TannerWatch: Jack don't need no body language

[Norm DePlume]

Law And Justice

by Irv Benzion

When I think of Law and Justice my thoughts are directed to the film
"Judgment at Nuremberg." I picture
Spencer Tracy in his portrayal of the "Presiding Judge," sifting through
mountains of evidence and contradictory
testimony with only one objective in mind... to search for the truth.

This editorial is for me the most difficult article I have yet
written!!! You are probably unaware as was I that it
is illegal to criticize a federal judge or his/her actions or to cause
"disrespect" to the federal court system. A
federal judge may if in his/her opinion such an occurrence arises, issue
a warrant, have you arrested and send
you to jail without trial, appeal or parole. A citizen of this country
may criticize the President Of The United
States but not a federal court judge.

Using the First Amendment as a defense for an alleged criticism is not
acceptable. And for that reason you will
see no criticism of a federal judge in any newspaper.

I feel that the shooting community owes a debt to Tacoma's _The News
Tribune's_ management and reporter
Russell Carollo for his unbiased and even-handed reporting of Al
Woodbridge's trial. Al's tribulations could
easily have been turned into a forum to bash gun owners and gun
ownership. The _Trib_, not known to be a
friend to the gun owner in this instance displayed the highest standards
and ideals of journalism, for which they
truly deserve our thanks.

It is not my intention to argue at this time Woodbridge's guilt or
innocence; as you already know he was found
guilty as charged. I was in attendance tat the pre-trial motion hearing
and the second day of the trial so I
witnessed the major portion of the trial. I must admit that I am not a
lawyer nor have I personally had any legal
training, so it would be impossible for me to ascertain the correctness
or incorrectness of "points of law" or
what constitutes "admissible evidence." All I have is the common sense
that the Almighty gave me. I have
always believed that the Law was in most part founded on common sense
and a search for the truth... perhaps, I
am too naive.

Based on the above we shall be using the following three articles from
the _Tribune_ to inform you of what
transpired at Al's trial. After which I would like to explore with you
what I think the implications of the verdict
are as it impacts Washington gun owners. And in conclusion, we will look
at what is the aftermath of
Woodbridge's trial and what you can do to help.

Woodbridge, a licensed firearms dealer, has strong ties to pro- gun
groups. He is a former president of the
Washington National Firearms Act Association, a machine-gun owners
group. He won first in 1989 and second
place in 1990 in the submachine gun division of the Oregon state
machine-gun championship. Since the legal
battle began, Woodbridge has become a high-profile spokesman and
lobbyist for Washington gun owners.

As a registered lobbyist for the Gun Owners Action League of Washington,
Woodbridge gained a reputation
during the past year as a moderate voice within the gun lobby. He became
the gun lobbyist most sought by
lawmakers.

"If he gave his word, he was willing to go back to his members and say,
'I gave my word and that's what we're
living with," said Rep. Marlin Appelwick, a Seattle Democrat who chairs
the House Judiciary Committee.

Just last week, he testified before Appelwick's committee about proposed
gun legislation, assuring lawmakers
that gun owners would not oppose efforts to keep handguns away from
juveniles.

During the last session, his approval was vital to passage of a
controversial law allowing police to destroy
seized handguns. Gun advocates supported the former method of disposal:
auctioning the weapons to licensed
firearms dealers. Woodbridge personally inspected weapons in a Seattle
storage room and found that most of
them were of little value to collectors or dealers. His endorsement,
legislators said, convinced lawmakers to
vote for the change.

Woodbridge also was well-known among police agencies, according to his
attorneys. A court document says the
clientele at Big Al's includes "several police agencies."

Various other pro-gun groups have agreed to help pay legal expenses,
said Paul Williams, executive director of
the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, a lobby
group.

Williams said the groups were grateful 'for all the work he's done for
firearms groups in the state.' I think
people are inclined to pay him back when he needs it."

State and federal prosecutors have pursued the state's top pro-gun
spokesman on weapons charges since 1989.

But in Allen Woodbridge's federal court trial Tuesday in Tacoma, his
defense took about 30 minutes, the time it
took for a single witness to testify. The defense had hoped to call
several other witnesses to convince jury that
the guns confiscated from Woodbridge in 1989 were not machine guns. But
the federal judge hearing the case,
Judge Jack E. Tanner, wouldn't let the witnesses testify.

The witnesses, Tanner said, offered no specific defense to the
allegations against Woodbridge. "That'll be
denied," Tanner told defense attorney Richard DeJean of Sumner,
prompting DeJean to shift his body from side
to side. Tanner added: "And I don't need any body language."

Woodbridge's only remaining witness was Don Manning, a Yakima gunsmith
who testified that some of
weapons parts confiscated from Woodbridge were made from legal
semi-automatic weapons.

The trial began Monday, when a jury of seven men and five women was
selected.

Woodbridge, a high-profile lobbyist for the Washington Arms Collectors
club, is charged with 12 counts of
federal weapons violations, including possession of machine guns.

Much of the case against Woodbridge is based on his ownership of AR-15s,
usually legal so long as they fire
only semi- automatically --- one shot per pull of the trigger. It is
illegal, however, to equip the guns with parts
enable them to fire automatically --- more than one shot per trigger
pull.

Monday, Doug Craze, a firearms examiner for the federal Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms in
Washington, D.C., testified that the AR-15s taken from Woodbridge
apparently had been modified to fire
automatically.

During a hearing Friday DeJean argued that Woodbridge, who had no
criminal record, has a federal firearms
license permitting him to own automatic weapons.

He also said the guns taken in the search were not automatic weapons,
and the suspect parts in them were legally
installed by the manufacturer before laws were changed.

A federal court jury was still deliberating the fate of Sumner gun
dealer Allen Woodbridge on Wednesday, but
U.S. District Judge Jack Tanner already had made up his mind.

"There is no question in this court's mind... that you are --- guilty as
charged," Tanner told Woodbridge, a
high-profile gun lobbyist charged with owning illegal machine guns.

Veteran attorneys said it is highly unusual for a judge to comment on a
defendant's guilt or innocence before a
verdict.

The court reporter said he had requests for transcripts of the judge's
comments.

The jury began deliberating Wednesday afternoon but was sent home for
the day after only about two hours. The
jury foreman indicated to Tanner that members were not close to reaching
a decision.

After sending the jury off to deliberate, Tanner spoke to the defendant.

"Mr. Woodbridge, there is nothing in the law that prevents me from
commenting on the evidence," Tanner said.
"I haven't done it in front of the Jury, but I could.

"And what I have heard in this case outrages me," Tanner said.

"There is only one reason, sir, for a machine gun. It's not a
collector's item. It's to kill people, and kill them
quickly, and kill more than one at a time."

As you know Al Woodbridge was found guilty under federal law of 12
counts of machine gun possession. The
majority of the counts for which he was convicted were for Thompson and
Sten parts kits that some of you may
currently own.

The Thompson kits contained not only all the necessary parts to build a
machine gun but also cut up pieces of
different Thompson receivers. The receiver parts were not matching i.e.
they were pieces of receivers from
different guns. If the pieces of the receiver were held together the
ensuing gap between them would be anywhere
from an eighth to a quarter of an inch since they were not cut from the
same firearm.

In Woodbridge's trail the BATF weapons expert used strapping tape to
hold the receiver pieces together.
Although there were gaps in the receiver of approximately a quarter of
an inch, the guns were shot twice, each
time firing a two-shot burst.

The second type of "machine gun" the BATF produced as evidence was Sten
guns kits and some hollow tubes
with cuts in them. To have a functioning Sten gun the barrel retaining
ring and the buttstock attaching ring must
be welded on to the receiver tube. Both of these rings were not, repeat
not, attached to the tubes. Still it was
determined that these were also machine guns. I have yet to figure out
how this arm could have been fired ---
was the shooter supposed to hold the barrel on with his fingers?

The BATF agent did not fire any of the Sten gun kits. Therefore from
Woodbridge's conviction it might be safe
to assume that Sten gun kits and hollow tubes now constitute a machine
gun.

According to the BATF's published "red book" of regulations, machine gun
parts kits are legal to possess, buy
or sell under federal law and can be purchased without an FFL by mail
order. With this conviction it appears
that the definition of what constitutes a machine gun has been expanded
to include parts kits.

>From these two instances it might be wise if you own or are
contemplating purchasing machine gun parts kits to
... JUST FORGET IT.

Further, if you own an AR15 or clone you should examine it or have it
inspected by a knowledgeable gunsmith
for M16 parts. It is common knowledge that over the years the federal
government has sold as surplus millions
of M16 firing system parts, i.e. bolts, bolt carriers, and hammers.
Those parts were purchased by rifle
manufacturers and used in AR15 style rifles that were sold on the
civilian market. I am also under the
impression that in the early days of manufacture, Colt used over-run M16
parts in their rifles too. The
ownership of those parts, although previously not illegal could now be
determined to change your rifle into a
machine gun. They do not even have to be in the firearm and the firearm
does not have to fire automatically.

The BATF has in the past issued clearly defined definitions as to what
constituted a fully automatic firearm and
what does not.

It is therefore suggested that if you own any machine gun parts kits, or
anything that could be remotely
construed by the federal government as a machine gun, that you save
yourself a lot of trouble an dispose of
them.

Washington State Law

Understand that according to Washington State law the ownership of
machine gun parts has been and is
now illegal. In reality this statute is seldom enforced unless a person
has those specific parts to turn a firearm
into a machine gun.

One might question then why is the machine gun parts law not normally
enforced? The answer is because its
language is too broad since many non-fully automatic firearms use parts
that are interchangeable with those
used in fully automatic firearms. For example a wooden stock or a sling
swivel for a M1 Carbine will also fit
the M2 Carbine, a select fire weapon. To the layman it is apparent that
the spirit of the law is to prohibit
ownership of those specific parts from which a complete machine gun can
be made but from now on no one
can be sure!!!

Woodbridge's Future

Shortly after his conviction Al resigned his club office and membership,
his connection with the State R&P and
his position as our lobbyist. Al also withdrew his name as a candidate
for the NRA Board of Directors.

Woodbridge is facing a maximum sentence of 120 hears in prison --- 10
years for each count. He is in the
process of filing an appeal.

Woodbridge was not granted bail by Judge Tanner and as far as can be
determined will remain in prison until the
appeal is heard, but that could be up to three years in the future.

As most of you know Lori and Al Woodbridge are not wealthy. The cost of
the appeal could run to well over
$100,000.

There are two ways you can help Al. First, you can patronize Big Al's
Guns in Auburn. Lori intends to keep the
store running as it is their main source of income. Secondly, the Club
will accept donations to the "W.A.C.
Legal Defense Fund" earmarked for Al Woodbridge.

Dennis asks that you make separate checks out to the "Defense Fund" ---
do not include your dues or table rent
in one check. Please send your donation made out to the W.A.C. Legal
Defense Fund to P.O. 7335, Tacoma,
WA 98407 or give it to Betty Budil on the secretary's dais at one of our
meetings.

A great person who did more to defend our continued firearm ownership in
this state than anyone else in recent
history and my friend now sits in jail. I'm not asking for $2 any more
--- I'm asking for $20s.

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