President Donald Trump has pardoned a United States Navy sailor who was slapped with a two-decade prison sentence by the Biden administration over what his supporters call nothing more than toy firearms.
Patrick “Tate” Adamiak, an active-duty petty officer first class, was arrested following a 2022 raid conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Pro-Second Amendment groups have long claimed that ATF agents tampered with evidence during the case against him. Despite those objections, Adamiak was ultimately convicted and hit with a staggering 20-year prison sentence.
The items at the center of the case were inert RPGs, drilled through and stripped of their internal components, according to the Second Amendment Foundation.
Bill Sack, Senior Director of Legal Operations for the Second Amendment Foundation, didn’t mince words about the case, calling it a politically motivated hit job by the previous administration.
“The Biden administration basically just wanted to make an example out of someone, they picked this poor guy and basically threw the book at him and none of it was even factually substantiated and the government just lied,” Sack said. “So it was incredibly corrupt, incredible bastardization of the justice system under Biden just because they hated guns.”
Lee Williams, editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project, celebrated Adamiak’s pardon as vindication after years of advocacy.
“This is the day Tate and his family have fought for since his conviction 2023,” Williams said in a statement. “We have reported on this case on an almost weekly basis since his conviction and covered every angle of the story.”
Williams was blunt about what he sees as an unjust outcome finally being corrected.
“In no way, shape or form did Tate deserve to be arrested, much less convicted for owning what are considered merely toy firearms,” he continued. “We are extremely thankful the administration saw an opportunity to right a wrong and are grateful Tate is now headed home to be with his family.”
Adamiak wasn’t alone. Gun Owners of America reported that three other individuals also received pardons from Trump on Friday for convictions related to the National Firearms Act.
The pardon comes amid a broader pattern of Trump using his clemency powers to address what gun rights advocates describe as government overreach during the previous administration. For Adamiak’s family, the news means the return of a Navy servicemember who has spent years fighting what his supporters call a wildly disproportionate punishment for owning replica items with no functional capability.
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