforce illegal laws that violate the very US Constitution our nation was founded on, then you are a criminal.

These criminals need to go to prison and the laws reversed to align with our founding rights.

As an aside, I cannot understand why ANYONE would live in such a place like DC if you are at all interested in guns. Get a job elsewhere, move the family, do whatever. But it's better than the alteratives, which mean giving up your guns or going to prison, and in this case he's going to prison for having a bullet... There are about 45 'free' states. Why would you pick one of the places that is NOT free?!?!?! It's not that hard to move to free America.

You don't get it. This going to trial is a good thing.

Now, I am not a lawyer, but. . .

This going to trial is a good thing. By my read of this, the action and law are illegal under Heller. However until there is a successful legal challenge under Heller, the unconstitutional law remains on the books. If the judge does the right thing and makes a verdict in the case in the defendant's favor, there is now a legal challenge to the law, and it can thus be overturned.

It is sad what the family went through, and the amount of damage caused. However the court portion of this case could very well be a VERY good thing for the district.

I'd take a close look at this businessman's & competitions' local political dealings, but I'm sure that's just crazy talk and this whole thing was mistaken overreaction.

TCB