I've got an amazing story about this one. Let me tell you all about how "If you've done nothing wrong you've got nothing to worry about" almost got me charged with unlawful possession of a minigun. 1/?
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1. This story is insane but also, not exactly surprising.
2. “If you’ve done nothing wrong you’ve got nothing to worry about” is tied to privilege & has disproportionately been used against Black Americans in particular due to systematic racism.
"As a non-lawyer" this person has WAY too much faith in our justice system, currently run by fascists. This is the same person who says after a Black man is killed by cops, "if he just would've complied, he could've walked away."
Tell that to Tyre Nichols whose murderers just walked away scot free.
I honestly don't have anything to hide - but available data indicate mere innocence isn't enough to protect one from a fascist state that's decided to go gloves-off.
They're actually exhibiting the same attitudes and behavior that got us the Trump regime in the first place. To wit: Main Character syndrome; "the law doesn't matter, nothing is permitted so everything is permitted;" aversion to expertise
OMG. The number of times I have had to “educate” users who got compromised and thought it had to be our fault because they kept everything patched. No, buddy - it’s because your admin password was “letmeIn123!” and some script kiddie bruted your account in milliseconds! 🙄
Just heard your episode on Darknet Diaries, and this is an added element I didn’t expect. The way you described how archaic and Byzantine US law is fascinating.
About 8 years ago I took a trip to Vegas. There's a shooting range there that lets you shoot basically any gun you want. My friends and I went, shot AK-47s, Uzis, and I shot an M134 Minigun. Now, a very little known part of US law is felons aren't the only people banned from possessing firearms. 2/?
If you read all the way through 18 U.S. Code § 922, you'll find non-immigrant visa holders are listed under "Prohibited Persons" alongside Felons. So that's anyone on a tourist visa, H-1B, O-1, student visa, etc. Almost nobody knows this because it's never enforced (until it is). 3/?
immigrant visas are green cards, with subtypes and all. you can have a dual intent visa like a H1B, where you do not need to prove you don't want to immigrate/will leave at the end of it but the classification is still non-immigrant (all it means it's temporary)
If you go to one of those shooting ranges (which openly advertises to tourists), they make you sign like a 30+ page waiver. Somewhere in there it has you agree that you are "not a prohibited person under 18 U.S.C. § 922", which absolves them of any liability for not checking your status. 4/?
Another little known part of US law is "possession" is not just owning a gun. There's a concept called "constructive possession" which means if you someone hands you their gun, you're now in possession of a firearm. Of course, at the time I knew exactly none of this, because I'm not a lawyer. 5/?
Friends I want to clarify that Constructive Possession covers any item you exercise dominion over — it’s an extremely permissive definition
This isn’t meant to contradict Marcus’ story — quite the opposite — it means it’s extremely easy to pin possession on folks who aren’t even aware of such items
However what Marcus is describing (being handed a gun) at face value sounds like Actual Possession, I.e. direct physical control
This isn’t meant to distract from the story just like… please don’t go thinking temporarily possessing a firearm “doesn’t count” (regardless of actual vs constructive)
Nor is that specific to US law; possess just literally means have, regardless of ownership (you don't own an item you stole yesterday, after all). But yeah colloquial usage confusing these terms isn't US specific either, so...
Couple of days later I get picked up by the FBI, for what I thought was related to my cybersecurity work. "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" I told myself. Turns out it was a trap, I was wanted for something I did 5 years ago in the UK, and the work related questions were just to lower my guard. 6/?
After arresting me, they wanted to get my bail denied because being held without bail means you just sit in prison until your trial is over. As a result, most people will plead guilty because you'll often spend less time in jail getting convicted than the years you'll spend awaiting trial. 7/?
Interesting. When I was in the US (Massachussetts) for training in 2001, an Irish guy (who was also there for training) convinced me to go with him to a shooting range. They happily accepted my Australian driver's licence for ID at the range, yet my licence wasn't accepted for ID at bars in Boston.
everyone in the us reading this, please send a letter to your congress reps about this. while in theory it impacts tourists, it could also get many gun ranges shut down with all their employees locked up for life for thousands of counts of a felony they probably didn't know they were committing.
note that 18 usc 922(h) could be construed to apply to a us-based hololive talent posting gun range pictures on their official talent page. (this might actually be unconstitutionally overbroad.)
If you are riding around in a car owned by a friend, and that friend has a gun in the glove box, or under the seat, if that car gets pulled over and an officer feels like it, they can charge you with constructive possession of a firearm. Will a jury convict you? Maybe?
Exactly !!! I had a protective order against me once ( long story not worth recounting but to say I’m not violent nor threatening. A-hole cop was all). At the time I had a friend who was major 2A guy and I refused to ever get in a car with him just in case….
It's like asking home invaders if they want to sit down for a cup of coffee before they tie you up and rob you of all your belongings. This "non-lawyer" has WAY too much faith in a system whose entire job is to find "criminals" and arrest them (guilty or not).
Thanks for that. I know Vegas, Guam and plenty of other areas that cater to foreign tourism heavily advertise those shooting ranges and gun rental. It's a shame they are forced to display signage that says what "prohibited" clearly means and the repercussions.
Used to live in the tourist district in Guam, I'd see tons of Japanese and Korean tourists getting shuttled to the shooting ranges. Even went a few times. Don't remember anything clearly explaining prohibited persons.
Also police lie & you don’t know what evidence they really have against you. Their casual conversation might be to get you to admit you were someplace a witness saw you criming. Now you’ve admitted you were there. Even if their witness is wrong/true perp, you’re the one charged even if innocent.
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2. “If you’ve done nothing wrong you’ve got nothing to worry about” is tied to privilege & has disproportionately been used against Black Americans in particular due to systematic racism.
That's it!
A police Officer, a Practicing Attorney, and a Supreme court judge all agree..
Do not talk to the police without a lawyer.
Tell that to Tyre Nichols whose murderers just walked away scot free.
Don't talk to police. Ever.
https://youtu.be/d-7o9xYp7eE?si=t7_zM52ac-XsqFkA
https://youtu.be/d-7o9xYp7eE?si=67ppl-JmsWYzmfuo
without laws being passed...
EVERYONE HAS SOMETHING TO HIDE
“Oh, I see. You’re about to lawsplain to lawyers who are actually giving you excellent advice. That seems… inadvisable. Buy you do you, boo.”
They're actually exhibiting the same attitudes and behavior that got us the Trump regime in the first place. To wit: Main Character syndrome; "the law doesn't matter, nothing is permitted so everything is permitted;" aversion to expertise
also nothing is real bc everything is basically online really
Wait I thought (having been one for a few years) H1-B was specifically an "immigrant-intent" visa?
This isn’t meant to contradict Marcus’ story — quite the opposite — it means it’s extremely easy to pin possession on folks who aren’t even aware of such items
This isn’t meant to distract from the story just like… please don’t go thinking temporarily possessing a firearm “doesn’t count” (regardless of actual vs constructive)
i'd like to see the law changed to end that insanity tbh.
- for immigrants: 18 usc 922(g)(5)(B) and 18 usc 922(g)(7)
- for us citizens with foreign employers: 18 usc 922(h)
- for gun ranges: 18 usc 924(h)
i'm not a lawyer, so take it with a grain of salt.
i.e. The exonerated 5 and thousands of other Black people in prisons are the perfect example of this.
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