The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Shipping black powder firearms to Michigan

Captchee · June 17, 2013, 09:31 AM

Possibly MyKeal , that’s part of the problem . For what ever reason , the law just isn’t as clear as it would seem .
While its not related to your state , an experience I can relate this to .
When I was a boy my father was a CO here in Idaho . I can remember setting with him in meetings where enforcement officers would be going over new law and rules changes.
Seemed each officer would often have a different interpretation of the laws .
Some would have a broad view , others a narrow view .
When that would happen , which happened a lot , a clarification would be ask for from the legal team. that’s the definition that would be followed until such time as the courts defined the actual meaning of the law.
Over time as the courts made rulings base on citations , those views would start to come closer together. Thus the actual enforcement would become based on a more definitive understanding throughout the jurisdictions .

So on one hand I understand fully when someone says ; that’s not the law , don’t call the police and ask because they don’t know .

The problem with that however is that those officers are the ones who are going to issue a ticket , for right or wrong , based on their understanding of the laws .
it’s the courts which will decide if those officers are correct or not .which in turn changes the officers understanding and thus the way the laws get enforced. Remember its not their job to define the laws . Its their job to enforce them .

that’s one of the problems we all face . There is just way to many laws .
While some may seem to be very clear in their wording , nothing sucks more then having a states attorney stand there and start quoting case after case were prior courts have interpreted the meaning differently even though we think its very clear .

So unless a person is willing to go though all the different steps of fighting and proving that their interpretation is correct , its much safer to call the local police and ask them as more then likely they are the one thats will write you the ticket . Thus starting the bigger ball rolling .

Now does that make it right , NO . IMO doing just that is whats gotten us into such a mess in this country and why the governments are aloud to continue to do what they do . Simply put , there isn’t enough folks anymore with the time and money to willingly stand up and fight to the point the laws become completely clear .

For what ever reason that’s what im gathering has not happened to any real deep level in your state . IE the word hasn’t gotten out about the way the laws actually is OR the law isn’t being applied in a broad enough scale as it was written or in the context as your understanding it . Be that understanding factual or not .

Which may very well be why these companies are simply saying they don’t sell to your state .

June 17, 2013, 09:31 AM	#21
Captchee Senior Member Join Date: April 2, 2013 Posts: 439	Possibly MyKeal , that’s part of the problem . For what ever reason , the law just isn’t as clear as it would seem . While its not related to your state , an experience I can relate this to . When I was a boy my father was a CO here in Idaho . I can remember setting with him in meetings where enforcement officers would be going over new law and rules changes. Seemed each officer would often have a different interpretation of the laws . Some would have a broad view , others a narrow view . When that would happen , which happened a lot , a clarification would be ask for from the legal team. that’s the definition that would be followed until such time as the courts defined the actual meaning of the law. Over time as the courts made rulings base on citations , those views would start to come closer together. Thus the actual enforcement would become based on a more definitive understanding throughout the jurisdictions . So on one hand I understand fully when someone says ; that’s not the law , don’t call the police and ask because they don’t know . The problem with that however is that those officers are the ones who are going to issue a ticket , for right or wrong , based on their understanding of the laws . it’s the courts which will decide if those officers are correct or not .which in turn changes the officers understanding and thus the way the laws get enforced. Remember its not their job to define the laws . Its their job to enforce them . that’s one of the problems we all face . There is just way to many laws . While some may seem to be very clear in their wording , nothing sucks more then having a states attorney stand there and start quoting case after case were prior courts have interpreted the meaning differently even though we think its very clear . So unless a person is willing to go though all the different steps of fighting and proving that their interpretation is correct , its much safer to call the local police and ask them as more then likely they are the one thats will write you the ticket . Thus starting the bigger ball rolling . Now does that make it right , NO . IMO doing just that is whats gotten us into such a mess in this country and why the governments are aloud to continue to do what they do . Simply put , there isn’t enough folks anymore with the time and money to willingly stand up and fight to the point the laws become completely clear . For what ever reason that’s what im gathering has not happened to any real deep level in your state . IE the word hasn’t gotten out about the way the laws actually is OR the law isn’t being applied in a broad enough scale as it was written or in the context as your understanding it . Be that understanding factual or not . Which may very well be why these companies are simply saying they don’t sell to your state .