Staples v. United States
United States Supreme Court
511 U.S. 600 (1994)
- Written by Craig Conway, LLM
Facts
Harold Staples (defendant) possessed a semiautomatic rifle that was manufactured with a metal piece preventing modification for automatic firing. However, the metal piece had been filed down and the rifle modified. As a result, the rifle met the statutory definition of a firearm under the National Firearms Act, and registration was required. Because the rifle was not registered, the United States charged Staples with unregistered possession of a firearm, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Staples requested a jury instruction stating that liability was appropriate only if the government proved that Staples was aware that the gun could fire automatically, which he claimed he was not. The trial judge instead instructed the jury that Staples need only know that he was dealing with a type of dangerous device that should alert a person to a likelihood of regulation. Staples was convicted, and the court of appeals affirmed. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Thomas, J.)
Concurrence (Ginsburg, J.)
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