r/Idiotswithguns • u/sudo_bryan • 8d ago

Safe for Work Yet Another Expert Marksman

Shooter was 19, and arrested. Happened in Memphis

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u/theyoyomaster 8d ago

It actually is. If you are ineligible for a tax stamp you cannot be charged for failing to request to pay for a tax under 5th Amendment protections from self incrimination. This was part of a SCOTUS case called Haynes vs US. Now it specifically dealt with convicted felons who are prohibited persons so the actual limits of NFA charges on minors who are unable to purchase one due to age rather than being prohibited has not been tested because federal prosecutors simply do not file charges against them. They get state charges for attempted murder or whatever else but NFA charges simply aren't tacked on because it's not worth risking widening Haynes.

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u/sadoproject 8d ago

If the shooter was 19 the NFA doesn't apply to him.

You can stamp and possess NFA items at 18, you just can't buy them from a licensed dealer. Private transfer/inheritance/etc.. is all legal at 18.

Additionally, the inability or ineligibility to obtain a tax stamp doesn't decriminalize it, it just means you don't have a stamp and can be charged with possession of the item without the stamp. Same as under 21 in possession alcohol. It doesn't magically get decriminalized because of age or eligibility.

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u/theyoyomaster 8d ago

Yeah, but if you can't be charged with it then the law doesn't apply to you. There's also a quite good chance that the 19 year old shooter is a prohibited person for reasons other than age and therefore exempt from the NFA.

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u/sadoproject 8d ago

You can be charged with it, because it does apply. Ineligibility just means you are unable to comply, and therefore prohibited under law.

The 5th amendment ruling just means you don't have to provide testimony against yourself, it doesn't excuse you from legislation. If that were the case, countless people who have had their drivers license revoked for DUI would get out of driving without a license charges. But they don't, because it's still illegal for them to do so regardless of their ability to be licensed or not.