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JP man arrested on illegal weapons charges is already on probation for a federal weapons conviction

A Jamaica Plain man allegedly found packing a loaded gun during a traffic stop last night was on probation following his October release from federal prison for illegal possession of a loaded gun in 2008 - when he was just 19 and already an official career criminal.

Boston Police report arresting Dominique Hines, 24, after the driver of the car he was in was pulled over for allegedly driving like a moron.

Police say officers on a gang investigation paused what they were doing around 9:25 p.m. yesterday when they noticed a car speeding down Lamartine Street and started to follow it:

As the vehicle traveled on Williams Street towards Washington Street, officers observed the vehicle fail to yield to pedestrians crossing on Williams Street by honking the horn and swerving to go around the pedestrians. Officers activated their emergency lights and siren in an effort to execute a motor vehicle stop. The suspect vehicle did not immediately pull to the right hand side of the road but continued toward the next intersection. Based on the nature of the investigation into gang and firearm related activity, officers feared the vehicle was refusing to stop and would attempt to evade officers. Officers with lights and sirens still activated, quickly pulled around the suspect vehicle and stopped their unmarked Boston Police Cruiser just ahead of the suspect vehicle. Officers approached the motor vehicle with their badges clearly displayed, as well as clearly marked Boston Police jackets and vests. At which point, officers observed the handle of a firearm protruding from the waist of the male passenger. After a brief struggle with the male suspect, a Star 9mm semi-automatic firearm with ammunition was recovered.

Hines, 24, was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition. The driver got a ticket for failure to slow or stop for a pedestrian and speeding.

In 2008, Hines, identified by police as an associate of the Heath Street gang, pleaded guilty in federal court to being a felon in possession of a .22-caliber gun and nine rounds of ammunition. He was sentenced to six years in federal prison, followed by three years of "supervised release." Federal prison records show he was released on Oct. 1 of last year.

The "felon" part of the sentence stems from charges in 2007 - when he was 17 - for selling crack at Bromley-Heath, the first time to an informant working on an FBI investigation into drug selling at the housing project, the second time only three months after admitting he'd been selling crack the first time.

In early 2008, only six weeks after his release on the drug charges, he was arrested again, this time for possession of both crack and a loaded gun.

In a plea deal in federal court, Hines admitted to the weapons charges.

In a sentencing memorandum, federal prosecutors asked Judge Mark Wolf to order Hines to stay out of the entire city of Boston during his three years of supervised release, but Wolf narrowed that to an order to stay out of the area immediately surrounding Bromley-Heath - including the Jackson Square and Roxbury Crossing T stops.

Innocent, etc.

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Comments

This guy is a poster child with what's wrong with the system. A guy like that getting away with a string of multiple major crimes with very little time served doesn't make people feel too good about their personal safety if they testify against such thugs.

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Big mistake.... Whenever I have my illegal firearm in my car, I drive really cautiously. Swerving around pedestrians in a crosswalk, beeping at them, with police close to you? Not very observant.. Then you read his criminal history, this guy sucks at being a criminal. Try something else buddy.

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Looks like you aren't very observant, he wasn't driving the car.

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Observant yes, but reading comprehension is a problem. Oops
If I was in my friend's car, I'd ask him not to drive like an idiot bc I was packing. He still sucks at being a criminal.

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When you hear regular folks complain that they can't get a legal gun permit, but this clown has numerous gun CONVICTIONS and continues to be released... That's what frustrates people.

How was he caught in 2008 (presumably some time after his arrest) sentenced to 6 years, but back on the street now?

I really think the NRA is usually pretty nutty. But I understand their frustration when laws are passed that penalize law abiding people for all kinds of things while never living up to the "strict enforcement" promised for real troublemakers like this guy.

Sorry about lousy typing. Tiny phone screen.

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I've never heard "regular folks" complain that they can't get a legal gun permit. I've heard gun nuts stamp their feet that they don't want any restrictions at all on the number or nature of guns that criminals, terrorists, and mentally ill people want to traffic in, store unsafely, and use against mailmen, neighbors watering their lawns, etc. Where are all the law-abiding people penalized by laws that, by the very nature of laws, are only used against people who don't abide by them?

Six years on a gun conviction is pretty good, by the way, and serving five years before parole sounds pretty reasonable.

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Listen harder, and look in more places. Here's a link to a news clip about this very topic:
http://goal.org/newspages/state-of-denial.html
I'll only post that one link since there are enough articles about this to go on about this at length.

By law, a person applying for a Massachusetts license to carry, has to be approved, or denied within 40 days:
Section e, paragraph 3:
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXX/Chapter140/Sect...

Star Firearms has no firearms on the Massachusetts approved firearms roster and can not be sold within the state of Massachusetts:
http://www.mass.gov/eopss/docs/chsb/firearms/approvedfirearmsroster05-20...

Call people interested in firearms gun nuts all you want, poke fun at their interest and call them whatever names you will. However, keep in mind, two of the most prestigious schools in the world have gun clubs:
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2011/02/06/at_mit_gun_club_stra...
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~shooting/#home
I'd hardly call graduates and students of MIT or Harvard gun nuts.

Every time I go to buy a gun, not only do I have to have my MA firearms license, but I must also have a state issued PIN, and go through a shorter background check by filling out a Massachusetts FA-10:
https://mircs.chs.state.ma.us/fa10/action/home?app_context=home&app_acti...
Every legal gun owner in the state goes through the same process.

Any time in the future when I feel like purchasing ammunition, I must again supply my Massachusetts LTC.

Now tell us all how the gun laws above will protect us from anything if a person like Mr. Hines can get a firearm and ammunition without following any laws?

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...says it all. It's from GOAL, known in law enforcement as the "Gun Offender's Action League" because they file friend of the court briefs on behalf of criminals charged with gun offenses. That's exactly the kind of pro-criminal, pro-terrorist group that responsible gun owners should not be calling allies if they're trying to defeat the "gun nut" moniker.

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Civil liberties and due process are so 18th century!

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I've never heard "regular folks" complain that they can't get a legal gun permit.

It's a reoccurring national news story that police chiefs in MA are getting sued in for sitting on permit applications for the better part of a year when the state requirement is a response in 40 days.

Revere most recently got sued over it.

Can you imagine the outcry if someone's voter registration got held up like that by a local elections board?

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It can take anywhere from 4-12 months to get a gun permit in MA. Each town has their own set of rules and the Chief of Police can restrict your permit at his discretion. In most states you show a driver's license, undergo a background check by dealer, and you purchase your gun. Not in MA - and the AG has limited what dealers can sell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7PJstjs17c

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There's no way, the AG's office has determined the entire Star brand of firearms are unfit for sale in MA. Must be a typo, we've all been kept safe from these evil pistols.

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is one way AWAY from Washington Street. Were they going the wrong way down a one way street? Sure way to get attention!

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Anyone who wants to volunteer for the job of taking guns away from such people is welcome to take the Boston Police exam. Think about it the next time you criticize the police.

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