NFA Gun Trust Lawyer Blog

In an effort to support the NRA, the Apple Law Firm has donated a NFA Gun Trust to be auctioned off at each of the 13 remaining NRA Fund Raising Banquets in Florida. Please help support the NRA by attending one of these banquets. Contact Laura Watson with questions at 904-348-8020.  

We are licensed in Florida and have lawyers and attorneys who provide Florida Gun Trusts in Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, Fort Lauderdale, Tallahassee, Cape Coral, Port Saint Lucie and all over Florida. If you are interested in information on Florida NFA Gun Trusts (or NFA Firearms Trusts in any state ) and how they are different from regular trust email us or call us for more information.

This morning, Governor Charlie Crist used his veto pen to veto the $6 Million raid on the Concealed Weapons and Firearms Licensing Trust Fund sweep put in the budget by the legislature.

Governor Crist deserves our profound appreciation for his veto.

The legislature intended to take $6 million from the Division of Licensing Concealed Weapons and Firearm Trust Fund that is intended, by law, to be used solely for administering the concealed weapons and firearms licensing program.  That would have been a DEFACTO TAX ON GUN OWNERS.

Please Call, Fax, or Email Governor Charlie Crist and thank him for the VETO OF THE SECOND AMENDMENT TAX created by the intended sweep of $6 Million from the Division of Licensing Trust Fund.

Phone number: (850) 488-4441 or (850) 488-7146
Fax number:  (850) 487-0801

Send your email to the Governor at this address:

Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com

Joshua Prince alerted me to a blog post on a developing situation he ran across on Subguns where an individual used Quicken to attempt to create a trust for NFA purposes.  Unfortunately the BATFE has now decided that his Quicken trust was invalid and is seeking to seize his MAC-11 and Silencer.  He could also be subject to a prison sentence of 10 years and $250,000 in fines.

This is a very unfortunate situation that could cost the individual severely. Its important to remember that just because the ATF approves your transfer, it does not mean that you are legally in possession.  This is the second situation involving invalid trusts and the ATF that we have seen this month. It looks like the ATF is beginning to look more closely at the trust documents they are receiving.

If you created a trust for NFA purchases in Quicken, Legal Zoom, or used another generic trust that was not reviewed before buy a lawyer before submitting it to the BATFE, you should contact a NFA trust attorney to review your trust for validity.  If you need help finding a local NFA Trust Lawyer we can help.  We work with attorneys in more than 40 states including Florida Gun Trust lawyers and South Carolina NFA lawyers to help review and create valid NFA trusts.

Note: At this time the link to the subguns has been taken down because of questions.  We believe this posting is authentic based upon correspondence with the individual but will update this post as the situation and our agreement with the individual (if any) allows.

The Florida Legislature is attempting to raid the concealed weapons and firearms licensing trust fund.  This will effect resident and non-resident CCW license holders!

the NRA is asking that you contact Governor Charlie Christ by phone, fax or email to ask him to veto Conference Report SB-2600.  Section 59 is what authorizes the sweep of 75% of the trust funds for other purposes.

Phone number: (850) 488-4441 or (850) 488-7146
Fax number:  (850) 487-0801

Send your email to the Governor at this address: Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com

At first glance, Florida has a funny quirk with the way firearms are defined that allows a Felon to possess certain firearms that are not defined as firearms under Florida law.  Upon further investigation, the federal law also exempts antique firearms from the definition of a firearm.  I was recently asked if a convicted felon could possess a black powder gun for hunting in the state of Florida. The answer to this question depends on the gun itself. 

Florida Statutes 790.001(6) defines a Firearm as as any weapon (including a starter gun) which will, is designed to, or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; the frame or receiver of any such weapon; any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; any destructive device; or any machine gun. The term "firearm" does not include an antique firearm unless the antique firearm is used in the commission of a crime.

Florida Statutes 790.001(1) defines an Antique Firearm as any firearm manufactured in or before 1918 (including any matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar early type of ignition system) or replica thereof, whether actually manufactured before or after the year 1918, and also any firearm using fixed ammunition manufactured in or before 1918, for which ammunition is no longer manufactured in the United States and is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade.

So it would appear that a Felon could own certain black powder guns in Florida as long as the firearm was not used in the commission of a crime.  There has even been some case law dealing with black powder firearms owned by a felon.

In 2005, Florida's 5th DCA, affirmed the lower courts ruling that David Bostic, a convicted felon, had violated the law by being in possession of a firearm.  Bostic had claimed that his black powder firearm was an antique firearm and thus exempt from the restrictions place upon him.  The court agreed that he was able to own an antique firearm but disagreed that his firearm was an antique.  The court stated that Florida case law defines replica as a reasonably exact reproduction of the object involved that, when viewed causes the person to see substantially the same object as the original. The DCA found that Bostic's gun was not a replica because the original did not have a fiber optic sight that was present on his gun.  The court also stated that merely having an ignition system similar to that found on an antique firearm is not sufficient to render a firearm a "replica" of a firearm manufactured in or before 1918.

In Williams, the Florida Supreme Court in dicta dealing with the concealment of an antique firearms states that the result of such an interpretation to allow convicted felons to be in possession of antique firearms is absurd.  And that a basic tenet of statutory construction is to not yield an absurd result.

While these two cases seem to contradict each other, both courts find a reason to deny the felon possession of an antique firearm.  There are no cases which state approve the possession of an antique firearm by a felon.

This topic was also covered on the Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog by Cynthia Veintemillas a Florida Criminal Lawyer

Recently my wife was in New York visiting some family when they attempted to convince her that I, her husband, was helping criminals avoid background checks and arming them with machine guns, assault weapons, and other "illegal" firearms.  Additionally, the opined that my NFA Gun Trust Lawyer website was a radical Gun Rights forum. 

While I would not find this hard to believe coming from people who live in the Northeast, I did find it hard to believe from transplanted New Yorkers who live in Texas and been surrounded by individual gun owners and guns being a part of the culture.  In trying to explain what I do to some family members including my wife, I found that there were some basic misunderstandings of the process, and the state of the interpretation of the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution as the Supreme Court interpreted it last year.  I decided that this would be valuable for many of my clients who are often dealing with similar issues.  Many people have family members or friends who are uneducated on the current status and interpretation of the Second Amendment.  As a result many people feel that there is an interpretation issue surrounding what the Second Amendment means.  While the Supreme court in a divided court found in favor of the individuals right to own a firearm, they unanimously found that the Second Amendment applied to an individuals right to keep and bear arms and not to that of a state.   We are at a time in history, when many of our rights involved in gun ownership are at risk.  Even though our current administration states that they support the Second Amendment, the do not support it as it has recently been interpreted and have an agenda posted on their website under urban plans to ban assault weapons.  They are currently trying to define an assault weapon as any firearm that have a removable cartridge.

While some people are not "pro-firearms," they still may believe in the ability for others to exercise their 2nd amendment right if they so choose.  This is similar to people that are "pro-choice" on abortion issues, but do not impose their beliefs on others. In the United States, women have the right to choose (within limitations) and Americans have the right to own firearms (within limitations), without unnecessary burdens or restrictions from the State government.  Whether or not you choose to possess the firearm is a decision that should be up to you just as other individual rights that are guaranteed to us in the US constitution.  

A person cannot purchase a machine gun without a background check just by using my trust.  The Gun or Firearms Trust merely prevents the local CLEO (Chief Law Enforcement Officer) from arbitrarily denying fully qualified individuals the ability to exercise their constitutional right to purchase a firearm.  A NFA or Gun trust does not make it easier for a criminal to purchase a firearm because criminals do not purchase legal machine guns, silencers, and SBR's because of the ease in which these items can be tracked back to the purchaser.

A person that intends to commit a crime with an firearm does not pay $20,000 - $250,000 for a legal machine gun and notify ATF of this purchase.  If a person wants to commit a crime with a machine gun, he or she is more likely to purchase it illegally on the street, without paperwork, and for a fraction of the price (around $1200).

Besides allowing individuals to protect their right to purchase firearms, my trust provides protections for the families and friends of gun owners that are not available with individual ownership.  Through the traditional purchase route, many individuals would be at risk of criminal activity and prosecution for permitting a friend, spouse, parent, or child use or have access to the items.  In addition, individual ownership does not deal with important issues, such as incapacity or death of the firearm owner.  Likewise, a gun trust addresses the transfer of these firearms to heirs that may not be eligible to receive them, such as children or people living in a state where Title II firearms are not permitted.  As a Gun Trust lawyer, I have seen many individuals that were forming corporations, trusts, and LLCs that were generic in nature and did not address their needs.  Due to these errors, they placed their families, friends, and children at unnecessary risk.  A risk that can be avoided with a adequate NFA gun trust.

In 1934, the government enacted the National Firearms Act as an effort to stop the gangster activity.  In particular, the government used its taxing arm to arrest them for being in possession of improperly registered or transferred weapons.  Since then, there has only been one illegal use of a legal machine gun for criminal activity, which was committed by a police officer.

I believe that Americans should be proud to exercise their rights to own firearms and help others understand the flaws in their logic.  Remember Guns don't kill people, criminals kill people.  If you look at most firearm legislation, it only seeks to restrict lawful ownership of firearms.  It does not offer an answer to the question, "how to keep guns out of the hands of criminals," which should be the focus of any gun control.

Florida is buried under a backlog of 95,000 applications for concealed-carry permits, and it needs to hire a lot more people to handle the paperwork, reports the Miami Herald. Floridians in record numbers want to carry concealed firearms, a trend linked to a surge in crime, economic anxiety and fears of stricter gun laws, says the paper, and a legislative panel has given the state's agricultural commissioner permission to spend $3.9 million more to hire 61 temporary workers.

I have a client who is looking to purchase a Thompson Machine Gun in Florida.  If you are not in Florida, there is a local transfer agent willing to help out.  If you have one for sale or know of one at a good price please let us know.

There seems to much confusion between various terms dealing with the National Firearms Act.  There are Title 1 weapons and Title II weapons.  Title II weapons are those covered by the NFA and which transfer ownership and possession must be approved the the ATF (Alcohol Tobacco Firearms) or more accurately the BATFE (Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives).

The Apple Law Firm has hired Cynthia Veintemillas, a Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorney who will be dealing with Jacksonville Gun Crimes.  For more information Florida Gun Crimes or to Contact a Jacksonville Weapons Lawyer.  Cynthia publishes the Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog.

In Florida, it is not legal to use a Machine Gun or Silencer when hunting.  For more information see the 2008-2009 Florida hunting Regulations handbook which is available on the MyFWC.com/Hunting web page

Walt Disney revised its employee gun policy according to the Associated Press. With the change, Employee's with a concealed-weapons permit will be allowed to be kept in the employee's car on facilities outside the Resort area.   The AP reported that a spokesman for the Attorney General stated that Disney's new Firearms Policy complies with the state law.

Previously Disney claimed that their entire organization was exempt from the new law.

Florida Employers have to let employees keep guns in their cars if they have a concealed weapons permit. But, businesses can still have a no gun policy for customers for now.

U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle  states that there is no second amendment right to bring your gun to someones property and  that customers would have the same right as employees under the new legislation but for the working of the statute which may be fixed later.

The law defines employer as a business with employees who own guns.

A client of mine recently brought to my attention the fact that there is an exception in Florida Statute 706.06 for Machine Guns as defined in Florida Statute 790.01(9). 
790.06(1) states that:

For the purposes of this section, concealed weapons or concealed firearms are defined as a handgun, electronic weapon or device, tear gas gun, knife, or billie, but the term does not include a machine gun as defined in s. 790.001(9).

So next time your traveling with a machine gun in Florida, make sure its not concealed.