Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns,seattle.general,alt.society.civil-liberty
From: [r--oh--n] at [eskimo.com] (Rebecca Rohan)
Subject: Al Woodbridge's Story 3/5
Date: Sat, 14 May 1994 08:19:19 GMT

WA --- BATF and Al Woodbridge, Part 3 of 5
Reprinted from the newsletter of WAC (Washington Arms 
Collectors)

Gunsmith Testifies For Gun Dealer Facing Federal Charges
     by Russell Carollo

     State and federal prosecutors have pursued the state's top 
pro-gun spokesman on weapons charges since 1989.  
     But in Allen Woodbridge's federal court trial Tuesday in 
Tacoma, his defense took about 30 minutes, the time it took for a 
single witness to testify.  The defense had hoped to call several 
other witnesses to convince jury that the guns confiscated from 
Woodbridge in 1989 were not machine guns.  But the federal 
judge hearing the case, Judge Jack E. Tanner, wouldn't let the 
witnesses testify.
     The witnesses, Tanner said, offered no specific defense to the 
allegations against Woodbridge.  "That'll be denied," Tanner told 
defense attorney Richard DeJean of Sumner, prompting DeJean 
to shift his body from side to side.  Tanner added:  "And I don't 
need any body language."
     Woodbridge's only remaining witness was Don Manning, a 
Yakima gunsmith who testified that some of weapons parts 
confiscated from Woodbridge were made fro legal semi-automatic 
weapons.
     The trial began Monday, when a jury of seven men and five 
women was selected. 
     Woodbridge, a high-profile lobbyist for the Washington Arms 
Collectors club, is charged with 12 counts of federal weapons 
violations, including possession of machine guns.
     Much of the case against Woodbridge is based on his 
ownership of AR-15s, usually legal so long as they fire only semi-
automatically --- one shot per pull of the trigger.  It is illegal, 
however, to equip the guns with parts enable them to fire 
automatically --- more than one shot per trigger pull.
     Monday, Doug Craze, a firearms examiner for the federal 
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms in Washington, D.C., 
testified that the AR-15s taken from Woodbridge apparently had 
been modified to fire automatically.
     During a hearing Friday DeJean argued that Woodbridge, who 
had no criminal record, has a federal firearms license permitting 
him to own automatic weapons.
     He also said the guns taken in the search were not automatic 
weapons, and the suspect parts in them were legally installed by 
the manufacturer before laws were changed.

condensed and reprinted from _The News Tribune_, January 26, 
1994.
     
END OF 3RD WAC ARTICLE

-- 
      Rebecca Rohan ([r--oh--n] at [eskimo.com])         |  If fascists try to take 
Gun control forces responsible citizens to be:  |  your gun, say "No" to 
A.) Slaves  B.) Criminals  C.) Revolutionaries  |  them all until it's empty.