-=Continued from previous post=- 
     The second item on this year's Senate agenda is the delayed
Juvenile Crime Bill, which will see a swarm of anti-gun
amendments, likely including a requirement for trigger locks to
be sold with each handgun, a proposal to ban "non-sporting"
handguns, limiting handgun purchases to one-per-month, and
prohibiting sales of all (now-grandfathered) magazines over 10
rounds. 
     And the Clinton Administration, which "temporarily" banned
imports of "modified assault rifles" the day after Congress
adjourned, will soon have new regulations broadening the ban on
all "non-sporting" imports due to a narrower definition of
"sporting."
     It's going to be an interesting year, one where we're going
to have to stay alert -- and watch our backs.
======================================================================
                   Perturbing Court Ruling
                          By NEAL KNOX
     WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. 20) -- A Federal judge last week
declined to block BATF's far-reaching plan to regulate the
muzzle-loading Knight Disc Rifle as a "Firearm," as defined by
the Gun Control Act.
     If the judge rules the same way after a hearing on the
merits of the maker's lawsuit Jan. 12, the Knight Disc Rifle --
and perhaps many other muzzleloading arms -- may be sold only by
dealers who have Federal Firearms Licenses,
     -- must have a Form 4473 completed at the time of such
        sales
     -- may not be mailed or shipped to individuals
     -- may not be possessed by anyone who is prohibited from
        owning a cartridge firearm
     -- may not be sold or given by an individual owner to an
        individual who lives in another state.
     What's particularly disturbing is that at the Dec. 12
hearing the BATF switched horses, never bringing up their
original argument that the Knight Disc Rifle must be treated as
if it were a modern gun because it can use "non-antique
ammunition" -- specifically a 209 shotshell primer.
     Instead, BATF argued that the Knight Disc Rifle is not a
"replica" of a pre-1899 firearm -- which immensely broadens the
scope of BATF's turf grab.  Very few, if any, of today's black
powder replicas are exact copies of pre-1899 designs.
     BATF's attorneys explained to the court that the Disc Rifle
uses a plastic percussion cap carrier that may be substituted
with a plastic carrier holding a 209 shotshell primer.  The
carriers differ only in color and the size of the hole -- .208
vs. .240.
     The attorneys emphasized that there were no rifles made
prior to 1899 which were capable of using both percussion caps
and cartridge primers, and certainly none made with plastic
parts.
     The Knight shotshell primer disc is sold as an aftermarket
item.  BATF had informed Modern Muzzleloading and its
distributors as recently as the National Sporting Goods
Wholesalers show in late November that the gun could be shipped
without an FFL so long as the shotshell primer disc was not in
the same package.
     Yet on Dec. 8 BATF notified Dale Watley, president of Modern
Muzzleloading Inc., that the firm had to obtain a Federal
manufacturer's license and could distribute their Disc Rifle only
to FFL's.  The company immediately filed a lawsuit seeking to
block BATF's enforcement of the order.
     As a result of the court decision, Modern Muzzleloading has
obtained a Federal Firearms Manufacturer's license and laid off
"a substantial number" of employees just before Christmas.
     BATF's justification for demanding the license and selling
only to FFL's is, according to Industry Circular 98-2:  "Primers
are not an antique ignition system and are ammunition for
firearms subject to regulation."
     As I pointed out in a recent column, in my opinion as a
court-qualified "firearms expert," the BATF is flat wrong. 
Primers, including battery cup shotshell primers like the 209,
are an antique ignition system as defined by the law.  "Antique
firearm" is defined as "any firearm (including any firearm with a
matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition
system) manufactured in or before 1898." 
     
     Centerfire primers of substantially the same dimensions as
modern rifle and pistol primers were used in many cartridges
beginning in the early 1870's.  Further, a patent for a battery
cup primer with self-contained anvil was issued in 1877; it's
mechanically identical to today's 209 shotshell primer.
     One version of the Gun Control Act defined an "antique
firearm" as one which didn't use fixed ammunition; the final
version used 1898 as a cutoff date, since that was the
approximate advent of smokeless propellants.  
     If a pre-1899 gun is chambered for a commercially available
cartridge, such as my 1888 .32-20 Colt single action on loan to
the NRA museum, it is a "firearm."  But a virtually identical gun
chambered for the .44 Henry rimfire is an "antique."
     Congress reasoned that the chances of an armed robber using
a black powder gun in a holdup are mighty slim -- and the stated
purpose of the Gun Control Act was to control crime
     I'll wager that there has never been a crime committed with
a Knight Disc Rifle.
     So what's going on here?  And where does BATF propose to
draw the line as to which muzzle-loaders it intends to regulate?
======================================================================
Telephone Log
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		phonelog@NealKnox.com
The log will be sent to you via auto-responder.
======================================================================
Copyright (c) 1998 by Neal Knox Associates
               P.O. Box 6537
               Rockville, MD  20916.  
Non-commercial reproduction and distribution is permitted so long as
this statement is included.  All other uses prohibited.
-=Continued in next post=-
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