Analysis: New York City Throws the Book at Gun Hobbyist [Member Exclusive]

The punishment for one hobbyist gun builder has been harsher than that of many violent criminals in New York Metropolis.

Dexter Taylor, the 53-year-old Brooklyn resident and software program engineer who constructed his personal firearms, acquired a 10-year jail sentence from Brooklyn Supreme Court docket Justice Abena Darkeh on Monday. Taylor was convicted of two counts of second-degree felony possession of a weapon, three counts of third-degree felony possession of a weapon, 5 counts of felony possession of a firearm, illegal possession of pistol ammunition, and “prohibition on unfinished frames or receivers.”

These convictions—nearly all of which New York regulation deems violent felonies regardless of the absence of precise violence—stemmed from Taylor’s infatuation with novice gunsmithing.

“Ever since I used to be a child, I used to be actually, like most red-blooded American youngsters, I used to be curious about weapons and tanks and fighter planes as a result of it was cool,” he advised RedState in an interview final 12 months. “I discovered you can truly legally purchase a receiver and you’ll machine that receiver to completion, and you purchase your elements and you place them collectively and also you’ve acquired a pistol or a rifle. And as soon as I noticed that I used to be hooked. I used to be like, ‘That is the best factor ever. That is probably the most cool factor you may presumably do in your machine store.’”

He experimented with the pastime for a few years earlier than a SWAT crew raided his Brooklyn condo in 2022 and recovered 4 AR-15s, 5 handguns, 4 rifles, 50 rounds of ammunition, a 3D printer, and numerous firearm parts and equipment. He had a clear felony historical past and was not accused of utilizing the firearms he assembled to hurt anybody. Nor was he accused of making an attempt to promote or site visitors his home made weapons. Regardless of that, he was vigorously prosecuted and is more likely to spend the following decade in jail–excess of these convicted of extra severe crimes in the identical jurisdiction usually see.

Brooklyn District Lawyer Eric Gonzalez (D.), whose workplace filed the fees in opposition to Taylor, is a self-described “progressive prosecutor” who has prioritized resolving instances with out jail time to fight “mass incarceration” and “overcriminalization.” Regardless of that background and the info of the case, his workplace celebrated the prolonged jail sentence for Taylor’s gun constructing.

“At this time’s sentence ought to ship a message to anybody who, like this defendant, would attempt to evade critically vital background checks and registration necessities to fabricate and stockpile these harmful weapons,” Gonzalez stated. “Each ghost gun we take off the road is a win for public security.”

A Reload evaluate of his workplace’s current convictions exhibits a number of violent criminals getting shorter sentences. That features an 8-year sentence for an ex-cop who molested a toddler, a three-to-nine-year sentence for a person convicted of second-degree manslaughter, and a nine-year sentence for a person convicted of tried homicide after capturing two youngsters in a crowded mall. The Reload additionally discovered a seven-year sentence for a person who repeatedly sexually assaulted a younger lady, and a nine-and-a-half-year sentence for a person who shot an occupied police automotive, simply to call a number of.

The custom of privately manufacturing firearms dates again earlier than this nation’s founding and stays authorized each federally and within the overwhelming majority of states. In Taylor’s case, the distinction between that have and a 10-year jail sentence got here all the way down to a easy matter of political geography. Taylor believes that distinction is flawed and unconstitutional, which is why he’s determined to proceed combating his costs in court docket.

“At this time we enter the following section within the combat to guard our God-given rights from a authorities that needs to take them from us and grant us mere privileges in return,” he stated, based on a transcript of the listening to. “To cite one other patriot from one other place and time, ‘This isn’t the top. This isn’t even the start of the top. That is maybe, the top of the start.’ And so, as we enter this new section, there needs to be no query within the thoughts of any patriotic American as to why we combat. In any case, solely slaves lack the precise to armed self-defense and we are not any slaves, however free residents of an ideal republic…”

It stays to be seen what, if something, will consequence from Taylor’s appeals course of and the way broader authorized developments associated to the constitutionality of assorted gun restrictions could affect the sentence he acquired. Nevertheless, it would possible take a few years to seek out out for positive.

Within the meantime, what’s now a certainty is that he’ll spend no less than a part of a decade-long sentence in Rikers for one thing lawful residents are free to do with out incident in neighboring states. As New York Metropolis now has demonstrated a sample of charging in any other case law-abiding gun house owners with violent felonies for what are basically paperwork violations, anticipate nationwide consideration on the case to proceed to construct.