Hamblen Loses Appeal
A federal appeals court has denied a Tennessee state guardsman’s motion to overturn his conviction for possession of nine machine guns.
The ruling from the 6th U.S. Circuit in Cincinnati states that Richard Hamblen built the guns himself out of parts from a kit after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks because he believed the guard was not well equipped with weapons.
Hamblen was charged in 2005 for unlawfully possessing machine guns and for possessing unregistered firearms. He was given a 15 month sentence followed by two years of supervised release.
December 30th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
It said he was also charged with “possessing unregistered firearms”. If this was tenn. I did not know you could be charged with that as it was not required. a little confused here on that issue.
December 30th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
NFA weapons illegal in TN. It is an affirmative defense to possession that it is registered as a NFA weapon. So, that’s likely where that charge comes from.
December 30th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Hamblen is a kook. Pray he does not appeal this to the Supreme Court and cause further damage.
December 30th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
It was definitely was not a good case to use to overturn the NFA.
December 30th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
NFA weapons illegal in TN. It is an affirmative defense to possession that it is registered as a NFA weapon.
It’s the same in PA. But this is a federal case. He was charged with violating 922(o). Whatever the media says on this crap is usually worthless. Everyone these days gets charged with 922(o), because you can’t be charged with not paying a tax on an item if the government refuses to collect the tax. So if you have a machine gun that’s of a make that the government would have refused your tax check, it’s 922(o) time for you.
December 30th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Hmm… now that I think about it… I think it was SayUncle that pointed me to that NFA factoid.
December 30th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Here in NC, a NFA weapon is a weapon of mass death and destruction unless you have it registered as a NFA weapon.
December 30th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Hmm. could be that too.
December 30th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
I am always amazed that we (government) spends so much time on shit like this when anyone who really wants to harm a great number of people could do so much more effectively with a few gallons of chlorine bleach and ammonia, all of which you can get at your local supermarket without registration, weapons tax, background checks, or any damn thing else.
This is not about public safety. Never has been. It is about controlling target specific weapons in the interest of government agent safety when they abuse their authority.
December 30th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
Actually, I think it’s about going after easy targets. Arresting this guy is easier than going after Carlito from MS13.
December 30th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Though seeing straightarrow post here frightens me, I have no fundamental issue with his line of reasoning. But for some reason politicians and federal judges are scared to death of the idea of people owning machine guns.
December 30th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
well, they went 5-4 on a revolver. baby steps. one at a time. All of that.
December 31st, 2009 at 3:33 am
StraightArrow rocks – he’s been a consistent voice advocating gun freedom.
December 31st, 2009 at 7:04 am
why does my posting here frighten you? It isn’t like I threatened conversation or anything.
Oh, and ModCitzn, thanks for the compliment, but I actually advocate for freedom,period.
December 31st, 2009 at 11:06 am
Hamblen is a kook. Pray he does not appeal this to the Supreme Court and cause further damage.
What’s the current damage he’s done? Other than getting himself sent to federal prison for 15 months, which he’s already served?
January 1st, 2010 at 4:03 am
And let us not forget what he did is provided for in Tn. law and court opinion. yeah, real kooky that he should do something that wasn’t illegal.