FPrice said:
All of this discussion helps demonstrate why, in another thread, I recommended that one of GOAL's priorities should be to change the law regarding the prohibition of AWB-era and post-ban magazines. Toomuch confusion, not to mention that it really makes no sense in supposedly fighting "crime".
I agree, the magazine thing needs to go... as the regs are presently
written, it's basically unenforceable anyways.... with a few exceptions... eg
LEO marked mags, or having hicaps for a gun that didn't exist before the ban
was passed into law- Those would be trivially easy for a prosecutor to
use to put some hurt on you. But what are they going to do about the
other magazines.... are they going to subpeona a glock factory worker from
austria to come in and testify as to when he thinks the magazine was
made? This is why I mentioned the AFTE. If I was a member, I could
get into their database to see if forensics/evidence people have any reliable
way of determining when a magazine was actually made.
At least on the federal side, the burden of proof was placed on the
goverment to say that you had magazines which weren't exempt from
the ban. And I believe the requirement was that it has the LEO markings
or a serial number of some sort. Since the MA AWB is virtually a copy
of the old federal one, wouldn't the burden of proof requirement
be the same?
I think it would do GOAL well to even suggest to the legislative types that
they change the regulation to one of "unlawful possesion" like that with the
body armor. EG, if a high capacity magazine is used in commision of a
crime, it's some kind of tack on charge, but lawful use (eg lawful self
defense, sport/target use) is permitted. This way the idea is more
saleable to the cronies that want to act "tough on crime" but it still
allows law abiding citizens to posess/use normal magazines.
-Mike