Interview -- Second Amendment Casewatch: Dexter Taylor vs New York

Dana Loesch interviews a 2A advocate, builder, hobbyist targeted by New York state over "ghost guns."

Dexter Taylor (a.k.a. Carbon Mike) joined Dana this afternoon to discuss the charges he’s facing for legally producing his own firearms for his own use in the state of New York.

Years ago Taylor took interest in firearm manufacturing as a hobby. In April his home was no-knock raided by the ATF and New York police and now he is facing 18 years in jail and locked in a legal battle with the state of New York.

So the night before I had gone to bed, I usually do listen to an audiobook and I woke up and I was hearing sounds like you said that weren't the audio book, voices, and then I heard a bang and the voices were louder like they were inside my living space and then I saw weapon lights flickering back and forth underneath my bedroom door. And so the first thing I said was, ‘hello, hello, my name is Dexter Taylor, who are you guys looking for?’ Because I thought they had the wrong house.

Taylor is accused of manufacturing “ghost guns,” a fear-mongering name even to unserialized firearms made by hobbyists for personal use. Americans are protected under federal law when producing unserialized guns for their own collections. Taylor noted:

Not only did I not intend to transfer or sell them or anything else, but the state of New York should know this because of course they seized my driver, my computer, my regular desktop, my work laptop, they seized my phone, they seized my credit cards, everything. So they know that I wasn't out there talking about guns. I wasn't out there advertising guns. I wasn't out there talking about them on social media and I certainly wasn't talking or thinking about transferring weapons.

Illegal immigrants with violent records can beat a cop in Manhattan and walk, but a citizen with zero criminal history engaged in a legal hobby faces 18 years in prison.

So I was in Rikers Island for a week right now. My bail right to get out of Rikers, my bail was almost a quarter of a million dollars. Now, this is in the city, this is in a city where people can beat up on cops on camera and walk. This is a city where a nutty professor from an adjunct Hunter College can chase a cameraman down the street in the Bronx with a deadly weapon. So when people say that this whole obsession with violating our rights is about public safety, that's a lie.

If these threats really do exist, then why disarm the citizens? In New York it's not just guns that are banned, blades, brass knuckles, tasers and even pepper spray aren't legal. This is about the relation between the people and the state, and they want us to be servants, defenseless and compliant.

Taylor’s case will be expensive and the precedent stands to affect more than just firearms. More on this to come. Consider donating to his legal defense here and watch the full interview below:

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L. Grey is a researcher and Chapter and Verse contributor.