Israeli scholars and archaeologists have uncovered ancient scrolls containing new information about the first murder, the killing of Abel by his brother Cain. Previously, it was thought that the killing was caused by Cain's outrage that Abel brought a better offering. Instead, we learn that the rock caused Cain to do it. "'Thou art a good boy, who didn't do nothing,' sayeth the Lord. 'The rock that thou foundest in thy hand compelled you to kill your brother, whom you loved. Since the rock killed thy brother Abel, cursed shall rocks be! Cursed it is above all minerals. It shall lie on its belly and collect dust all its days." Studies done by the CDC have shown that homes with rocks in them are two times more likely to be the site of rock crimes than homes without rocks. Historians report that so many people have been killed with rocks, it is impossible to count. Rocks are available to purchase without background checks in all 57 states. This information is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Non-compliance with the background check law (effective Jan. 2, 2020 is at your own risk. You will have to make a personal choice regarding your liberty and your property, notwithstanding the tyranny of the uneducated minority who barely passed an unconstitutional law. Don't buy in private sales for a while. Authorities may be looking to make examples out of people at the onset. Also, don't over-rely on sanctuary counties to protect you. The state Attorney General can always charge you. Any sales you make are at your own risk. Basics Know who you’re dealing with. Ideally, sell between friends to avoid a sting operation. Do a little research if this person isn’t a stranger to make sure they aren’t a cop, investigative reporter, or an anti-gun activist. Does their email show their full name? Can you find a Facebook profile? Lookup their phone number. Be aware that at a gun show an undercover cop could be hovering right over your shoulder or you might be buying from one. Don’t get stung. If it’s an online ad, only discuss the gun, the price, and where to meet via email, text, or messenger. Agree to meet in a public location “to make arrangements on which licensed dealer to use.” Do not discuss online or via text message not going to a dealer. Those words could come back to haunt you. Conduct your sale in a discreet location where no one is likely to call the police because they see a gun and cash. Be smart and never actually say anything out loud that, if recorded, could be used against you in court, such as “So is it okay if we don’t go to a dealer to get a background check?” Discuss the price of the gun, show your CCW or license, but do not fill out a bill of sale or allow the other person to copy down your information. Exchange the money and gun. Make as few references to selling the gun or breaking the law as possible. One cannot beat video footage of handing off a gun in exchange for cash, but one can make an audio only recording ambiguous. The idea is to create reasonable doubt in the mind of a judge or jury. Don’t sell to someone sketchy. If they seem like a criminal or up to no good, pass on the sale. Don’t risk aiding a criminal because of a stupid law. Use your head like you’ve always done. Defenses in court If you are arrested, do not talk to the police. Remain silent. Demand an attorney, even if it is a public defender. Police can and will use anything you say to use against you. They cannot make you contradict yourself later in court if you don’t provide a statement to them to begin with. Never, ever talk to the police (more examples below). Keep in mind that you are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This means that it is the duty of the prosecution and by extension, the police, to prove that you have committed a crime. What would be the crime they would be enforcing? The crime would be failing to obtain a background check. The police have to have probable cause that you did not comply with the law in order to arrest you for failing to get a background check. Then the prosecutor has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you haven't completed a background check. It's difficult enough proving that you actually did do something, let alone trying to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you did not do something. Keeping in mind that you are innocent until proven guilty; you don't have to tell them what FFL you used to get a background check. You don't have to tell them what date you transferred the firearm. You are free to exercise your Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination—do exercise it. The entire onus of the investigation lies with law enforcement and the prosecution. Don’t start talking to the police when they begin asking questions or waive your Miranda rights. Again, it is entirely up to the prosecution to prove that you did not indeed go to a dealer. You don’t have to “help” them by telling them anything. The more you talk, the tighter the net your words will weave to trip you up. You can’t explain anything away or throw them off the trail. Further on, we’ll explain how easy it is to accidentally make a case against yourself, but first, let’s look at how hard it is for the prosecution to prove a case against someone who remains quiet. All you have to say is that you did obtain a background check and it’s up to the prosecution to prove you didn’t; that’s hard to do. Nevada currently has approximately 740 licensed FFLs. There are 365 days in a year. Remember that FFLs keep their records in their "bound book" per ATF regulations. Some may have converted to electronic bound books if issued a variance by the ATF, but this is not yet the norm. That means someone has to physically go and paw through their bound book and possibly the 4473 forms at each dealer to prove that a record does not exist. So they would have to reasonably ensure that they inspect every record at every dealer in the state. If law enforcement/prosecution do not check every dealer or check every record, they leave the door open for the defense to create a reasonable doubt that the one record at the one dealer that they did not inspect could be the form proving that the background check was completed. Remember that by federal law, the NICS system may not be used to create a registration of firearms or gun owners. This means that under federal law the identifying records on their end must be destroyed after the background check is completed. The man-hours required to attempt to prosecute a single violation of this law would be ridiculously prohibitive. Or a judge/jury might not care about this point and screw you over, so seller beware. Second, it is unconstitutional to require a prohibited person to present himself for a background check. There was a Supreme Court decision in 1968, Haynes v. United States. The reader's digest version is that a man who was a convicted felon was caught in possession of an unregistered NFA firearm. He successfully argued that requiring him to register the NFA firearm is akin to forcing him to make an open admission to the government that he is a felon in possession of a firearm. Remember that Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination? The courts agreed with him that the law cannot compel him to perform an action (registration) that would amount to confessing to committing a crime. While the Supreme Court did not invalidate the law requiring the registration of NFA firearms nor did they invalidate the prohibition on felons possessing firearms, they agreed that the law requiring registration could not be enforced against convicted felons. A mandatory background check and NFA registration accomplish the same thing—requiring a person to provide evidence against themselves for a later prosecution. How hard do you think it would be for a defense lawyer to make this same argument for his client previously convicted of a disqualifying offense (domestic violence, felony, etc.), subject to a protection order or adjudicated mentally ill? If you are charged for lending a gun in Clark County, bring up in court District Attorney Wolfson’s statement at the Mob Museum’s Question 1 forum where he stated “We’re not going to charge people for lending a weapon to a friend.” That might sway a jury and humiliate the district attorney’s office. I'm not sure if creates estoppel in court, but it's worth a shot. How could this happen to me? “Background check” enforcement stings are not likely to happen on a regular basis (maybe at the outset or following some high-profile stuff). In the vast majority of cases, failing to get a background check is an additional charge to other crimes or to prosecute the person who supplied a gun used in a crime. Unless the anti-gun climate dramatically worsens, law enforcement doesn’t have the time or inclination to proactively enforce the law. Heck, they don’t even enforce the gun laws that have already existed. However, for a cop who wants to make the arrest, it’s pretty easy to get a confession. Why? People like to talk. Most people are fundamentally honest and feel that honesty is the best policy. Some think they can talk their way out of anything (usually stupid criminals). For the rest of us, we were raised to be honest and fair and we expect other people, including the police, to give us the same courtesy in return. The honest folk don’t understand that their best intentions can be manipulated against them. So remain silent! Let’s say a woman is pulled over for speeding. She has a gun in the glovebox that he boyfriend gave to her because someone is stalking her after work. Before reaching for her insurance registration, she informs the officer the gun is in the glove box, so the officer retrieves it. Officer: Is that your gun? Woman: No, it’s my boyfriend’s. He gave it to me because of this creepy guy at work. Officer: When did he give it to you? Woman: Day before Valentine’s Day. Officer: Did you get a background check at a dealer before he gave it to you? Woman: No, he just gave it to me in the morning before I left for work. Officer: Do you have a restraining order? Has this creepy guy threatened you? Woman: No, I just felt unsafe because of the way he followed me in the parking lot. That woman just admitted her boyfriend committed a violation of the universal background check law. She has provided the officer the day of the offense (Feb. 13, 2020—after the law took effect), she admitted that there was no background check, and she admitted that there was no immediate danger, just a vague unsettling feeling. She is not married, even though she lives with her boyfriend, so the family exemption does not apply. The law does not require malice; it is a mala prohibitum crime where simply failing to obey is criminal, not what one’s intentions were when they disobeyed the law. If the officer recorded this, he could have an easy arrest (probably a citation and release) that meets all the elements of the crime. Would the prosecutor file charges? Depends on where our country goes from here or what kind of district attorney we have. How gun traces work Let’s say police go looking for a particular gun for whatever reason. A very inefficient gun registration system with more holes than fishnet underwear exists now and law enforcement will use it to get a pretty good lead to track you down, should they want your gun. The same procedures will be used to work background check cases as well as confiscation. If you use your gun in a non-permissive environment or in an illegal way—the morality of the use aside (say in a gun-free zone)—you will be the target of a criminal investigation. The police will trace the serial number, which will lead them to the distributor who sold the gun to the dealer, and the dealer’s copy of the Form 4473 will lead them to the original buyer. If you are one person away from the original buyer, especially if they personally know you, have a bill of sale, or there are records online, consider yourself one confession or tip away from arrest. Buying anonymously at a gun show, with maybe a cursory glance at a CCW or license, is fairly safe. If you bought on Facebook, off a gun forum, or in any place the data could be preserved, don’t be surprised if you are tracked down based on that information. For universal background checks, this is important if the original buyer is contacted. You don’t want anything connecting you to him or for either party to admit there was no background check. You are more insulated if there is one, or several buyers, between you and the original purchaser. Remember, a bill of sale given to police will identify you just as well as gun registration would. Don’t keep evidence lying around; don’t do bills of sale if you’re not complying. Bills of sale and crimes with your old gun If you have a bill of sale on guns you sold in the past, destroy them. Do not unwittingly assist future gun registration and confiscation. No one will think you are a suspect if there is a crime with your old gun; just tell the police that you sold the gun legally (at the time), when you sold it, and give vague information about the buyer (if they are confiscating guns and not trying to track down a psychopath or gang banger). Police will have to prove you knowingly sold the gun to a prohibited person or gang member, knew it was going to be used in a crime, or that you really shot the person. Having owned the gun used in the crime is not enough to make you a suspect or even convict you in a sane legal system (which we still have at the moment). If you have that fear, you need to learn more about real criminal investigations and prosecutions. Quickly, let’s examine the issue of guilt over having sold someone a crime gun. Would you feel guilty if the person who bought your car was an alcoholic and killed some while driving drunk? Of course not, but you would regret the innocent person’s death. Were you responsible in anyway? No. The new owner made a choice to misuse the property you sold them. The only possible way for you to be in any way the least bit culpable is if you knew beforehand their intentions. With a gun, one’s former legal and moral due diligence was to not sell to a person they knew to be a gang member or otherwise ineligible to own a gun. Before Facebook banned gun sales, buyers there could be quickly vetted on the basis of what their profile contained. Making a subjective judgement about a potential buyer is beyond the ability of any computer system and even human judgement is fallible. The new law provides no penalty for knowingly selling a gun to a gang member; the only thing the proponents of universal background checks care about is that the buyer/transferee pass the background check. “Boating accidents” and other mishaps Let’s imagine it’s the future and the Gun Confiscation Task Force knows you own guns and has a very good idea of exactly what guns you own. You decide to surrender your dealer-bought guns, but they want the ones you bought privately. “We know you bought an AR-15 rifle from ‘eugenes_ghost’ from COLT15.com in October of 2014. Where is that gun?” What do you do? Remember, you can’t deny ever owning it. This is where your “boating accident” story comes into play: “You see, Special Agent, I went fishing with my guns one day and when the boat capsized, all my guns fell in the lake.” ATF agents know the joke and won’t find it funny. Your best defense is to simply state (if you say anything) that you sold the guns legally, long before 2020, you don’t remember whom to, and you did not keep a bill of sale. Invoke your right to silence immediately after that and say nothing no matter what else they say. Never change your story. Conclusion Keep your mouth shut. Don’t put anything in writing. Vet who you sell to/buy from. Without compliance, they can’t make the unconstitutional gun laws work. As always, use this information and disobey the law, wrong as it is, at your own risk. If you break the law and get busted, that's on you; this is an opinion piece. This does not constitute, nor should be implied as, legal advice. What is a universal background check? It is a misnomer that means it is illegal to privately sell or transfer a firearm between individuals. Private sales/transfers must be processed by a licensed dealer, who will enter the firearm into the record via an ATF form 4473, and will call Carson City for a background check (on the buyer). Where do I go to complete a transfer? A federally licensed firearm dealer (FFL). This is usually a local gun store, not a large retailer like Walmart that sells guns. If you want to use a large retailer for a private transfer, check to see if they do them, their policies, and their fees. Can I call the background check in/is there a website/can I mail in something? No, you must go to a licensed dealer. Can I still advertise online? Yes. Sales can still be arranged online and at gun shows. Between the request of the background check and the actual sale/transfer of the firearm, the licensed dealer takes possession of the firearm. If the background check is delayed or denied, the owner needs a background check to get the gun back from the dealer. Can I still sell at gun shows? Yes. You would meet the gun at a dealer's table for them to process the background check and paperwork. How much does it cost? The state does not charge $25 for a private background check (only on purchases from dealer inventory or guns shipped to dealers). However, a dealer can charge a transfer fee usually $25-30 at reputable dealers, but up to $100 or more, for their time. Are concealed firearm permittees (CCW holders) exempt? No. Concealed firearm permittees must go through the background check, including the call to Carson City and the ATF form 4473, like everyone else. The Dept. of Public Safety's position is that the Brady Exemption for regular retail purchases does not apply to private transfers. If the background check is free, why am I paying for it? The background check is free, but you are paying the dealer for his time to make the phone call and deal with the paperwork. This fee is the same if you order a gun online and have it shipped to the dealer, usually $25-30 at reputable dealers, but up to $100 or more. Regular retail sales are charged the $25 background check fee, and if an online sale, the dealer's time fee. As stated above, the Brady Exemption for CCW holders currently does not apply to private sales/transfers. Are Curio & Relic (C&R) licensees exempt? No, except antique firearms as defined by 18 U.S.C. § 921(16); pre-1899 firearms in other words. Do we need to fill out a bill of sale? No. You got a background check done, right? If you didn't and you kept a bill of sale, you are stupid for keeping a written record of a crime. Does the seller need to get a background check? No, only the buyer. Unless the buyer cannot pass the background check, then the dealer technically has to do a background check on the seller (owner) to get his gun back. Can I get a gun transfer done at the police station? No. Under the law, you must visit an FFL. Does Metro do blue cards? No, "blue cards" haven't been a thing since 2015. Can I give a gun to my relative? Yes. Sales or transfers to a relative (spouses and registered domestic partners and any of the following relations, whether by whole or half blood, adoption, or step-relation: parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews). Note this does not include cousins, boyfriends, or girlfriends (even if you live together). Can I give a gun to my boyfriend/girlfriend? Not legally without a background check. What are the other exemptions? The other exemptions to the law are: An antique firearm as defined by 18 U.S.C. § 921(16); transfer to an estate/trust upon the owner’s death; temporary transfers would also be allowed at an established shooting range ("established" is not defined); at a competition; at a public performance by an organized group; or while in the presence of the owner (you cannot leave the borrower alone with your gun). Who gets in trouble if we don't get a background check and get caught? The seller, not the buyer (as long as they are not a prohibited person). A first offense is a gross misdemeanor and the second offense is a felony. What if I ignore the law? Hope you don't get caught in a sting or sell to a scumbag who will break the law later so detectives trace the gun back to you and discover there was no background check. Do I need to register the gun in the new owner's name? No. There is no gun registration in Nevada. It doesn't matter if your gun was registered in California or not. There is no gun registration and nothing you need to do (legally) other than the background check. If I'm under 21, how do I buy a handgun if it's illegal for a dealer to sell/transfer one to me? Have an exempt relative gift you the gun or file a civil rights lawsuit for age discrimination. What if I want to let my friend borrow a gun? You cannot lend a gun to someone without a background check except in very narrow circumstances. What are the chances of someone finding out? Well, if you and your friend aren't criminals and don't break the law, probably nothing. The borrowing ban is to prevent gang members and criminals from giving each other guns and saying that it was legal since they didn't transfer permanent ownership. Exemptions to lending guns are:
There is also an immediate danger exemption, which reads more like "Okay, since that cougar is stalking us and my leg is caught in a bear trap, you take my handgun and go down to the truck and drive back up to me," or "Take my shotgun and go guard the front door while I check out that noise outside," rather than "Girlfriend, I know your abusive ex is trying to kill you, so borrow my revolver when you go to work tomorrow." The lending must only be in the face of immediate danger and only as long as the immediate danger exists. I live under a rock, why didn't I hear about this before? Because you are stupid or just moved from California recently. Perhaps you are like Rip Van Winkle and have been asleep since 2013 when they first tried for this law. When did this take effect? January 2, 2020. Question 1's implementation was nullified by an attorney general's opinion in 2016. The Legislature was technically supposed to wait until at least November of 2019 to change the law, but Nevada is corrupt. The Legislature voted back in February and they made the effective date the day after Question 1's three-year modification freeze expired. What does the universal background check laws do? It requires a private person wishes to sell a firearm to another private person, they must first appear in person at a licensed dealer who will conduct the background check through the existing federal NICS protocol. Sales can still be arranged online and at gun shows. Between the request of the background check and the actual sale/transfer of the firearm, the licensed dealer takes possession of the firearm. I'm from out-of-state. Can I buy a gun privately? Handguns need to be transferred through a dealer in your home state. Long guns can be sold by a dealer to a non-resident, save for California residents, as long as all home state laws are complied with. See ATF page here (#2). Long guns may be transferred or purchased through a dealer from private parties, however some persons and dealers may not be comfortable with the sale and may request to ship to a dealer in your home state. Will I get in trouble for not getting a background check on private sale? If you are not a criminal, don't do anything stupid, and you and the other party keep your mouths shut and out of trouble, it's unlikely anyone will ever know. What about our free background checks from the state we got in 2015? The poorly written law removed that exemption. The Department of Public Safety (DPS), as a public service, is now waiving its $25 background check fee (for those without a CCW) for voluntary background checks on private sales or transfers done through a dealer. Read more here.The private party background check will be free from the Nevada NICS fee ($25), but dealers may charge for their time. Who supports this law? Anti-gun leftists like Michael Bloomberg who provided campaign donations through various gun control groups and PACs to get legislators to vote for the law. 2016's Question 1 passed only in Clark County, winning statewide with less than 1% of the vote. There is no mandate for this law. Nevada was essentially manipulated into it. Will this lead to a gun registry? Eventually yes. If all guns must be sold/transferred through a dealer, the dealer transaction can be tracked and logged. This is the first part in a gun registration system where guns are tracked by their sale/transfer through a dealer. We anticipate future laws where either the state keeps an electronic record of the sale (like California's DROS) or federal law where the form 4473s are entered into a searchable electronic database. Effective Jan 1. 2020, now close relatives or police can apply for a court order to take away your guns. This is done in a hearing of which you have no knowledge and no opportunity to defend yourself. Only after your guns are taken away can you challenge the order, whether it is frivolous or not. This is a clear violation of due process and the constitutional requirement for probable cause is absent from the law. When you are red flagged, you are guilty until proven innocent. We know that restraining orders are often abused and the havoc that is wreaked upon the life of the accused. Without careful use and judicious circumspection from police and the courts, red flag laws can be used vindictively to harm an opponent or a now un-loved one. Compounding this, even if someone is truly a danger, they are unable to give their firearms to a friend without a background check. It is impractical for someone to legally transfer a large collection to a friend as a dealer would have to record each gun and the fees for more than three guns being transferred are often expensive. Nevada can go in two directions; it can very carefully apply these laws (which seems to be the case in California, ironically) or go the route of Florida and apply them badly with little regard for due process. In the SoCal county where I formerly worked, only two red flag orders were issued prior to 2019 under circumstances where there was objective evidence of a threat (probable cause, in other words). We cannot trust the government to apply red flag laws properly, which is why they should be struck entirely or amended to give the owner a chance to show up in court. Otherwise, these laws can become a terrible tool of tyranny. Already, we have seen several instances of people being killed by police in botched red flag raids. Resistance to gun confiscation will only increase as the tools are used and abused. Thanks to the tireless work of pro-gun activists, lobbyists, and Republicans in our Legislature, the really bad stuff was taken out. “Red flag” gun violence restraining orders (GVROs) are terrible laws, poorly executed, and destined for abuse from a tyrannical government, but we could have had worse. Among some of the wins are (from the final text):
Problems: Law enforcement must have probable cause, but civilians must have reasonable suspicion. Can the court, under the Fourth Amendment, take a person’s property based on something other than probable cause (assuming the judge cannot articulate PC themselves)? If you haven’t seen this coming and given your guns to a trusted friend or relative by now (illegally, as explained above), you don’t have the option to give the guns to a friend, relative, or firearms dealer unless the judge graciously allows you to (and they probably won't). It is only a misdemeanor to file a malicious false application (or for someone having their guns confiscated to violate the order itself). Even so, the potential for abuse is a huge problem. It is foreseeable that these will be eventually used to harass and persecute gun owners, not only by the government, but by the rabid anti-gun populace and leftists in the coming cultural civil war. For now, be thankful for principled legislators that fixed the worst-of-the worst of this bill and that we have honorable law enforcement officers who are more pro-gun than you know. A lawsuit has been filed and a request for an injunction is currently pending. There were a total of 29 mass-media documented defensive gun uses by non-police (on duty) in Nevada in 2019. Most defensive gun uses do not involve shots being fired and are rarely reported to police. We have three robbers shot with one stop, an attempted rapist killed in downtown Reno, and a weirdo who stole nudes and forced women to undress was stopped by a female pizza delivery driver with a gun. Interestingly, there were two late-breaking cases in the news: Two men were killed about a week apart in late 2019 in unrelated and previously unreported shootings that Las Vegas police believe were both cases of self-defense, the Review-Journal has learned.
Beginning Jan. 2nd, private gun sales/transfers will be prohibited in Nevada except under very limited circumstances. All non-exempt sales will be required to be processed through a dealer who must call Carson City to conduct a background check. SB 143 was passed by rushing it through the Legislature controlled by Democrats. Face-to-face gun sales that can't be tracked by a future tyrannical government scanning ATF form 4473 into a gun registry are history in Nevada. I predict that the only people charged with this (and punished) will be otherwise law-abiding gun owners. True criminals will likely have this charge dropped or effectively nullified in a plea bargain. Gun owners have to worry about "red flag" gun confiscation orders. Close relatives or police will be able to apply for a court order to have one's firearms removed if they meet certain criteria that supposes they are potentially dangerous. AB 291 was rushed through at the last minute with the Democrats hiding the language for as long as possible, but the worst provisions were removed or amended before it was passed. A lawsuit has been filed and a request for an injunction is currently pending. Thanks to the tireless work of pro-gun activists, lobbyists, and Republicans in our Legislature, the really bad stuff was taken out. “Red flag” gun violence restraining orders (GVROs) are terrible laws, poorly executed, and destined for abuse from a tyrannical government, but we could have had worse. Among some of the wins are (from the final text):
Already in effect is the ban on bump fire stocks and lowering the carrying while intoxicated threshold from .10 to .08 BAC (there was no evidence or reason to support this change). In positive news, state preemption of firearm laws was kept because NSSF would pull SHOT Show from Las Vegas and the unions screamed loud and hard about the loss of money. Buy ammo, magazines, 80% receivers, spare parts and stack them deep. 2020 and beyond will be a wild ride. |
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