Enforcing Existing Laws Work!  ‘Career Criminal’ Gets 15 Years for Unlawful Possession

in 2nd Amendment – R2KBA, Current Events, This Week, Uncategorized
Enforcing Existing Laws Work!  ‘Career Criminal’ Gets 15 Years for Unlawful Possession
(Photo: USCCA)

A Georgia man will spend the next 15 years behind bars for unlawful possession of firearms.

State and federal investigators arrested 43-year-old Frankie Shearry, Jr., who’s been described by law enforcement as a “career criminal,” after a narcotics probe at the suspect’s barbershop in Valdosta.

When agents arrived on the scene, they found several semiautomatic pistols that Shearry admitted belonged to him.  

“It is unwise for a convicted felon to unlawfully own a gun, with armed career criminals facing even lengthier federal sentences for possessing firearms,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. 

“Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are helping us hold repeat and violent offenders accountable for their continued criminal activities,” continued Leary.

Along with his felony conviction, Shearry has four priors for various drug distribution charges.

Officers say Shearry acknowledge his status as a prohibited person but nonetheless obtained the firearms anyways. 

SEE ALSO: ATF Cracking Down on Homemade Suppressors, Asking for Self-Incriminating Photos

“This sentence makes it very clear that criminals who repeatedly break the law and continue to possess illegal firearms, will be held accountable with lengthy prison terms,” said Philip Wislar, Acting Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. 

Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk added, “This is another great example of the agencies working together to take another armed career criminal off the streets.”

It’s worth noting that it didn’t require any additional gun-control laws to put this convicted drug dealer behind bars.  We didn’t need to ban homemade guns or outlaw certain gun parts or criminalize private transfers to nab this guy.  Existing federal law was enough!

Combine the laws already on the books with a helpful tip from the public, coordinate police work across several agencies and a determined prosecutor who does not believe in handling repeat offenders with kid gloves (“there is no parole in the federal system” as Leary’s office made clear to mention in the press release) and we have a recipe for success when it comes to reducing crime and violence.  

Too bad we don’t see more of this around the country.  In fact, a recent article in the LA Times lamented the lack of engagement on this front in certain states, “California has the toughest gun laws in the U.S. That’s irrelevant if they’re not enforced.

About the author: S.H. Blannelberry is the News Editor of GunsAmerica.

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  • Nunya Business March 14, 2022, 2:36 pm

    It DOES NOT MATTER what ANY of these BRAIN DEAD HUMAN GIVEN government JOB TITLED WORSHIPING ANUS SUCKING KOOL-AID LAPPING HUMAN CONTROLLED OWNED SHEEPLE SLAVE COWARDS or THEIR SATANIC NAZI WANNABE POWER HAPPY CONTROL FREAK HUMAN GIVEN government JOB TITLED TERRORIST TYRANT CRIMINAL MASTERS SAY OR DO, PERIOD. WE THE PEOPLE ARE “NOT OWNED” by “ANY HUMAN”, PERIOD. OUR GOD GIVEN NATURAL BORN FREEDOM and RIGHTS are NOT UP FOR NOR WILL EVER BE UP FOR DEBATE, PERIOD. If you CHOOSE to BEND OVER FOR YOUR MASTERS/OPPRESSORS, THAT IS YOUR CHOICE and ONLY YOUR CHOICE. ACT LIKE HUMAN CONTROLLED OWNED SHEEPLE SLAVE COWARDS, “YOU” WILL BE TREATED LIKE HUMAN CONTROLLED OWNED SHEEPLE SLAVE COWARDS.

  • Nunya Business March 14, 2022, 2:35 pm

    “A constitution defines and limits the powers of the government it creates. It therefore follows, as a natural and also a logical result, that the governmental exercise of any power not authorized by the constitution is an assumed power, and therefore illegal.” -Thomas Paine

  • Nunya Business March 14, 2022, 2:35 pm

    “A law repugnant to the Constitution is void. An act of Congress repugnant to the Constitution cannot become a law. The Constitution supersedes all other laws and the individual’s rights shall be liberally enforced in favor of him, the clearly intended and expressly designated beneficiary.”
    –Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803)
    ETA- these apply to pretty much every one of the 23,000 unconstitutional gun laws on the books in this country.

  • Nunya Business March 14, 2022, 2:34 pm

    “If the State converts a right (liberty) into a privilege, the citizen can ignore the license and fee and engage in the right (liberty) with impunity.”
    –Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham, Alabama, 373 U.S. 262 (1969)

  • Kane March 11, 2022, 10:25 am

    “However , it is not excessively hard to avoid a felony conviction .
    One merely has to obey the law regarding felonious crime .
    DO NOT DO IT !
    Simple .”

    Have you ever had firearm in your car that you have driven into a USPS parking lot? Maybe you misstated your weight on a 4473. Maybe tomorrow a swipe of the pen will outlaw something that you own. I have heard stories that have given me pause on “orders of protection” and other circumstances.

    Maybe you are Mr. Uprightstandingcitizen at this point but sometimes “simple” gets complicated.

  • TexDad March 11, 2022, 8:18 am

    Unlawful possession: no such thing.

  • Stan Nelson March 11, 2022, 7:08 am

    Jailed for political crimes…..not dangerous use…..unconstitutional.

    • D.J. March 11, 2022, 8:04 am

      The law is clear ……… convicted felons MAY NOT possess firearms .
      Those are the facts , sir , clearly stated and written .
      There is nothing “ political “ about it .

      Your point about our Constitution may have merit, in an absolutist
      manner . However , it is not excessively hard to avoid a felony conviction .
      One merely has to obey the law regarding felonious crime .
      DO NOT DO IT !
      Simple .

    • Mark K March 11, 2022, 8:26 am

      If you want to keep your constitutional rights to vote, bear arms, etc., then don’t get convicted of a felony (or four). Until their rights are “restored”, convicted felons don’t have those constitutional rights; that’s part of the price you pay for committing the crime.

      This case hits the headlines and creates an unfair furor because this guy is just quietly cutting hair while he sells his drugs. But, if the US Attorney in Atlanta is serious about this, he needs somebody sitting in the courthouse in Atlanta all day every day. Every time somebody with a prior record is convicted of a crime using or possessing a firearm at the time, this should happen. They should immediately be federally charged; the conviction should be pro-forma, since the State jury already found them guilty of all the elements of the federal crime. They could fill the Federal prison system in a few weeks and we’d be down dozens if not hundreds of recidivist criminals off our streets. Enforce these laws, now, and consistently! Stop grabbing headlines and do your jobs!

    • John a Boutwell March 13, 2022, 4:54 pm

      Career criminals, without firearms I think, is a good thing.

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