Opinion ID: 431715
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Proof Regarding Count I.

Text: 13 Murphy argues that the government failed to meet its burden of proof on Count One. He claims that the government did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that no written application was on file with the Secretary of the Treasury as required by 26 U.S.C. Sec. 5812. 6 Murphy concedes, of course, that the government obtained a certificate from the Custodian of the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record that after diligent search of said record, [she] found no record that [any firearm] is registered to or has been acquired by lawful making, transfer or importation by Colm Murphy also known as Michael Colm Murphy, but he argues that this type of certification will not suffice to establish that there is no pending application on file with the Secretary of the Treasury. Rather, all that it establishes is that there is no approved application on file with the Secretary of Treasury. United States v. Stout, 667 F.2d 1347, 1352 (11th Cir.1982) (firearms registry does not constitute, as required by Fed.R.Evid. 803(10), a 'regularly made and preserved record' of ... pending applications for firearm transactions ...). 14 Appellants are correct that the Custodian of Records cannot know whether a pending transfer application is on file. However, the charges underlying Count One require that people not receive firearms without a lawful transfer, and it is perfectly clear that a lawful transfer cannot occur unless an approved application is on file. The statute is unambiguous. Therefore the Custodian's inability to account for pending applications is irrelevant in this case. Unlike Stout, the certificates here do not specify that Murphy and Toner failed to file an application, but only that the guns were not obtained by lawful transfer. This was made clear in the court's charge to the jury. Cf. United States v. Mayo, 705 F.2d 62, 76 n. 10 (2d Cir.1983) (accepting similar certificate as evidence of unlawful possession). 15