Cavalry Arms Owner Pleads Guilty??

[GUNS-R-US]

FEATURE
Cavalry Arms Owner Pleads Guilty
After days of chat room speculation about the reasons why Cavalry Arms would decide to suddenly go out of business, an answer came in the form of a press release. This one, however, didn't come from Cavalry Arms, it came from the ATF.

Here it is, offered (at this point) without comment:

FIREARMS MANUFACTURER AND ITS OWNER PLEAD GUILTY TO ILLEGALLY SELLING FIREARMS, AGREE TO SURRENDER LICENSE

PHOENIX, AZ - Cavalry Arms Corporation and its owner Shawn Michael Nealon, 38, of Mesa, Arizona., pleaded guilty to the felony offense of Illegal Sale by a Federally Licensed Firearms Dealer to an Out-of-State Resident, in federal district court in Phoenix. Cavalry Arms Corporation and Nealon have also agreed to surrender their federal licenses to sell firearms.

"Selling to out-of-state residents has been illegal since 1968, we are enforcing federal firearms laws that have been on the books for over 40 years," said John A. Torres, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Los Angeles Field Division. "Selling firearms illegally to out of state residents, is something ATF and our state and local partners will aggressively pursue, and although there are very few dealers that engage in criminal transactions, their impact on individuals and communities can be devastating."

Nealon maintained a federal firearms license (FFL) in his name as well as one under Cavalry Arms Corporation and both operated in the state of Arizona. The investigation conducted by ATF agents and inspectors spanned from Arizona to California and began in January 2008.

The investigation uncovered that on March 2, 2007, Nealon used his personal FFL to sell four firearms to an out-of-state resident. Nealon knew that at the time of the sale, the buyer resided in California. Over a 24 month period beginning in September 2005, Cavalry Arms' FFL was used to sell 36 firearms to that same individual including AR-15 and AK-47 rifles and a variety of shotguns and handguns.

"Mr. Nealon has finally taken responsibility for his crime of illegally selling firearms to someone he knew was an out-of-state resident," said Dennis Burke, U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona. "When firearms are sold illegally, they often end up being used in crimes of violence in the United States and other countries. This criminal activity will not be tolerated in the District of Arizona."

Nealon is scheduled to be sentenced on April 26,2010. A conviction for Illegal Sale by a Federally Licensed Dealer to an Out-of-State Resident carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both."


Whew.

Not much room for speculation here - and no word on what Nealon is looking at as a sentence. I'm told that in "normal" ATF investigations of this sort, it's not uncommon for a fine and the surrender of the FFLs to satisfy the feds.

What's not normal about this one, however, is that Nealon is a firearms manufacturer who strayed off the beaten path. It's not unusual for those offenders to get the full force of the government's punishment.

I don't know Shawn Nealon, and don't know a lot about Cavalry Arms products. Acquaintances of mine are familiar with both, and have expressed their surprise at Nealon's conduct.

It's another black eye for the firearms industry on the eve of a very significant Second Amendment case once again coming before the United States Supreme Court.

Will it have any real bearing?

Probably not, but anti-gun groups will undoubtedly use this as another indictment of the firearms industry.

This indictment, unfortunately, will come with a conviction on April 26.

--Jim Shepherd

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought it was legal to purchase rifles and shotguns out of state? The article did say some were handguns, but it also specifically mentions AR's and AK's which are rifles and should be legal for him to sell to an out of state buyer, if not legal for the buyer to purchase according to their state laws. I don't think its the Arizona dealers problem to worry about weather it's legal in the buyer's home state. That's the buyers problem IMOP. Someone please educate me if I'm wrong on this!

[TAB]

its not legal to buy any guns accross state lines unless it goes thru a ffl in your home state.

[tombogan03884]

TAB, C&R holders do exactly that. 

[fightingquaker13]

TAB, C&R holders do exactly that. 

That only covers guns made before a certain date. Haz has one, he can explain the rules.
FQ13

[TAB]

TAB, C&R holders do exactly that. 

 

C&R holders are FFLs.  So it is going thru a FFL in thier home state.

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

That only covers guns made before a certain date. Haz has one, he can explain the rules.
FQ13

No it is NOT by date, I have the application in front of me. You can get SKS's Yugo Mausers, and Makarovs .
All are new manufacture, it has to do with historical aspects more than year of manufacture.

[crusader rabbit]

Here in Florida, I took my California-resident son-in-law to a gun store/gun range not too far from where I live.  One of the salesmen offered to show him some weapons.  When I mentioned that Brian was from California, the guy actually jumped back and said, "Man, you're kryptonite in a gun store."

So, it would seem that at least some gunstore personnel are aware of the strictures regarding sales to out-of-state residents.

And California has long had prohibitions on AKs and ARs.  Even in the C&R pubs frequently they have a "Not Available In California" tag on any weapon that holds more than 8 or 10 shots in the magazine (I apologize for not remembering the exact number) irrespective of their historical status.

Sounds to me like Cavalry Arms got a little greedy, but I will reserve judgement until all the facts are in.  Maybe Shawn thought the dude was from Mexico???

[JC5123]

My local dealer here explained to me that you CAN sell firearms to an out of state resident, as long as your states share a border.

[fightingquaker13]

I have bought guns from out of state dealers, no problem. It just has to go through an FFL (or C@R). It seems this guy was using a state loophole that let you do a "private sale" person to person, in state to sell inter-state. It is a bonehead mistake (if it was a mistake, which I doubt). Hell, I know this and every board member that's bought a gun from me has had to pick it up from an FFL. The guy wanted to sell EBRs in cali (which he SHOULD be able to do), and gave a wink and a nod to state and federal law to do so. Does this make him a bad person in my view? No. Does it make him a stupid one? Yes.
FQ13