Supreme Court to Decide on BB Guns

As if it was not already stupid enough to sentence David Lee Haywood to prison for the carry of a BB gun in 2005, now the Supreme Court of Minnesota is hearing the appeal of the 2005 case, which sentenced David to prison for 5 years, because the Court of Appeals upheld the conviction in September of 2015. Why would there even need to be an appeal. BB guns are not a firearm! But the case is getting national attention because Minnesota seems thinks a BB gun is a firearm.

From Foxnews:

The Minnesota Supreme Court has agreed to review the case of a convicted felon sentenced to five years in prison for possessing a BB gun. David Lee Haywood was charged in Ramsey County in 2013 with possession of a firearm by an ineligible person. He was convicted after the judge told the jury a BB gun counts as a firearm.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld his conviction in September, saying appellate courts have consistently included BB guns in the definition of firearms. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports the Minnesota Supreme Court will now consider the issue.

Court papers say Haywood, 37, was caught with a BB gun that looks like a Walther P99 pistol. Haywood was deemed ineligible to possess a firearm because of a 2005 drug conviction.

Haywood argued in his appeal that a BB gun shouldn’t be considered a firearm under the ineligible-person law because the statute does not define the term. He cited dictionary entries that define a firearm as a weapon that uses gunpowder or an explosive charge to fire a shot. In a Sept. 28 opinion, the court stated, "Minnesota's appellate courts have consistently interpreted the term 'firearm' as used within certain sections of chapter 609 (the Criminal Code) to include BB guns."

David Lee Haywood