THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
CLARENCE O'NEAL ALTMAN, APPELLEE
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Florida appeals a dismissal of charges against Altman for carrying a concealed firearm. The issue is whether an incomplete gun lacking a cylinder and holding pin constitutes a firearm under Florida law. The court reverses, holding that the frame and major components of a firearm constitute a firearm under the statutory definition regardless of operability.
A gun frame and major components that may readily be converted to expel a projectile constitute a firearm under the statutory definition, regardless of whether the gun is currently operable. The frame or receiver of a weapon is separately denounced in the statute, and operability is not a determinative factor in defining a firearm.
[1] A firearm includes the frame or receiver of a weapon designed to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive, even if the weapon is not currently operable.
[2] Operability is not a determinative factor in defining a firearm under Florida Statutes Section 790.001(6).
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“any weapon (including a starter gun) which will, is designed to, or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; the frame or receiver of any such weapon; any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; any destructive device; or any machine gun.”
The statutory definition of firearm that encompasses both functional weapons and frames or receivers capable of conversion.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAltman was detained at Miami International Airport after failing to pass through an FAA detection point. A search of his wallet revealed a .22 calibre…
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NESBITT, Judge.
The state appeals from an order dismissing an information charging the defendant with carrying a concealed firearm.
The defendant was detained after he failed to successfully pass through a Feder al Aviation Administration detection point at Miami International Airport. He was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed firearm because it was disclosed that within his wallet was the handle, hammer, and barrel assembly of a .22 calibre Derringer revolver totalling approximately two to three inches in length. It is undisputed that the defendant did not have in his possession or in his baggage the revolver cylinder which holds the bullets or the pin which holds the cylinder to the rest of the gun. Otherwise, the gun was intact.
The information charged the defendant with carrying a concealed firearm, to wit: the frame of a pistol, in violation of Section 790.01, Florida Statutes (1981). The trial court dismissed, the information principally on the basis that, because the gun was not operable, the information failed to charge a crime within the ambit of Chapter 790, Florida Statutes (1981). Thus, the only issue on appeal is whether a gun that lacks a cylinder and a holding pin constitutes a firearm.
Section 790.001(6), Florida Statutes (1981) defines a firearm as:
any weapon (including a starter gun) which will, is designed to, or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; the frame or receiver of any such weapon; any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; any destructive device; or any machine gun.
Attempting to support the appealed order, the defendant contends that his incomplete gun does not fit within this statutory definition. The defendant also points to Section 790.221(1), Florida Statutes (1981), to support his argument that a weapon must be operable to charge an offense under Chapter 790. We need not address the argument concerning Section 790.221(1) because it obviously pertains to a different type of firearm — short barrel rifles, short barrel shotguns, and machine guns.
When we return to the definition of a firearm under Section 790.001(6), it is clear that the legislature intended to denounce separately the carrying of “any weapon which ... may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive” or “the frame or receiver of any such weapon.” Defendant’s hammer, handle, and barrel assembly, a pistol without a cylinder and without the pin which holds the cylinder, fits within this definition and therefore constitutes a firearm. Although defendant’s pistol was not operable until the missing parts were added, operability is not a determinative factor in defining a firearm. Machado v. State, 363 So. 2d 1132 (Fla.3d DCA 1978), cert. denied, 373 So. 2d 459 (Fla.1979). Rather, the legislature has denounced the carrying of a particular component of a firearm. Otherwise, confederates might separately carry the components, and after rendezvousing, readily assemble the components for some illicit purpose.
For the foregoing reasons, the order dismissing the information is reversed.
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Mitchell v. State, 698 So. 2d 555 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997)…ion of an explosive.” On the other hand, the definition includes the frame of a firearm and does not require that the firearm be loaded or operable during the criminal episode. Bentley v. State, 501 So. 2d 600 (Fla.1987). See, e.g., State v. Altman, 432 So. 2d 159 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983) (.22 derringer without cylinder is firearm). Because the definition of “firearm” does not involve proof that the gun is loaded or operable, a defendant’s use of a firearm during a crime can be established even if the gun is not r…
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Watson v. State, 437 So. 2d 702 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983)…t required to prove that a loaded 9 mm. automatic pistol was operable in order to sustain a conviction for robbery with a firearm. . Although based on somewhat different reasoning, a similar analysis of this statute is contained in State v. Altman, 432 So. 2d 159 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983). . The mortality tables set out in Volume 3, Florida Statutes (1975) show a maximum life expectancy of 68 years. Those tables were based on a 1958 publication of the State Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner. Granted that life e…
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Bates v. State, 883 So. 2d 907 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)…to be fundamental error, Rich, 858 So. 2d 1210; Giles, 831 So. 2d 1263, we must reverse and remand for a new trial. Reversed and remanded. SILBERMAN and CANADY, JJ., Concur. . See State v. Ware, 253 So. 2d 145 (Fla. 2d DCA 1971); State v. Altman, 432 So. 2d 159 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983). . Aggravated assault is a forcible felony. § 776.08, Fla. Stat. (2003).…
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- MacHado v. State, 363 So. 2d 1132 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978)