By Gun Owners of America

In April, the Department of Justice convicted two men, Matthew Hoover & Kristopher Ervin, of conspiring to transfer unregistered machine gun devices known as “Auto Key Cards.”

The case known as United States of America v. Kristopher Ervin & Matthew Hoover has been regarded as controversial. ATF employees involved in the case admitted to taking classes on convincing a jury of their testimony, among other interesting developments.

As such, the case has been subject to much discussion and coverage by firearms-related news outlets. One of those outlets, AmmoLand News & their journalist, John Crump, was recently the subject of an attempted gag order by the DoJ due to his reporting on the case.

The gag order was specifically in relation to a Presentencing Investigation Report given to Crump by Hoover to aid in his coverage of the court case. Unbeknownst to Crump, after this report was given to him, the DoJ filed a motion to silence Crump and have his copy of the Presentencing Investigation Report destroyed.

In the motion, the Justice Department refers to Crump as a “YouTube personality” in an attempt to discredit his status as a journalist and the free speech protections he is entitled to as a member of the press.

Distasteful YouTube comments are cited in the motion as well as the reason for the gag order, with many of the comments taking a critical tone against the State’s Attorney.

MOTION FOR ORDER PROHIBITIN… by AmmoLand Shooting Sports News

When we learned about this situation, Gun Owners of America stepped in to defend Crump and his First Amendment rights. Our legal team filed an Emergency Motion to Intervene on the gag order placed on him.