The Guns of Sheffield/Protecting Their Man?

Yesterday, the Midnight Rider mentioned a man in Sheffield who sells guns out of his vehicle in the Town Plaza parking lot on weekends. We've seen readers express the idea that small time vendors shouldn't be regulated, but just what is "small time?" We then asked about liability for the town of Sheffield.

From L. Stone:

If the person at the Sheffield Flea Market is in the firearms business then he has to have a Federal Firearms License and has to follow the rules about background checks. I wonder if he has a stack of form 4473 for his sales?

As far as the liability if a gun is later used in a crime, federal law prevents liability for sellers if a gun is later misused if the sale is done lawfully. An illegal sale is a different matter.

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We mentioned recently the crime reports in the TimesDaily and asked if our readers noticed just how many guns were stolen in the course of the average week. Another interesting read comes from arrest charges--not that they aren't interesting for other reasons as well. Ever notice how many are charged with being in the possession of a gun illegally? Wanna bet these weren't guns the perps owned before their felony conviction?

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After we blogged about a young woman proclaiming her lover's total lack of violence toward her...despite having signed a police report on an incident in which he left her with injuries serious enough to require an ER visit, a local news magazine told us a similar story.

It seems a Lawrenceburg fast food manager attacked the mother of his three children, leaving her in need of medical attention at the ER. A few weeks later, this woman wrote the news source and told them their story was a bunch of bull, despite it being taken from police reports. When the news magazine pointed this out, she faded into the woodwork.

Fast forward over a year later, the fast food manager himself wrote the news site requesting the old article be taken down. He was having trouble finding a job and the case against him had been dismissed. When asked why the case was dismissed, the man wrote a clipped and angry reply and also faded into the woodwork. Wanna bet his baby mama refused to testify against him?

So just what happens, legally that is, to the these women? They either lied in the police report (and medical records show that they didn't) or they're lying when they later tell authorities the whole thing didn't happen. Are they charged with perjury or filing a false police report? Or are they simply allowed to go on their merry way until their next beating/choking/violent assault?

Related: Mother Shoalanda

Sheffield Flea Market/UNA Expansion

From the Midnight Rider:

Recently there was an article in the Times Daily Newspaper about a Sheffield resident, Tracey Southern, that was at odds with the City of Sheffield about selling items in front of her home/business. If you didn’t read the article, basically it said that she wanted to sell items but the City wouldn’t or couldn’t issue the appropriate License or Permit. Would this not be some type of Yard Sale Permit?

However, also mentioned in the article was the fact that there had been complaints from business owners about the Sheffield Flea Market. For you that don’t know, the Sheffield Flea Market is held in the parking lot of the Town Plaza. Town Plaza is where the Foodland Supermarket is located. This takes place on Friday and Saturday.

We hear that a certain business owner close to the Plaza is complaining because vendors are selling the same flower arrangements at the Flea Market as he sells at his business. We have only been through the Sheffield Flea Market once or twice and have seen vendors selling these flower arrangements. Does this hurt the Flower Arrangement Business Owner’s business? I guess it could. But let’s go one step further. We have seen a gentleman selling guns out of his vehicle. Does this hurt the Gun Shop located in Town Plaza? Furthermore, if someone is selling drugs at the Flea Market does that hurt the Pharmacy located in the Plaza? Well, we are talking about Sheffield.

Another complaint we read about is that the City of Sheffield is not collecting any money off the Flea Market. Okay, let’s break that down. The City may not get tax money off the Flea Market but what about the money that visitors spend at the other businesses and restaurants while they are in the City of Sheffield. That should be a plus. We don’t know if the owner of the Plaza charges by spot, day or hour to the vendors but maybe there could be a “donation” to the City of Sheffield to help with the compliant.

So going back to the original point of this article, why can’t Tracey Southern sell her stuff at her place? Beats me. Kinda seems like Double Standards. Maybe if she paid tax money on the items she sold, she would be allowed.


I am and always will be, the Midnight Rider.

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Selling guns out of vehicles? My, my! So if it could be proved one of these guns was used in a crime, would the owners of Town Plaza be held accountable? How about the City of Sheffield itself?

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We see the University of North Alabama is being careful to state it doesn't want to tear down a stately Wood Avenue Victorian home it plans to purchase. The university will be paving the back garden to create 40 new parking spaces. 

However, we have to wonder when the university became so caring about the "integrity of the neighborhood?" It's been only 15 years or so since the university purchased the stockbroker Tudor at the corner of Pine and Irvine to tear down for a parking lot. 

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Knight-Humphries Donut

The Tennessee Street improvements continue...and continue. We recommend avoiding the area if possible. We did place our life and radial tires on the line last week to drive down the area under construction. It would appear to stop just before the Knight-Humphries realty corner. In other words, the ugly donut is still standing.

And the small eatery next door on South Poplar remains vacant. We've lost count of the restaurants which have come and gone there over the years. Perhaps it's the curse of the donut?