Two brothers from Sacramento have recently been arrested for making and selling illegal weapons that cannot be traced by law enforcement officials. The brothers were making parts that do not need to have serial numbers on their own, which is legal, and then selling them to people who wanted to assemble guns that could not be traced if they were found at the scene of a crime. The brothers maintain that they thought that the whole thing was legal and that they were not breaking any laws. However, they still face some other charges on top of the weapons charges, such as possessing a firearm as a felon and even being in the United States illegally to start with.
The place where the authorities say that they went too far is that they were using machine shops and allowing people to assemble the guns as part of a small factory. While they were just selling parts and not guns, they were giving the people the means to make the guns and selling them at the rates that normal firearms would cost. The authorities believe that this is the same as selling constructed guns without serial numbers, which is not legal. They even say that higher prices were charged to people who were not allowed to own firearms, such as those with a criminal background.
The federal charges in this case are tricky, so it is crucial that the brothers get a fair trial. The issue is that they are technically allowed to sell the parts, and people are allowed under current laws to assemble guns with no serial numbers. The stipulation is that they cannot then turn around and sell those guns. The brothers have the right to make sure that everything they did is accurately reported, as they claim it fell within the laws.
Source: KCRA.com, “Sacramento brothers face federal illegal weapons charges” No author given, Feb. 27, 2014
