Several of you have asked how it can be that the man who sold the gun that Sahel "Jenni" Kazemi used to kill quarterback Steve McNair and then herself could be facing federal charges in light of reports from last week that the transaction was legal.
The difference is that the man who sold the gun, 33-year-old Adrian Gilliam, is a convicted felon. As a result, his mere ownership of a gun constitutes a separate violation of the law.
Gilliam claimed that he bought the gun roughly a year ago after his house was burglarized. (The non-360 Xbox bandits presumably had an alibi.) He paid $100 for it.
And then he sold it for $100 to Kazemi.
And now he faces new felony charges that could result in a prison term of up to 10 years, and a fine of up to $250,000.
Gilliam was convicted in 1993 on three counts of armed robbery, and second-degree murder.
Authorities say that Kazemi bought the gun in the parking lot of the restaurant where she worked. She also tried to sell Gilliam her car, a Kia. She spent so much time in the parking lot with Gilliam that she was instructed to clock out for the evening.
Charges in McNair case arise from seller's status as a felon
Posted by Mike Florio on July 17, 2009 3:00 PM ET
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A convicted felon owning a gun? How could this happen? Isn't there a law against that? Any how come that law didn't prevent McNair from being killed? Florio give us your anti-gun perspective so we can understand how to prevent this in the future... perhaps more laws that felons and criminals dont follow? Isn't that the answer?
The plot thickens!
So "did the restaurant where she worked"::cough:: Dave and Busters::cough:: send us a stern note of the legal variety?
Stupid is as stupid does. Have a nice life.
Wow. How did she know this murderer? Craigslist or something....?
so let me get this straight....If you are a felon its illegal to own a gun. I think every one can understand that, kind of makes sense.
But its also illegal to sell a gun if you're a felon??! WTF exactly are you supposed to do with it? Throw it in the damn bushes? Give it to street thugs? Walk up to an officer with it in your hand, and ask a police officer if he has change?
I'm basing my sarcasm and "indignance" based on the assumption he owned the gun prior to being a felon. If he acquired the weapon after his felony, I retract all of it.
McNair was involved with a crazy Iranian
and a Kia driver.
How many warning signs did he he ignore!!
Grulks......Ex-cons know damn well what the law is, with regards to owning a firearm, hell...He's a career criminal so it seems, i think you're sarcasm and "indignance" are disguised as stupidity.......
Oh whoops, just read read the dates.
Still, it does beg the question, if a gun owner is convicted of a felony, exactly what is that person supposed to do with their guns?
I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that if you're convicted of a felony you are ordered to surrender any weapons to the authorities.
I am going to take another crazy guess and say that most felons wouldn't do that since they tend not to follow laws. There is no way of knowing what they have because they don't buy their guns legally. They buy stolen guns in parking lots, they trade drugs for them, or they steal them.
Grulks, to read the article again, carefully. He was convicted in 1993. He bought the gun after his house was broken into last year.
And even if a convict under these circumstances had owned the weapon before going to jail for 10 years... He would have been required to give that up upon his conviction... not wait until 16 years later to sell it.
"Gilliam was convicted in 1993 on three counts of armed robbery, and second-degree murder."
An yet he's free to sell guns to lunatics on the Streets of Tennessee in 2209. Thank you American Legal Profession!
"And now he faces new felony charges that could result in a prison term of up to 10 years, and a fine of up to $250,000."
Ok. We have a convicted murderer and armed felon illegally selling guns and he will be out on the streets in 5 to 7 years. Here's a novel thought - lock him up and throw away the key. When this guy is out on the street, people die - whether by his hand or by the guns he illegally sells. Nothing here to rehabilitate.
Our judicial system is ridiculous. You can have a guy incarcerated for 10 years for not even being at the scene or pulling the trigger. But yet we can have a person driving under the influence and plowing into a pedestrian and they get 30 days!!?? Something is not right people!
I am going to play Devil's advocate here and write one in defense of this guy.
He was convicted 16 or 17 years ago when he was a young man. By all accounts, he had been clean for more than 7 years after he was released. His home was broken into and he and his common law wife were probably fearful so he aquired a gun for self defense as many would do in that circumstance. Thinking better of it, he decides to get rid of the gun. He should have tossed it into the river but probably needed the $100 it could bring. Who can possibly guess some young girl is planning a murder/suicide with it in days?
When contacted by police he cooperates and picks out her picture. Should this guy do 10 years? It accomplishes nothing except ruin the life he had built after prison. What we need in this country are Sunset Laws for felons that turn their lives around. Some states have them for first offenders.
Barring them from a Constitutional right for life is not the answer. If they have no arrests and or convictions, for some time period then let them rejoin society as full citizens. Everyone deserves a second chance. Not doing so forces people to do things they really do not want to do, just to make it.
Greg from Louisiana says: "Everyone deserves a second chance."
Did you miss the part where he killed someone? The fact that he was allowed out of jail at all, was his second chance. From that point, it was all on him to keep himself clean. If he had been busted for shop lifting an Xbox, I would go along with you 100%. But he had THREE counts of armed robbery (where it was just dumb luck that no one got hurt) AND second degree murder! He found Jesus in jail. Good for him. They all do. Hopefully, no one you love will ever be murdered, but if it does happen, remember where you stood on the issue when the guy/woman that committed the murder is before the parole board. I'm real comfortable with any individual that willfully takes another's life (outside of self defense, of course) forfeiting their rights. The person they killed had their rights, and everything else, taken away.
I agree with Greg from La. I believe at some point we forget the jail/prisons is designed to rehabilitate people. THIS society wants the worst for EVERYONE. And it is called Justice!
It's what I see alot of in this day of age.
I have followed this site since 2002 and it is becoming more and more negative. More and More hateful!
But what the h*ll, right....as long as it's not anti-semetic!