SF-TX
02-06-2014, 08:23
Who saw this coming, gun registration leading to confiscation?
Michael Merritt had all but forgotten about the pot bust way back in 1970 when state agents came knocking on the door of his Bakersfield, Calif. home...
...Merritt was a convicted felon, according to their records, and therefore not eligible to own the pistols, hunting rifles and various collectibles he had legally purchased and registered. But the idea he was a felon was news to him, Merritt said...
...It turned out that the outdated felony code on the printout—11910 – was for a pot possession charge which has since been downgraded in California law. Merritt remembered being arrested, and paying a fine -- he thinks it was $100 -- and spending some weekends in the lockup...
...A bewildered Merritt turned over his guns. He later learned the agents were part of a special state unit tasked with checking the lists of registered gun owners against databases showing people who are not allowed to have weapons. {You have nothing to worry about. The reasons for being prohibited from owning weapons will never change.}It was set up under a program called the Armed and Prohibited Persons System established in 2001...
...But it turned out that amid all the cross-checking of databases, no one caught that Merritt's pot bust was downgraded to a misdemeanor, making him a legal gun owner. Two weeks later, agents returned and gave Merritt back his weapons.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/02/05/long-forgotten-pot-bust-bureacratic-screwup-prompt-agents-to-seize-california/
Michael Merritt had all but forgotten about the pot bust way back in 1970 when state agents came knocking on the door of his Bakersfield, Calif. home...
...Merritt was a convicted felon, according to their records, and therefore not eligible to own the pistols, hunting rifles and various collectibles he had legally purchased and registered. But the idea he was a felon was news to him, Merritt said...
...It turned out that the outdated felony code on the printout—11910 – was for a pot possession charge which has since been downgraded in California law. Merritt remembered being arrested, and paying a fine -- he thinks it was $100 -- and spending some weekends in the lockup...
...A bewildered Merritt turned over his guns. He later learned the agents were part of a special state unit tasked with checking the lists of registered gun owners against databases showing people who are not allowed to have weapons. {You have nothing to worry about. The reasons for being prohibited from owning weapons will never change.}It was set up under a program called the Armed and Prohibited Persons System established in 2001...
...But it turned out that amid all the cross-checking of databases, no one caught that Merritt's pot bust was downgraded to a misdemeanor, making him a legal gun owner. Two weeks later, agents returned and gave Merritt back his weapons.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/02/05/long-forgotten-pot-bust-bureacratic-screwup-prompt-agents-to-seize-california/