An emotional Leonard Elliott left his chair, walked across the room and knelt down to embrace his wheelchair-bound father as the court clerk read the jury’s verdict...Here's the email announcement from Leonard Elliott:
The father and son, owners of the former Bacon Creek Gun Shop in Corbin, which closed in 2007, were charged with selling firearms to a person they knew to be a convicted felon and falsifying records required to be maintained by federally licensed firearms dealers.
Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:14:31 -0400Right on the heels of Jim's Gun Jobbery. Hey BATFU, it looks like the courts are wising up to you.
To: Trial Blog
From: Leonard Elliott
Subject: WE WON!!!!!!!
GREETINGS TO ALL,
First, thanks to everyone for their support and prayers in our apx. 3 year battle with BATF. The trial lasted 3 days. Dad and I were found not guilty on all counts. You should have seen the ATF agent Thomas Chittum!!!!!!. He exited the courtroom immediately and left!!!!!!!! All of us were very emotional, as you can expect. Glory to GOD for his presence and prayers from everyone!!!!!! To those on our blog involved in Gun Rights support, I will mail you copies of the trial from the local newspaper next week. The odds to get a Not Guilty verdict in Federal Court is less than 10%. Our attorneys, David Hoskins of Corbin and Gary Crabtree of London were outstanding!!!!! I hope that this sends BATF a message, but this
industry still has a continous fight with them. Again, Thanks to all for your PRAYERS !!!!!!!
GOD Bless All,
Leonard
BACON CREEK GUN SHOP
CORBIN, KY.
Tom Chittum, Shelby Slone and Snitch...uh...Letcher Gray: Sucks to be you.
7 comments:
This is wonderful news!
We often will write letters of protest, but I wonder what might happen if we took equal care to write letters of praise.
Can we get a name and address for the judge here so we can thank him personally?
Was there a jury involved in this? They need to be thanked for their integrity too. Probably can't get their contact info, but a nice big letter to the editor in the local paper might reach some of them and educate others.
Who will join me in writing to these folks?
That goes for both cases, of course, and any others that come along.
I hope word gets out on this agent Slone at all gun shops in America, that if they see this man walk in and try to buy guns or ammo, to refuse him service and to show him the way out the door. Unless he gets someone to purchase a gun on his behalf (which is truly a straw purchase), he won't be able to buy one. He'll have to rely on his "comrades" to get ammo for him too. Then when his guns wear out, no one will service them. Gun manufacturers should be on alert too to not service any firearm that this guy sends in for service. I don't know how effective this will be, but it's fun thinking about it.
All Right! One for the good guys!
OrangeNeckInNY, that would be great if everyone who sold guns or components thought the way you do... but that's never going to happen.
In a free country, Slone couldn't buy food, clothes, rent a room or enter a single private dwelling if there was any real justice.
But the truth is that he's a hero to an awful lot of people who should be supporting freedom.
Don't have to like it... just have to work around it. :)
Sounds like some good folks on the jury were familiar with the Bill of Rights. Knowing that they represent the sovreign (the people), and that their decision trumps any unconstitutional laws in play helps facilitate justice, too.
When it works the way it was designed, you can't help but smile with pride!
technically it appears the defendants did violate the regs. They were aware that the gun was being bought by someone who was acting as an agent for another, though they may not have known that the other was prohibited.
I love being the one to point out that this jury nullified. This is exactly how it is supposed to work. When the law or regs are wrong, you turn the guy loose.
Hope this is the beginning of a trend.
Also when the enforcers cheat, you turn the guy loose. In that case, even if you know he is guilty, you still turn him loose when the cops and prosecutors cheat. That is how a jury protects all the innocent people, by punishing the cheaters.
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