NFRTR INSUFFICIENT for Criminal Proceedings

In a major victory for those of us arguing that the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR) is insufficient for criminal proceedings, Dr. Fritz Scheuren, “the” statistician in the United States (possibly the world), today informed the 10th District Court that the NFRTR is insufficient for criminal proceedings. While no decision has been rendered in the case of US v. Larry Douglas Friesen, this is a MAJOR defeat for the BATFE, who, over the years, has argued that although the NFRTR is flawed, it still can be used in criminal proceedings. To understand just how flawed the NFRTR is, see my article on the NFRTR violating Due Process.

If the US loses this case, there is some speculation on whether the BATFE will seek to appeal the decision because an appellate ruling that the NFRTR is insufficient would have disastrous consequences for the BATFE and the NFRTR. It is this author’s opinion that the BATFE would likely not appeal so to protect the integrity of the NFRTR in other court proceedings. Nevertheless, in any future cases, a competent attorney will be adding Dr. Scheuren as an expert to invalidate the NFRTR.

One of the original news articles on this case stated the facts below:

From the McCarville Report:

By Jerry Bohnen, NewsRadio 1000 KTOK ~ A federal grand jury has returned indictments of lying and illegally possessing a machine gun against Oklahoma City attorney Doug Friesen, who teaches conceal-carry courses at a local gun range. The 56 year old Friesen is accused of lying to agents of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau in 2003 that he was the registered owner of a 9-mm machinegun found in his law offices at 1309 North Shartel. He is also charged with possessing the unregistered Sten 9mm machinegun.

The incident occurred on March 4, 2003 and Friesen told agents that he had only three places within his office building where firearms were stored. But the indictment says the agents learned that Friesen stored firearms in a secret location behind his book shelves on the first floor library of the office building.

Five separate counts were returned by the federal grand jury.

If Friesen is convicted, he could face up to 5 years on the charge of lying to the ATF agents and ten years for knowingly possessing an unregistered machinegun. The Sten submachine gun, made in Great Britain, was a World War II weapon popular for its ease of operation and durability. Today, World War II versions are collector items worth $5,000 or more. It was produced in several configurations.

 As posted in the ATF-Firearms Blog at http://www.princelaw.com/