Utah gun dealer punished for punk's actions

Ryan Horsley, in posting at his Red's Trading Post blog about U.S. Senator Robert Bennett's (R-Utah) apparent refusal to take a stand to block confirmation of "Maximum Mike" Sullivan as director of the BATFE, tells of a disgusting injustice I hadn't known about. I refer here to the sentencing of Utah gun dealer Westley Wayne Hill to one year of probation for selling a shotgun to the thug who perpetrated the Trolley Square murders last February--despite the fact that Mr. Hill conducted the required background check, which the thug passed.

Mr. Hill supposedly made two mistakes. Since the thug (I have adopted a policy of refusing to repeat the names of the sick punks who commit these atrocities) was a resident alien, rather than a U.S. citizen, a second form of identification is required to complete a gun sale, and a line on the form documenting the sale is supposed to be filled out to note the secondary identification. Mr. Hill neglected to do this.

Earl Xaiz, Hill's defense attorney, told the judge that Hill had done the required background check on Talovic when selling the gun, including calling the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and providing an alien identification number for Talovic.

"He went through the procedure required to get approval for the sale," Xaiz said.

What Mr. Hill failed to do was fill in a line that documents a secondary form of identification, which is required for non-citizens who buy guns.

Is anyone going to try to tell me that compliance with this trivial detail of the grotesquely extensive federal firearms requirements would have stopped the sale? That our murderous punk could not have produced a second form of ID, or that documenting that second form would have made a difference?

Secondly, and here we get into an even more arcane and silly aspect of federal firearms laws, the shotgun in question was not really, technically, legally a shotgun, because it was fitted with a pistol grip, rather than a shoulder stock. As stated in this Department of Justice press release (which should have been dated 2007, rather than 2006--you know--the kind of paperwork error that if made by a gun dealer, could get him sent to federal prison), such a weapon is not considered a shotgun, but instead as an "Any Other Weapon" (or AOW), and is not legal to sell to people under the age of 21.

The weapon Talovic bought from Hill was not equipped with a shoulder stock and was not designed to be fired from the shoulder. It was not manufactured as a shotgun as defined by federal law, and therefore could not be sold to someone under 21.

Never mind that the punk didn't need a pistol grip shotgun to inflict his carnage--he wasn't trying to conceal the shotgun--he apparently started firing as soon as he got out of his car. Never mind that the shoulder stock-equipped version of the shotgun in question would have been perfectly legal for him to buy, and that a pistol grip can be bought for less than $20 (perfectly legal to buy at any age) and easily retrofitted in minutes, without any gunsmithing skills. And lest that last point provoke hysterical cries of a "pistol grip loophole," it should be pointed out that just about any shotgun stock can be shortened down to pistol grip form, simply by using a saw.

Mr. Hill is a scapegoat and a victim.