You don’t have to make shit up to get a conviction

A 69 year-old woman was tragically killed in Tennessee a while back because some idiots tossed a large rock from an interstate overpass. Pretty open and shut, you would think. However, the prosecutors are trying to charge the killers under a law that says it’s first degree murder if the killer used a destructive device. They argue that a rock is a DD. This could have some serious implications.

A DD, as regulated under the 1934 National Firearms act, is:

1) any explosive, incendiary, or poison gas (A) bomb, (B) grenade, (C) rocket having a propellant charge of more than four ounces, (D) missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce, (E) mine, or (F) similar device; (2) any type of weapon by whatever name known which will, or which may be readily converted to, expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or other propellant, the barrel or barrels of which have a bore of more than one-half inch in diameter, except a shotgun or shotgun shell which the Secretary finds is generally recognized as particularly suitable for sporting purposes; and (3) any combination of parts either designed or intended for use in converting any device into a destructive device as defined in subparagraphs (1) and (2) and from which a destructive device may be readily assembled.

Such devices are highly regulated federally. I did a quick search of the Tennessee Code Annotated for Destructive Device and found no definition. However, I know that Tennessee Code merely mimics federal law with respect to Class III weapons. It would stand to reason that, since the other firearms rules are referenced specifically in the TCA, that the definition of a DD would be the same.

They are improperly charging these hoodlums to get the first degree murder conviction. After all, my car, a spoon, and a key can be used as weapons.