Summary
rejecting defendants' arguments that drop in auto sears cannot be deemed machineguns within the meaning of 27 U.S.C. § 5845(b)
Summary of this case from United States v. DodsonOpinion
Nos. 769, 890, Dockets 88-1402, 88-1403.
Argued February 6, 1989.
Decided February 13, 1989.
Peter D. Markle, Asst. U.S. Atty., New Haven, Conn. (Stanley A. Twardy, Jr., U.S. Atty., D.Conn., on the brief), for appellee.
Charles A. Maglieri, Bloomfield, Conn. (Barall Maglieri, Bloomfield, Conn., on the brief), for defendant-appellant Bryan N. Was.
F. Mac Buckley, Hartford, Conn. (Buckley Santos, P.C., Hartford, Conn., of counsel), for defendant-appellant Norman Was, joined in the brief of defendant-appellant Bryan N. Was.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut.
Defendants Bryan N. Was and Norman Was appeal from judgments of conviction entered in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, Peter C. Dorsey, Judge, following their conditional pleas of guilty to firearms offenses. Bryan Was pleaded guilty to one count of transferring a firearm that was a machinegun within the meaning of 26 U.S.C. § 5845(b) (1982), in violation of id. §§ 5861(e) and 5871 (1982 Supp. II 1984); both defendants pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to transfer such firearms, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 (1982). On appeal, defendants contend principally that the district court should have dismissed the indictment on the ground that the items they transferred, known as "auto sears," as a matter of law cannot be deemed machineguns within the meaning of § 5845(b) because an auto sear is not a "combination of parts designed and intended for use in converting a weapon into a machinegun," 26 U.S.C. § 5845(b).
We reject defendants' arguments and affirm the judgments of conviction substantially for the reasons stated in the opinion of the district court, reported at 684 F.Supp. 350 (1988).