Dimitri Karras is a man driven. The first time I spoke with him, I couldn’t help but feel his passion for the Second Amendment to the Constitution. Over time, this focused on the private finishing of so-called 80% lower AR-style receivers into firearms. In that first conversation he told me the story of the Battle of Athens and that’s some pretty heavy stuff. Karras is a very intelligent and creative man. He’s also a man who isn’t satisfied with the status quo. This makes him very vocal about his beliefs so this latest news wasn’t so much a surprise, as an update.
Over the past few years this former Marine and businessman has had a couple of scrapes with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Forearms and Explosives. The other day he sent me this letter about his most recent efforts that he feels will force the ATF to acknowledge that their position on 80% receivers is incorrect.
Yes, he was wearing a cape when he did this. I’d say that Karras sees himself as a crusader for 2A rights and he’s not afraid to use protest or the courts as a means to attain his goals.
TO: Whom It May Concern
FROM: Dimitrios Karras
SUBJ: Proof that 99% Lowers Are Legal. Part 1
DATE: February 9, 2015
Far too long have we permitted our government overlords to run amuck. They have systematically created a monster that tramples the humanity of the American People. The ATF believes that they have the power to create law. They are wrong. Their self-authorized law-making is unconstitutional, morally reprehensible and in direct conflict with the ideology of a free people.
When making decisions, a good man does not ponder what personal harm may come upon himself. He ponders only what action is just and right. I have acted upon my beliefs.
I have challenged the ATF to unjustly arrest me based on their unenforceable “opinion” of the law. I have not broken the law. I have put their “opinion” to the test.
I am no longer employed by Ares Armor, I have left the business in good hands. What I did, I did as an individual and not as an entity.
To slay a dragon, you must track him. Study his behavior. Learn his weaknesses. The battle takes place on your terms, but in his lair. I have prepared my armor, sharpened my spear; I traveled into the belly of his mountain to catch him asleep.
I have acted upon my conscience as a free man. They have no power over me. They can lock me up for a hundred years and I will still have won. To challenge the unjustness of tyranny is a victory unto itself. “A lifetime serving one machine is ten times worse than prison.” -The Clash
Remember John Brown, a true American Hero. He gave his life in an attempt to free others. He was executed under the laws of the United States.
Remember the Battle of Athens.
Remember Waco, Remember Ruby Ridge. Remember it all.
It is our responsibility as free men to undergo the rigors associated with the defense of liberty. It is our responsibility to pass on to our children free choice, free will. It is our responsibility.
Do more than just mourn your dead, America. Honor them. Protect their legacy. Too many have bled their last drop for us to allow their sacrifice to be for nothing. Too many have paid for the freedoms that we now give away in exchange for comfort.
Too many…
Today, I walked into an ATF office in Indiana with a 99% Lower Receiver™, an Air-gun Upper Receiver and a gigantic neon sign offering said items for sale. After a rather lengthy amount of harassment, which included a full pat down, a short “ball massage” and an inspection of the 99% lower™, the Agents refused to charge me with any Federal Crimes.
The Agent stated that I was not breaking any Federal Laws by offering these items for sale. The local police were called and gave me a warning that I may not solicit any items for sale in Indiana without a local business license.
For those of you who are interested… Here is the a quote from the case I cited when discussing with the Agents the legality of the items I had offered for sale.
“PIETRO BERETTA U.S. 9mm M9 Chrome Pistol Lighter, Top Popular Men’s Gift was once a real Beretta (it wasn’t), but all its innards have been removed and if you pull the trigger all that happens is that the muzzle emits a tiny flame. Would a felon who possessed such a lighter be a felon in possession of a firearm? Maybe he would be if what the statute asked is whether the alleged weapon “was designed ? to expel,” but it doesn’t; it says “is designed.” That implies the possibility of redesign. In our example the gun lighter was originally designed to be a gun but later it was redesigned to be a cigarette lighter. We doubt that the statutory definition would fit that case, see United States v. Rivera, supra, 415 F.3d at 287; United States v. Reed, 114 F.3d 1053, 1058–59 (10th Cir.1997) (dissenting opinion); United States v. Wada, 323 F.Supp.2d 1079 (D.Or.2004), although a complication is that the statutory definition of “firearm” includes—remember—“the frame or receiver of any such weapon.” The frame or receiver (these are synonyms) is the housing of the gun, which contains the magazine and the trigger assembly—the operating parts. The gun lighter might be the frame of a real gun, although we’re inclined to think that it would not be the frame of a “weapon” that was “designed” to shoot and so would fall outside the statutory definition of a frame as a firearm.” (Emphasis added)
–http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-7th-circuit/1627269.html
The first step to prove that 99% Receivers™ are not “firearms” under the Law has been completed with flying colors!
More to come…
Sincerely,
Dimitrios Karras, A free man.
“But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.”-Aldous Huxley
