Sailor Serving 20-years in Prison for Legal Semi-Auto Collectibles

In the early 1980s, in order to meet a growing customer demand, several firearm firms released semi-automatic firearms that fired from an open bolt, which were never subject to the National Firearm Act, or NFA. Fully automatic versions of these guns were flooding the movies and popular culture, but the semi-autos were easier to own. Over the years, these guns became highly sought after and were known as “pre-ban” open-bolt semi-auto pistols and carbines.

Today, these open-bolt semi-autos can fetch from $3,000 to $5,000, and they can still be purchased just like any other firearm, with only an ATF Form 4473 and background check. To be clear, they are legal to own semi-autos that are not capable of fully automatic fire, so they are not subject to the 1986 machinegun ban. As a result, they do not require a $200 NFA tax stamp or an invasive background investigation by the ATF. Legally, these rare and expensive guns require only the same amount of paperwork as any other new firearm purchase.

Two firearm firms produced thousands of these guns. RBP made semi-auto MAC-10-style guns and Interdynamic made the Tec-9. Both were based on better-known fully automatic guns, but both were legal semi-autos that fired from an open bolt.

Former U.S. Navy sailor Patrick Tate Adamiak owned five of these legal firearms. Four were made by RPB and one was an Interdynamic KG-9. The purchases were a business decision by Adamiak.

“All were 100% legal. I purchased them through an FFL dealer, filled out the ATF Form 4473 and completed the background check,” Adamiak said Monday. “These are ultra-collectible, so I brought them home, put them in my safe – unmodified of course – and they sat there for years as centerpieces of my family’s collection. We never even shot them. They are rare and highly valuable, so they were more of an investment.”

Adamiak never even dreamed he would face criminal charges for the legal firearms.

“Despite being legally owned, all five of these were seized and were counted against me as ‘illegal machineguns,’ which added years to my sentence,” Adamiak said. “It took me 10 years to collect them, and not only was it a financial hit they each came with felonious consequences.”

This is the third story about the ludicrous criminal charges that Adamiak was convicted of and sentenced to two decades behind bars. Click to read Part One and Part Two.

Who is responsible? None other than ATF Firearms Enforcement Officer Jeffrey Bodell.

Bodell, you’ll recall from a previous story, got Adamiak’s toy STEN submachinegun to fire one live round. Of course, he needed to use a real STEN barrel and a real STEN action to make the toy fire off a single live round. Bodell’s incredibly biased reporting is one of the main reasons why Adamiak was sentenced to 20 years in prison, despite the fact all of the firearms and gun parts he owned were 100% legal.

In his report, Bodell listed each of the five open-bolt semi-autos as a “suspected machinegun.”

52. RPB Industries, model SM11-A1, firearm serial number SAP3806982 (suspected machinegun).
53. RPB Industries, model SM11-A1 carbine, serial number SAC380231 (suspected machinegun).
54. Interdynamic model KG-9, 9mm caliber firearm (suspected machinegun).
55. RPB Industries, model SM10, 9mm Luger firearm, s/n SEMI91211A (suspected machinegun).
56. RPB Industries, model SM10, 45 ACP firearm, s/n SAP451127 (suspected machinegun).

His testing of the five open-bolt firearms and the conclusions he made were extremely strange.

Testing

First up was Exhibit 52, a legal .380 ACP Model SM11-A1, MAC-10 style firearm, which fired semi-automatically from an open bolt.

“I loaded one cartridge into the firearm and pulled the trigger. Exhibit 52 successfully expelled a projectile by the action of an explosive. Next, I inserted a two cartridge load and pulled the trigger. Exhibit 52 fired each cartridge semiautomatically, by separate functions of the trigger. I repeated this method of testing with three- and five-cartridge loads. Each test resulted in semiautomatic fire,” Bodell wrote in his report. “With ATF Ruling 82-8, ATF identified the SM11A1 pistols are designed to shoot automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. Consequently, the SM11A1 pistols are machineguns as defined. Exhibit 52 is designed to shoot automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. Exhibit 52 is a “machinegun” as defined.”

Exhibits 55, 57 and 58 were also tested and only fired semi-automatically.

“With ATF Ruling 82-8, ATF identified the SM10 pistols are designed to shoot automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. Consequently, the SM10 pistols are machineguns as defined. Exhibit 58 is designed to shoot automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. Exhibit 58 is a “machinegun” as defined,” Bodell wrote.

Bodell made the same findings of Exhibit 56, the KG-9, which only fired semi-automatically, too.

“With ATF Ruling 82-2, ATF identified the simplicity in converting the semiautomatic open-bolt KG-9-type firearms into machineguns and determined that open-bolt KG-9-type firearms are designed to shoot automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. Therefore, semiautomatic open-bolt KG-9-type firearms are “machineguns” as defined,” Bodell wrote.

In court

Bodell maintained his fiction even under oath in court. He repeatedly told the jury that he had classified the five exhibits as machineguns in his report. Bodell testified multiple times about how the five weapons would only fire semi-automatically, which caused Adamiak’s defense attorney to object.

“The judge didn’t want to hear it as Bodell’s report was evidently enough for me to be penalized for the guns,” Adamiak explained. “My expert was standing by, but his testimony was blocked by ridiculous courthouse rules. This was just another example of the ATF’s and prosecutors over-reaching deception of the federal courts.”

Adamiak’s expert was a former ATF official who was baffled that the five firearms were even taken from his home. But his response to Bodell’s wild claims was unfortunately never heard by the jury.

“I flatly disagree. Although these models may be capable of modification to fire full-automatic, so is every multi-shot firearm ever made. Not to mention that every semi-automatic firearm is much easier to be modified as such. However, these models as manufactured, were NOT designed to fire full-auto, or they would do so when test fired. This is the same as the fact that every semi-auto AR-15 rifle can be modified to fire full-auto like an M16, but the difference is the way they left the factory is what determines their legal standing, not their capability to be made into something else. ATF’s Technology Division has adopted the absurd practice of opining things as what they are merely capable of upon modification, which is outside of the statutory definition,” the ATF expert wrote.

Takeaways

Adamiak is behind bars in a federal prison in New Jersey. He would likely be leading a special warfare platoon if the ATF hadn’t targeted him for no reason. Adamiak has around 18 years left of this 20-year sentence. He offered some advice for anyone who owns one of the rare, legal open-bolt semi-autos: Print out ATF Rule 82-8 and 82-2 and keep a copy with the guns.

Said Adamiak: “It is a sad day in America when a weaponized agency can come into your life and give you felonious penalties for legally owned items and conduct. I think all Americans that own items similar to these should be put on notice that the ATF is preying upon things that they just don’t like, looking for anyway to take your guns from you. I encourage anyone that owns open-bolt semi-autos to print out ATF’s rules and keep them with those guns at all times, so when the tyrants come, you can at least show them their own stance on your legal collectables before they steal them from you.”

To contribute to Adamiak’s legal fight go to Change.org.

The Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project wouldn’t be possible without you. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support pro-gun stories like this.

About Lee Williams

Lee Williams, who is also known as “The Gun Writer,” is the chief editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Until recently, he was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming an editor, Lee was an investigative reporter at newspapers in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. He’s earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter, and three medals of valor as a cop. Lee is an avid tactical shooter.