Seller of gun in Texas synagogue hostage crisis sentenced to 8 years in prison

[Behind the Aegis]

Henry "Michael" Dwight Williams, the man who sold the gun to the Texas synagogue hostage-taker earlier this year, was sentenced to nearly eight years in federal prison, authorities said.

Malik Faisal Akram, 44, held four people hostage for 10 hours in Colleyville’s Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in the Dallas-Fort Worth area last January. The hostages were safely evacuated and Akram was fatally shot by law enforcement officers.

Williams sold Akram a semiautomatic Taurus G2C pistol on Jan. 13. In plea papers, Williams admitted to possessing the firearm despite his conviction, according to Chad Meacham of the U.S. attorney's office for the Northern District of Texas.

"This defendant, a convicted felon, had no business carrying – much less buying and selling – firearms. Whether he suspected his buyer would use the gun to menace a community of faith is legally irrelevant: In the U.S., convicted felons cannot possess firearms," said Meacham.

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[Takket]

1. If Williams has the money and a good lawyer

He’ll appeal this all the way to SCOTUS as a second amendment issue. And he’ll win.

[bullwinkle428]

3. Would love to see this happen a lot more frequently.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. Lock this idiot up

[lindysalsagal]

5. Wow. I had no idea this was in the court system.

It's about time.

[UTUSN]

6. Too light for all of these a-hole sellers.

[Erik the UNred]

7. Was thiis guy a gun shop owner? Or was it a ''private'' sale?

And what was the previous conviction for?

[sarisataka]

8. RIF

This defendant, a convicted felon, had no business carrying – much less buying and selling – firearms.

He was previously convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and attempted possession of a controlled substance.

Obviously not a shop owner.

[FSogol]

10. RIF? Politeness on DU should be fundamental too. Not everyone has the time to read every article.

You weren't under any obligation to respond or chide another poster.

[gratuitous]

9. Wouldja look at that?

A law on the books, the criminal disregards the law, and the authorities then have a case against him to convict him of breaking the law. For some reason, the NRA doesn't want there to be any regulation on firearm possession, arguing that criminals will just disregard the laws anyway, seeing as how they're criminals. But without laws on the books, there's no way to bring criminals to justice for possessing and selling firearms that are used in these situations. Maybe if we had more regulations of firearms, some of these episodes could be stopped before they even began?

[republianmushroom]

11. LIKE

[Turbineguy]

12. Baby steps.