Oh, Deer! Court: Felon Hunter Didn't Break Florida Gun Laws

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Oh, Deer! Court: Felon Hunter Didn't Break Florida Gun Laws

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON, ASSOCIATED PRESS TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Sep 22, 2016, 4:09 PM ET

A Florida Supreme Court ruling Thursday is good news for felons who like to hunt, bad news for deer.

The court ruled that an appeals court was correct in overturning Christopher Douglas Weeks' conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm because the rifle he was hunting deer with was a replica antique weapon.

Weeks, his wife and his father researched the law banning felons from possessing guns and found an exception for antique guns and their replicas. He was dressed in camouflage gear and an orange safety vest with a replica of a 1918 .50 caliber muzzleloader rifle in his pickup truck when he was arrested in 2012 by a Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer.

He was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and sentenced to three years' probation. That sentence is now thrown out.

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Prosecutors had argued that the exception didn't apply because Weeks' rifle had a scope attached to it, so it wasn't a true replica. The Supreme Court rejected that argument.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/deer-court-felon-hunter-break-florida-gun-laws-42284187

[jmg257]

1. Makes sense...

"

Florida Statutes 790.001(6) defines a Firearm as as any weapon (including a starter gun) which will, is designed to, or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; the frame or receiver of any such weapon; any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; any destructive device; or any machine gun. The term “firearm” does not include an antique firearm unless the antique firearm is used in the commission of a crime.


Florida Statutes 790.001(1) defines an Antique Firearm as any firearm manufactured in or before 1918 (including any matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar early type of ignition system) or replica thereof, whether actually manufactured before or after the year 1918, and also any firearm using fixed ammunition manufactured in or before 1918, for which ammunition is no longer manufactured in the United States and is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade"

[GreydeeThos]

2. The law is clear; gun banners are dissapointed

[jmowreader]

3. How much do you want to bet...

...the first act of the Florida Legislature's new session will be to amend that statute by adding the words "antique firearm" to it?

I have the feeling if I was in Weeks' position, I would have become a bowhunter; then I could have hunted without relying on technicalities.

[virginia mountainman]

4. Most states have such an exception..

It is common in VA, for felons, especially ones with very old convictions to have "cap and ball" revolvers in their homes for protection. Not to mention black powder rifles for hunting..

I have no problem with this. Here take a look at them yourselves.

https://www.cheaperthandirt.com/category/black-powder/black-powder-handguns.do

[gejohnston]

5. Wish I still had mine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruger_Old_Army

[Eleanors38]

6. Yep. Same in Texas. And here a felon cannot use an "in-line" muzzle loader (modern version).

Nothing to see here, move along.

[Eleanors38]

7. So, the ABC affiliates in Florida have discovered rather common-place gun laws...

governing felony possession. wow. big story.