Guns, Bar, Assault Rifle!!!

It's a MSM journalist's dream come true.

Let's see what happened:

• Shortly before 3 a.m., officers saw a case they thought might contain a firearm in the back of the truck. - To the best of my knowledge, from researching here, there's nothing illegal about having a firearm in a case in your vehicle.
• Officers talked to the men and then found an AK-47 assault rifle inside the case. - Wait, exactly what happened there? Why were the police allowed to search their personal property?
• Two Kansas City, Mo., men, ages 20 and 22, and a 22-year-old Kansas City, Kan., man were issued notices to appear in court. - Was there even a crime committed (other than the confiscation of the guns by the officers)?
• Police have confiscated several weapons found in vehicles in the same area over the past few months. - No mention is made of any law being broken, only property seized. Apparently that doesn't bother anyone in the press.

Now we have the dubious use of terms like "AK-47" and "assault rifle" to deal with. An assault rifle is defined as "a type of automatic rifle generally defined as a selective fire rifle or carbine, chambering intermediate-powered ammunition." So these guys were carrying a machine gun, and they weren't arrested? They were just asked to appear in court? Again, the term AK-47 refers to a specific model of assault rifle, which again is a machine gun and has been heavily regulated since 1934.

Which is more likely: The men were found in possession of an unregistered machine gun and were simply asked to appear in court, OR the journalist got all excited about getting to write a story about mean ol' assault rifles and throw around words like AK-47 willy-nilly with total disregard for factual integrity?

Update: Here is another account of the story. It adds: that "three Kansas City area men received notices to appear in court for having firearms near a drinking establishment."

Update II: Here is the Lawrence, KS statute that basically says:

(B) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess a firearm within a drinking establishment or on publicly accessible property in close proximity to the premises of any drinking establishment.
(C) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess a dangerous knife within a drinking establishment.

Of course, the devil is in the details. "Close proximity" is 200 feet. Folding pocket knives under 4" are exempt. Firearms in a case are exempt. Firearms unloaded without a magazine or other speed loading device are exempt.

So, unless the "AK-47" (or either of the pistols) was loaded in the case, the guys shouldn't be in any trouble.

File under: Media bias/ignorance, Gun Laws