W.H. Davenport "Wide Awake" Shotguns
I have a client who is being charged federally with possession of an unregistered firearm (sawed off shotgun). The weapon (W.H. Davenport "Wide Awake", may qualify as an antique since it has a patent stamp of 1896. However, it is important to show the type of ammunition that was designed for it. ATF claims they fired a Federal 16 gauge shell in it. However, I understand that type of ammunition was not available in 1896 and might be dangerous to use in this shotgun. If you have any information that can help or can point me in the right direction it will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help.
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Problem with dating that shotgun will be that you can only show it was made AFTER the patent date. There are companies that make and sell black powder shotgun shells today- but you could argue they do not meet the "readily available in commerce" clause.
The "Wide Awake" desgnation has me stumped- that WAS used by Hood Firearms for their revolvers. Davenport DID use the term "White Powder Wonder"- along with a few other companies- to designate a gun made for early smokeless powder.
If you can post ALL markings on that shotgun (realize you may not have possession of the gun) someone MAY be able to narrow down the date- if you can show THAT gun was made prior to 1 Jan 1899, under Federal law it is not a firearm.
Davenport did business in Providence RI from 1879-1883, and reorganized and resumed business in Nowich CT 1890-1900.
You may want to have someone search patents Davenport held- later patents would have gone on the gun, so if there is, say, an 1899 patent, but it is not on YOUR shotgun, it would have been made earlier than 1899.0 -
Can't address the ammo problem, but a patent date is generally considered as the point in time when a firearm began production. If a firearm has several patent dates, and the latest date stamped is prior to 1899, that also only tells us the date when the patent was registered at the US Patent Office..not the actual manufacture date.
If you wish to pursue the "antique" angle, you must secure documentation that the firearm was manufactured prior to 1899. And that would take a serial number search, or other identifying feature that will document the item presented in court existed prior to 1899. Hope I helped. Joe
EDIT Added Info:
Under disclosure, will you be able to secure digital photos taken by yourself of the item in question? In this particular forum, a clear, in focus picture of all markings on the item will be of immense help. Best, Joe0 -
I am not familiar with this firearm and I am guessing that this must be some sort of old "trap" or "Alarm" guns which were widely used at the turn of the last century. Here are the problems: Just a quick look at one reference guide: Cartridges Of the World" mentions 16ga shotgun shells in use in the 1880s. This book is widely accepted throughout the industry as a reliable guide to modern and out of production ammunition so the BATFE is surely going to be looking at this book. Even if the 16ga shell is not considered safe it won't matter if in fact the gun can chamber and fire such a shell. The patent date means next to nothing because a firearm might have an 1895 patent date and still have been in production at the start of WWI. You need a production date and getting that from a maker like Davenport won't be easy without some extensive research...If the information is in fact even available. I think that you ahve an up hill battle on your hands with this one. 0 -
You have one thing incorrect... it is NOT important to show that 16 gauge shells were not available prior to January 1st 1899. The provision in the BATFE regulations concerning firearms chambered for currently available ammunition only applies to replicas, not factory original firearms.
This is just my opinion, but the way I see it, the prosecutor in this case is the person who needs to be able to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the item in question is a "modern" manufactured gun.
I have written about this in the past, but will need to do a search to provide you with the correct link.0 -
OK, I found one of my past posts that define "what" an "antique" firearm is.
Per U.S. Code Title 18, Part I, Chapter 44, Section ?921, paragraph (16), an "Antique" firearm is defined as follows;
(16) The term "antique firearm" means-
(A) any firearm (including any firearm with a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system) manufactured in or before 1898; or
(B) any replica of any firearm described in subparagraph (A) if such replica-
(i) is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition, or
(ii) uses rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition which is no longer manufactured in the United States and which is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade; or
(C) any muzzle loading rifle, muzzle loading shotgun, or muzzle loading pistol, which is designed to use black powder, or a black powder substitute, and which cannot use fixed ammunition. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term "antique firearm" shall not include any weapon which incorporates a firearm frame or receiver, any firearm which is converted into a muzzle loading weapon, or any muzzle loading weapon which can be readily converted to fire fixed ammunition by replacing the barrel, bolt, breechblock, or any combination thereof.0 -
If there is an owl's head on the receiver along with "Wide Awake" some of the folks who participated in this thread from last year might be able to provide some information:
http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?whichpage=1&TOPIC_ID=300814#23554790 -
Thank you all for the very informative information. This is a great forum. I should have added that I have found some case law that supports the position that the relevant statute 26 U.S.C. 5845(g)regarding "Antique Firearms"["any firearm using fixed ammunition manufactured in or before 1898, for which ammunition is no longer manufactured in the United States and is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commerce"]is ambiguous as to whether the ammunition identified in the statute is that which was designed for the pre-1899 firearm or is merely usuable in it. The court found that this ambiguity must be resolved in favor of the defendant. Therefore, it is important to know the type of 16 gauge ammunition available at the time of manufacture. For instance, in that case the evidence indicated that only paper shotgun shells were available at the time of manufacture and are no longer readily available. Bert H. is correct. It is the prosucution's burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the shotgun and the ammunition meets the statutory definition. I am also searching for a qualified expert to testify regarding this matter. Thanks again for all your help. 0 -
I'm a little confused by your definitions of "antiques".I have several Gen 1 peacemakers with pre 1898 frames but the barrels and cylinders have been replaced with post 1898 parts,and I shoot them regularly with modern ammo. These are considered antiques in the eye of the law and can be sold ,traded, shipped without any registration or restrictions , except local laws. 0 -
This case is precisely the reason that the NFA law needs to be updated. Having such things as original alarm guns, H&R Handy guns, Ithaca auto burglar SxS and Marble Gamegetter guns classified as Title II firearms is uterly ridiculous. The ATF has much bigger fish to fry than the folks that may have this sort of relatively few unregistered relics. What a waste of taxpayers dollars even pursuing this sort of thing. 0 -
I am not familiar with your firearm. However, under the National Firearms Act "firearm" is a term of art. The Act covers only those weapons defined in 26 U.S.C. 5845, such as sawed off shotguns, machine guns etc. It does not include for instance pistols or revolvers with a rifled bore or shoulder weapons not capable of firing fixed ammo. It would include smooth bore pistols that fire shotgun shells or rifles with barrels less than 16 inches or combination rifle and shotgun with barrels less than 18 inches. It is my impression that weapons that do not fit into the definition of "firearms" are not covered by the Act regardless of their age. I hope this is helpful. 0
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