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http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2010/09/fro ... harges.php

http://tinyurl.com/2c46zaq

Front Royal pawn shop owner indicted on federal gun charges
By Sally Voth -- svoth@nvdaily.com


HARRISONBURG -- A Front Royal pawn shop owner has been indicted in U.S. District Court on 10 gun charges.

Don Francis Simonpietri, 64, of 9503 Stonewall Jackson Highway, Front Royal, was indicted Thursday, according to online court records. The indictments were unsealed Tuesday.

Officers from the Front Royal Police Department and agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searched his home and pawn shop, at 528 S. Royal Ave., last October. Local charges against him were dropped in May so the federal indictments could be sought.

Simonpietri is charged with conspiracy to deal firearms without a license, dealing firearms without a license, two counts of possession of a machine gun, three counts of selling guns to a convicted felon, and three counts of a firearm not registered to him.

According to the indictment, the federal government is seeking the forfeiture of 1,100 firearms and a 2004 Ford Mustang convertible.

For further developments, visit nvdaily.com or read the print edition of The Northern Virginia Daily.




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OakRidgeStars wrote:...three counts of a firearm not registered to him.

What does this mean? I'm just not familiar with all the laws that a gun dealer must follow. If he was selling as a licensed dealer, are guns supposed to be "registered" to him in some manner? Or would this be the machine guns?

Parry

newdovo wrote:

OakRidgeStars wrote:...three counts of a firearm not registered to him.

What does this mean? I'm just not familiar with all the laws that a gun dealer must follow. If he was selling as a licensed dealer, are guns supposed to be "registered" to him in some manner? Or would this be the machine guns?

Parry

I'm confused by this as well. He's only being charged with 2 counts of possessing a machine gun... so it appears that the two are not related?

Well since he was selling without a license, I am thinking he didn't have a FFL. It is a pawn shop so, it is a business. About the "Registered" part, you got me...

He didn't have a "4473 form" for the ones "not registered"? Just a guess?

What does this mean? I'm just not familiar with all the laws that a gun dealer must follow. If he was selling as a licensed dealer, are guns supposed to be "registered" to him in some manner? Or would this be the machine guns?

Could be SBRs, SBS, or AOWs.

He ran a pawn shop, but he never publicly sold guns in there. I went in a few times and he never had anythign newer than a few civil war era weapons that may have been just for show, who knows. I think he had a room in the back that he would take people that were interested, felons apparently. When they raided him last year it was over 1000 guns in his possession. It's a shame, had he just sold them legally and not to felons, he could have gotten quite a bit of business as it is a big pawn shop and gets quite a bit of traffic considering its right at the base of Skyline Drive.

Jakeiscrazy wrote:

What does this mean? I'm just not familiar with all the laws that a gun dealer must follow. If he was selling as a licensed dealer, are guns supposed to be "registered" to him in some manner? Or would this be the machine guns?

Could be SBRs, SBS, or AOWs.

Most likely, yes. The only way to be sure is to see the actual indictment to determine what section of the law he was charged under. This would probably be a charge under 26 USC, which contains the National Firearms Act; "firearm" has a different meaning there. It would normally be reported in the indictment as "possession of a firearm not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record", or a variation thereof. The drone who wrote this article dropped some important details.