State v. Briney

This case concerns the meaning of the statutory definition of “firearm,” ORS 166.210(3), as that term is used in describing the crime of carrying a concealed firearm under ORS 166.250(1)(a), set out post. Defendant was charged with carrying a concealed firearm, a pistol, in violation of ORS 166.250(l)(a). In his trial to the court, defendant argued that, because the pistol had a broken firing pin at the time he carried it, it was not “readily capable of use as a weapon” and therefore was not within the statutory definition of a firearm. In response, the trial court ruled that, although the…