Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
A Michigan resident arrested in Washington, D.C. last week on charges of illegal possession of a handgun, extended ammunition magazine, and unregistered ammunition has caught a break from D.C. prosecutors, who say they’ve decided “for now” to not pursue charges in the case.
The Detroit News was first to report on the arrest of 25-year old Leslie Grimes last Wednesday about a mile and a half from the Capitol building,
Grimes was identified by the police as Logan Grimes when arrested. Grimes is a transgender woman who uses feminine pronouns, according to her father.
After spending a full day in a Washington, D.C., jail, Grimes headed back to Grand Rapids Friday, her father said. The 54-year-old Cadillac man said his whole family is opposed to the sitting president, and it’s been “horrible” to see his daughter’s name associated with violent acts committed in President Donald Trump’s name…
But that gun and ammunition didn’t belong to Leslie, her father said — in fact, she didn’t know it was there until the police discovered it.
If convicted, Grimes’ charges could have put her behind bars for up to nine years or cost her more than $27,000 in fines.
According to Grimes’ father, the 25-year old headed off to Washington, D.C. from Michigan in a car full of other anti-Trump activists and didn’t know that there was a gun and ammunition in the vehicle.
A Trump supporter near the site of the original protest kicked Leslie in the chest, knocking the wind out of her, Grimes said. Her friends picked her up and they fled in the vehicle, which was pulled over, he said. When police discovered the weapon, Leslie took responsibility for it, the father said
The friends “got away scot-free,” Robert Grimes said. “I raised my daughter to show accountability and be truthful.”
If Grimes lied about owning the gun, and now it’s likely that no one will be held accountable for the violation of D.C.’s gun laws, I’m not sure how much of Mr. Grimes’ lessons actually stuck with his offspring.
Personally, I think D.C.’s gun laws are atrocious, including its ban on magazines that can accept more than ten rounds of ammunition, its lack of reciprocity for concealed weapons licenses, and the bizarre requirement that gun owners in D.C. can only possess ammunition in calibers of guns that are registered to them. In theory, I have no problem whatsoever with prosecutors deciding not to charge Grimes with violating the District’s gun laws.
In practice, however, this looks like a glaring double standard on the part of law enforcement in Washington, D.C., especially given the fact that prosecutors also dropped riot charges filed against dozens of violent protesters in D.C. back in June, after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked widespread riots in our nation’s capital and other cities across the country.
The message sent by D.C. prosecutors seems to be that if you’re breaking the law for what they believe are the right reasons, there’ll be little to no consequences for your actions. That seems like a really good way to ensure more riots and unrest in D.C. in the future, at least on the Left.
It also buttresses the arguments of sheriffs and law enforcement in Second Amendment Sanctuaries who’ve said that they have no plans on enforcing unconstitutional federal gun control laws in their jurisdiction. If prosecutors have the discretion not to charge Grimes with illegal gun possession in Washington, D.C., after all, then police and prosecutors in those 2A sanctuaries clearly have the same discretion to not enforce new gun control measures (or even existing gun control laws) if they choose.
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Cam Edwards has covered the 2nd Amendment for more than 15 years as a broadcast and online journalist, as well as the co-author of "Heavy Lifting: Grow Up, Get a Job, Start a Family, and Other Manly Advice" with Jim Geraghty. He lives outside of Farmville, Virginia with his family.
https://bearingarms.com/cam-e/2021/01/13/charges-on-hold-protester-gun/