Last Friday, President Donald Trump pardoned Adamiak, ending a federal case that could have resulted in decades behind bars over firearms-related items and military collectibles.
Patrick “Tate” Adamiak, a Navy veteran who served his country for more than a decade, had no history of violent crime or criminal intent, according to his legal advocates. Yet federal prosecutors pursued a case involving cut-up firearm parts, inert military tubes marked “TRAINING AID DUMMY,” and other demilled military relics.
The items at the center of the case were inoperable, but Adamiak was nevertheless convicted and faced up to 20 years in federal prison.
After his conviction, Adamiak appealed and raised Second Amendment arguments. His Constitutional claims were rejected by the courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately declined to hear his case, leaving a Presidential pardon as his remaining avenue for relief.
The National Association for Gun Rights filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the charges against Adamiak could not withstand the Constitutional test required by the Court’s landmark decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.
Joining in on the efforts were attorneys who represented Adamiak and industry partners including Palmetto State Armory and Right to Bear, which helped fund NAGR’s Supreme Court amicus brief.
Additionally, NAGR launched a nationwide grassroots campaign calling on President Trump to pardon Adamiak and hand-delivered more than 100,000 petitions to the White House and Department of Justice.
Now, after years of legal battles, Adamiak is free.
In an email to NAGR members and supporters, Dudley Brown, President of the National Association for Gun Rights praised the grassroots community:
“This is a tremendous victory for Tate and his family, but it is also a victory for the hundreds of thousands of NAGR members, supporters, and fellow patriots who stood up and demanded justice. President Trump had the Constitutional authority to right this wrong with the stroke of a pen, and he did exactly that.”
Trump also pardoned several other individuals whose cases NAGR says it specifically urged the White House to review, including Russell Fincher, George Peterson, Shane Cox, and Jeremy Kettler. The organization says it had advocated for action in those cases for more than a year.
For NAGR, Adamiak’s pardon represents more than the resolution of one individual case. The organization argues that the case highlights the dangers gun owners face when federal prosecutors pursue charges involving firearms and firearm-related items that are not capable of functioning as weapons.
In that same email, Brown said:
“If the federal government can target a veteran, a collector, or a hobbyist over items like the ones in Tate’s case, every peaceable American should take notice.”
The organization says it will continue pressing the federal government on behalf of gun owners facing what it considers unconstitutional prosecutions and will continue challenging gun control policies it believes violate the Second Amendment.
For Adamiak and his family, however, the immediate outcome is clear: after facing the possibility of spending decades in federal prison, the Navy veteran has received a Presidential pardon and is once again a free man.
