Firearms Lawyer Blog

We are proud to announce that Law offices of Sebastian John Balliro, P.A. is sponsoring radio station 93 Rock's Best Damn Brew Review event -- happening this Friday, Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. This is the station's outdoor beer garden and concert, featuring 200 beers and a concert stage with local South Florida bands Ghost of Gloria, Venejer and Streetkind. Along with First Class Transportation, we are sponsoring the Safe Ride Home program, which offers rides home to participants who don't feel safe to drive. Our Miami-Dade DUI defense attorneys know firsthand how costly a drunk driving charge can be, in lives and money, and we want everyone to have fun and arrive home safely.

Here's the radio promo for the event, which mentions us as a sponsor. For more information, you can check out the BDBR page at 93rock.com.

As Miami firearms criminal defense attorneys, we’re pleased by the news that a new law will expand the areas where we can exercise our Second Amendment right to bear arms. On Feb. 22, CBS4 reported, a new federal law makes it legal to possess and carry a loaded firearm in a national park or national wildlife refuge. Previously, guns were permitted in parks only if they were not loaded and locked away in a difficult-to-reach place like a trunk. The bill was added to legislation that regulates the credit card industry, much of which also took effect Monday, allowing it to pass with bipartisan support.

The NRA hailed the new law as a victory for gun rights and gun owners, who may now defend themselves from attacking wildlife or other human beings in the parks. However, firearms experts and the media cautioned gun owners that the law doesn’t mean they can carry a loaded weapon into any park at any time for any reason. Most importantly, Florida state gun laws still apply within Florida’s national parks and wildlife refuges. Visitors to the Everglades, Biscayne, Big Cypress and Dry Tortugas must still have a permit for concealed carry, for example, and keep firearms away from unsupervised minors. The law doesn’t change hunting regulations, and park visitors must still comply with criminal laws that apply to shooting other human beings. And federal law still bans guns from rangers’ offices and visitors’ centers.

Our West Palm Beach gun crimes defense lawyers are delighted to see this victory for responsible gun owners take effect. The national parks may be officially unarmed -- even park rangers don’t usually carry guns -- but they are the site of a surprising amount of violence. In particular, the illicit drug industry uses national parks as a place to grow illegal drugs, and the “farmers” don’t hesitate to illegally carry guns to defend their crops. This has helped make national park rangers the most assaulted federal law enforcement officers for the past seven years. Similarly, wildlife poachers carry guns regardless of whether it’s legal, leaving law-abiding citizens without equalizing protection. And while animal attacks are rare, having a gun can make a difference between life and death when they do happen.

Continue reading " New Federal Law Allows Firearms in Florida National Parks and Wildlife Reserves " »

Florida’s “stand your ground” law allows citizens to use their firearms to protect themselves from an intruder into their homes or vehicles, or an attacker in a public place. This was hailed by firearms law experts, including our own Fort Lauderdale firearms criminal defense attorneys, as an advance that cleared up legal ambiguities and took away the possibility of prison for law-abiding gun owners who act in self-defense. However, it doesn’t apply to all firearms charges in Florida, which led to an interesting result Feb. 16. According to an article in the Palm Beach Post, a young man was acquitted of murder under the stand your ground law, but convicted of the less serious crime of discharging a firearm from a vehicle.

William Wilkerson was originally accused of killing Jason Payne in 2007, outside of a party where many people had been drinking. Wilkerson had reportedly been flirting with Payne’s girlfriend. Wilkerson was sitting in his vehicle, getting ready to leave, when Payne smashed the driver’s side window. Wilkerson fired his gun three times, killing Payne. The Palm Beach County jury determined that the first two shots were acts of self-defense under the stand your ground law, which authorizes lethal force in cases where someone is trying to forcibly enter a vehicle, or attacks another in public. However, the jury found that the third shot was unnecessary and endangered other people at the party. He was sentenced to four years in prison followed by four years of probation.

As West Palm Beach gun crimes defense lawyers, we can’t help but notice that Wilkerson was convicted of discharging a firearm from a vehicle -- not discharging a firearm in public, a misdemeanor carrying up to a year in prison. As you might guess, the crime of discharging a firearm from a vehicle was intended to cover drive-by shootings -- not cases of possibly overzealous self-defense. That is, Wilkerson was convicted under a law designed for very different circumstances. In fact, this application of the law may conflict with the stand your ground law, since that law specifically identifies a vehicle break-in as a circumstance where self-defense is allowed. When quick action is needed, it may be hard to tell whether another shot is a legal act of self-defense or a crime.

Continue reading " Wellington Man Acquitted of Murder But Sentenced for Firearms Charge " »

A recent article from southwest Florida caught the attention of our West Palm Beach firearms criminal defense attorneys. The Naples News reported Feb. 1 that Jason Lee Busbin, 39, has been charged with theft, firearms possession and running an illegal chop shop. Busbin, of North Fort Myers, is a former Fort Myers police officer who resigned from the force for medical reasons in 2002. He currently works in construction. However, the Florida Highway Patrol alleges that he buys and sells stolen property. It charged him with possession of a short-barreled rifle, two counts of firearm theft, two counts of grand theft auto and running an illegal “chop shop,” an operation that strips and refits stolen cars.

The article says the FHP executed a warrant to search Busbin’s property Jan. 29, although it doesn’t say what they were looking for. In Busbin’s bedroom, law enforcement officers found three firearms in a safe. One, a Spike Tactical rifle, is considered illegal in Florida because its barrel is too short to meet state law standards. The other two guns had been reported stolen -- one from California and one locally. Busbin did not have documentation to show where the guns had been bought. Troopers also found two trucks they believe were stolen. One was stripped to its chassis and had been reported stolen. The other truck had an incorrect vehicle identification number, but police traced the correct number and discovered that it too had been reported stolen.

As an NRA referral law firm and Fort Lauderdale gun crimes defense lawyers, we have philosophical problems with the ban on short-barreled rifles, although of course we acknowledge that it’s state law. Thanks to our experience in the firearms world, we know the law is so unclear that just adding accessories like a shoulder stock is enough to bring a gun out of compliance. As for the stolen weapons, it’s entirely possible that Busbin purchased them believing they were legal, from a private individual or gun show dealer who failed to do the necessary paperwork and investigation. Busbin may have broken the law, but from the facts in the article, he may very well have done it inadvertently and without any bad intent.

Continue reading " FHP Accuses Former Fort Myers Police Officer of Dealing in Stolen Guns " »

Our Fort Lauderdale firearms criminal defense attorneys wrote recently about the legal trouble faced by Washington Wizards player Gilbert Arenas. Arenas was charged with carrying a pistol without a license by the city of Washington, D.C., after a intra-team dispute showed that he had several guns in his locker. Teammate Javaris Crittonton also brandished a weapon as part of that dispute. No shots were fired, but both players were criminally charged under the city’s strict gun control laws. On Jan. 28, the Washington Post reported that the NBA’s commissioner, David Stern, suspended Crittenton and Arenas without pay for 38 games -- the rest of the season.

Arenas, a guard for the Wizards, was already suspended indefinitely after he made light of the December incident. In that incident, reportedly a dispute over debts from a card game, Arenas laid out several guns and asked Crittenton, also a guard, to choose one. He said it was intended as a joke, but Crittenton saw it as a threat and responded by showing his own firearm. Both players violated D.C. law and NBA policy by having the guns. Washington D.C., which has some of the nation’s strictest gun control laws, requires a license to carry a pistol. The New York Daily News reported that Crittenton was sentenced to a year of probation and community service after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge. Arenas faces sentencing on a felony gun charge in March. Prosecutors have recommended six months in jail, but the maximum sentence is five years in prison.

The action is the harshest ever taken by the NBA against players who violated firearms policy, and among the top five harshest non-drug-related NBA penalties. The players will lose more than five times as many games as the player with the next-longest suspension for a firearms violation, Stephen Jackson, who fired five shots outside a nightclub in 2006. Stern told the media that he hoped it sent a message to other NBA players. Arenas will lose close to $7.4 million in pay because of his suspension; Crittenton will lose $510,530.

As Miami-Dade gun crime criminal defense attorneys, we can’t help thinking this reaction is awfully punitive for an incident in which no one was hurt. As we wrote in January, Arenas lives in Virginia, where he is legally allowed to carry his guns without a permit. The main difference between that legal conduct and the conduct that led to his criminal charges is that he traveled a few miles to work. It isn’t clear whether Crittenton lives in Virginia, but it’s not unlikely that he’s a victim of the same legal problem. By restricting Americans’ ability to carry their weapons in their daily lives, the city comes perilously close to infringing on their constitutional right to bear arms. Brandishing a weapon is not the responsible gun ownership we prefer, but under the circumstances, a misdemeanor brandishing charge may have been more appropriate.

Continue reading " NBA Suspends Two Washington Wizards Players for Firearms Violations " »