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

[steelerdude99]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news...n-faces-two-years-jail-unregis/#ixzz2iZ6NoSDz

This is sad situation. This man is being charged for having ammo (not an actual firearm): The text below is from the above link.

Mark Witaschek, a successful financial adviser with no criminal record, is facing two years in prison for possession of unregistered ammunition after D.C. police raided his house looking for guns. Mr. Witaschek has never had a firearm in the city, but he is being prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The trial starts on Nov. 4.

chuck

 

[Sam1911]

Yes, it is a sad situation. And, unfortunately, that is exactly what the law in the District says.

 

[littlebluevette]

It's getting harder and harder to believe this country is the "land of the free" and not a police state when you read stories like that.

 

[gdcpony]

Another reason not to live in our capital.

 

[Sam1911]

The thing is, that's been the law in D.C. for a long time. This is nothing new.

 

[KMatch]

Anyone who didn't read the article needs to do so. The amount of physical damage to the house, emotional damage to the family, ridiculous over-use of manpower... 30 officers in full riot gear based on a ticked ex-wife whose complaint was found to be without merit?

 

[littlebluevette]

Anyone who didn't read the article needs to do so. The amount of physical damage to the house, emotional damage to the family, ridiculous over-use of manpower... 30 officers in full riot gear based on a ticked ex-wife whose complaint was found to be without merit?

Exactly

 

[gdcpony]

After entering the house, the police immediately went upstairs, pointed guns at the heads of Mr. Witaschek and his girlfriend, Bonnie Harris, and demanded they surrender, facedown and be handcuffed.

In recalling what followed, Mr. Witaschek became visibly emotional in describing how the police treated him, Ms. Harris and the four children in the house.

His 16-year-old son was in the shower when the police arrived. “They used a battering ram to bash down the bathroom door and pull him out of the shower, naked,” said his father. “The police put all the children together in a room, while we were handcuffed upstairs. I could hear them crying, not knowing what was happening.”

...

The police shut down the streets for blocks and spent more than two hours going over every inch of his house. “They tossed the place,” said Mr. Witaschek. He provided photos that he took of his home after the raid to document the damage, which he estimated at $10,000.

The police found no guns in the house, but did write on the warrant that four items were discovered: “One live round of 12-gauge shotgun ammunition,” which was an inoperable shell that misfired during a hunt years earlier. Mr. Witaschek had kept it as a souvenir. “One handgun holster” was found, which is perfectly legal.

“One expended round of .270 caliber ammunition,” which was a spent brass casing. The police uncovered “one box of Knight bullets for reloading.” These are actually not for reloading, but are used in antique-replica, single-shot, muzzle-loading rifles.

From the article for those who don't realize how bad this was over something so minor that should never have been against the law in the first place

 

[Blackstone]

So all that for essentially a misfired 12-gauge round...

 

[Ryanxia]

That's ridiculous. Naked son in the shower taken down after they hit the bathroom door with a battering ram!

So many things American citizens could do to deter them from these frequent invasions but this being THR I'll keep my comments to myself.

 

[ATLDave]

When I went to school in D.C., I lived in fear that a piece of ammunition from a holiday shooting outing with my dad and brother would stick in a coat pocket, trouser cuff, or under a car floor mat, and make me a felon when I returned to school. Just ridiculous.

 

[ngnrd]

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

 

[bainter1212]

When I went to school in D.C., I lived in fear that a piece of ammunition from a holiday shooting outing with my dad and brother would stick in a coat pocket, trouser cuff, or under a car floor mat, and make me a felon when I returned to school. Just ridiculous.

Right?

I spilled a brick of .22 years ago in my car and I am still finding it occasionally in the oddest spots.

Hopefully a good judge throws this out of court with prejudice....

 

[Willie Sutton]

This is obscene. We are truly becoming two nations.


Willie

.

 

[mr.trooper]

I am profoundly saddened by how far we have fallen.

The nations capitol is supposed to be a tangible vision of america - an phisical example of the American ideal.

Every day it becomes more difficult to continue waving the flag, and believing in America as the "Land of the free".

 

[Old Shooter]

This isn't the America I grew up in....

 

[ATLDave]

This isn't the America I grew up in....

Well, I don't know exactly when you grew up, but my recollection is that this has been the law in the District since 1975. Nothing new about this.

 

[Ranger Roberts]

Tyranny at its finest. How many people have fought and died for our rights just so we can have them stripped away? This country is in a terrible downward spiral...

 

[Sam1911]

This is obscene. We are truly becoming two nations.

Well, I don't know exactly when you grew up, but my recollection is that this has been the law in the District since 1975. Nothing new about this.

"We" may be a little closer to becoming one, actually. I guarantee this law has been enforced many thousands of times to put other sorts of people away for long periods of time. This time it happens to be an upstanding, successful, (fill in the blank), businessman instead of a "suspected drug-dealer's house" or "gang related" or whatever else.

MANY people have spent years in jail due to being caught in violation of DC's laws against guns and ammunition. It's just a bit harder to call this, "getting X,Y,Z off our streets."

(Ironically, I do know folks who have been caught and let go with a sternly wagged finger because they didn't fit ... well, they were "obviously" not the bad type.)

 

[Godsgunman]

Unbelievable. Welcome to Nazi Germany.

 

[scythefwd]

Believe it or not, this is a good thing. Just need to get GOA and NRA to back this guy all the way to the SCOTUS and get the law ruled unconstitutional.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Originally Posted by ATLDave
When I went to school in D.C., I lived in fear that a piece of ammunition from a holiday shooting outing with my dad and brother would stick in a coat pocket, trouser cuff, or under a car floor mat, and make me a felon when I returned to school. Just ridiculous.

I am used to target practicing in the mountains using the truck as a rest. There are probably empty casings, mostly .22, all over the vehicle in odd corners. I regard them as debris like pine needles, etc. I could commit a felony just by driving through DC on vacation. This is insane to me.

 

[Dnaltrop]

Found a spent .22 casing in the under-trunk storage of my Station Wagon that I purchased in Nebraska this year.

Wouldn't that have been a hoot if for some bizarre reason I'd been en route to DC instead of back home to Oregon? "It's Not mine officer, I swear! I have no idea how that got there!"

 

[19-3Ben]

When i was in college in Massachusetts, I was president of the shooting club for our school.
After range trips I always had to remind the students not to bring any cases as souvenirs, and to check the tread of their shoes for any cases that might be stuck in the shoe, as they don't want to someone to find it in their car, or their dorm room later on for this exact reason.

 

[ATLDave]

I am used to target practicing in the mountains using the truck as a rest. There are probably empty casings, mostly .22, all over the vehicle in odd corners. I regard them as debris like pine needles, etc. I could commit a felony just by driving through DC on vacation. This is insane to me.

I agree 100%. It is insane, imbecilic, moronic, etc. It's just been the law for a long time in D.C. It's not new, it's not something that "is happening" to our country. It happened in Washington a long, long time ago.