United States v. Bienvenido Mercado Vasquez

CLARK, Circuit Judge:

Vasquez appeals from his conviction under 26 U.S.C. § 5861 for possession of an unregistered firearm. We affirm.

Initially,’ it is contended that the trial court erred in instructing the jury that it was unnecessary for the Government to prove that Vasquez knew that the rifle was designed to shoot automatically or could be readily converted to shoot automatically. The Government, on the other hand, argues that it need prove only that the defendant knew he possessed an item which was a firearm within the general sense of meaning of the term, and not that the defendant knew…