Jury Chosen in Fincher Trial
Last updated Wednesday, January 10, 2007 1:04 PM CST in News
By Ron Wood
FAYETTEVILLE — A jury has been seated for the trial of a Washington County man accused of illegally having three machine guns and a sawed-off shotgun.
Hollis Wayne Fincher, 60, a lieutenant commander of the Militia of Washington County, is charged in U.S. District Court with possessing three homemade, unregistered machine guns and an unregistered sawed-off shotgun.
Opening statements are set for this afternoon.
The trial is expected to last two or three days.
Fincher was arrested Nov. 8 by federal agents. He remains in federal custody in lieu of $250,000 bond, and a number of other conditions also set by a magistrate judge.
According to police, two of the .308-caliber machine guns, homemade versions of the Browning model 1919, allegedly had Fincher's name inscribed on them and said “Amendment 2 invoked,” a reference to the Constitutional right of citizens to bear arms. They were also inscribed with “non-commercial.”
The other was a 9 mm STEN design submachine gun.
Since 1934, it's been illegal for civilians to own machine guns without permission from the U.S. Treasury Department.
Federal law permits the public to own machine guns manufactured and registered before 1986 under certain conditions. Guns made or imported after that date can be bought by law enforcement agencies but not the public.
Each new weapon is subject to a manufacturing tax and must be registered with the bureau's National Firearms Registry.
But, the defense is expected to argue that the weapons were from militia use and not subject to federal firearms regulations.
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