DOJ could learn something from Ronald C. Dozier

On Tuesday (Illinois) McLean County State’s Attorney Ronald C. Dozier announced he would not prosecute many victimless crimes associated with firearms. The U.S. Department of Justice could learn something from Dozier instead of pursuing prosecutions such as this one:

Tracey Eberhart, 41, Augusta, Kan., and her husband, Jeffrey Eberhart, 50, Augusta, were charged in a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Wichita. Jeffrey Eberhart was charged with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction and one count of dealing in firearms without a license. Tracey Eberhart was charged with one count of aiding a felon in possessing firearms and ammunition and one count of providing firearms and ammunition to a convicted felon.

According to an agent’s affidavit, Tracey Eberhart obtained a federal license as a dealer of firearms when she opened Traceys Dream Weavers Salon And Sporting Goods at 431 State Street in Augusta, Kan. She told an investigator her intention was to cater the firearms business to women. During the application process, she made no mention of her husband, Jeffrey Eberhart. Because of prior felony convictions, he was prohibited by federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition.

On Jan. 20, 2012, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives attended a gun show in Topeka, Kan., where they saw Jeffrey Eberhart selling firearms at the Dream Weavers booth. He was wearing a Dream Weavers T-shirt and was heard talking to buyers about guns and laser scopes. Eberhart explained to an undercover agent that his wife and female employees sold guns during the week while he and another man sold firearms at gun shows on weekends. Later, ATF agents purchased ammunition and guns from Jeffrey Eberhart, both at the storefront in Augusta and at gun shows.

Jeffrey Eberhart was pictured with his wife at gun show in a photo on their web site, www.beautyandbullets.com.

If I could go back in time and make a suggestion or two to the founding fathers one of the suggestions I would make is that it should be unconstitional to criminalize victimless behavior.

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5 thoughts on “DOJ could learn something from Ronald C. Dozier

  1. “it should be unconstitional to criminalize victimless behavior.” +2
    Don’t know that it would ever pass, but “Congress shall pass no laws criminalizing victimless behavior.” would go a long way to fixing a lot of ills.

  2. The authors of the Constitution tried to enumerate powers and limit the reach of government, but that hasn’t worked since about 1933.

    All the victimless crime amendment would do is produce a Supreme Court precedent under a liberal court, stating that the victim of pot smoking, or paying for sex, or gay love, or whatever, is the person performing the act. Amendment nullified. Criminal penalties still apply.

    How about we try to return to enumerated powers only at the federal level, and enumerated and unenumerated rights not being infringed at any level?

  3. As Mikee implied, the definitions of “victim” and “victimless” would be where the bodies are buried. You think it took contortions to expand the idea of equal protection to include same-sex marriage after 220 years? You haven’t seen acrobatics until you see how job losers from green energy job creation are not victims, and how disagreement with the concept of catastrophic anthropogenic global warming creates millions if not billions of victims. The question in the 70’s was whether trees have standing to sue, the question after such an amendment was passed would be how speech dissenting against big government creates victims.

  4. This guy actually got strung up because he made a lot of enemies within the local firearms community, and another dealer supposedly blew the whistle on him- questions about their finances being above-board, undercutting competitors, iffy paperwork, etc.

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