I saw this on the internet and thought it should be posted, maybe I should have put it in L&P, not sure. I sure do feel bad for the seller.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9C0DE7DC1739F935A25751C1A9669C8B63
Years After Sale, Handgun Haunts Ex-Owner in Court
By DIRK JOHNSON
Published: December 16, 2000
On the day in October when a police officer was shot to death here, Terry Walker was 70 miles away.
But Mr. Walker, a 49-year-old cook, has been jailed on charges of involuntary manslaughter, even though there is no evidence that he knew the killer, Ljeka Juncaj, who shot himself to death after the slaying of the police officer, Chris Wouters.
The charges stem from Mr. Walker's failure to file the legal forms several years ago when he sold the handgun that wound up in the hands of the killer.
Criminal justice experts say the case is an extraordinary attempt to hold a gun seller responsible for the ultimate use of the gun, even if the weapon changed hands several times before it reached the killer.
Macomb County prosecutors say the charge against Mr. Walker should send a message to gun owners about the dangers of improperly transferring weapons.
But gun rights groups and other conservatives say the prosecution is an unfair use of gun laws to blame a man who had no real connection to the shooting.
''This is a real stretch,'' said Mitch Pearlstein, the president of the Center of the American Experiment, a conservative research organization in Minneapolis. ''It reminds me of these cases we're seeing now of landlords being held responsible for the misbehavior of their tenants.''
Advocates of gun control, meanwhile, say the case demonstrates the importance of the laws on transferring guns. If the gun had been properly registered, they say, it would be less likely that the weapon would have fallen into dangerous hands.
Nancy Hwa, a spokeswoman for Handgun Control in Washington, defended the notion of a ''chain of responsibility that the gun industry and gun owners bear for their product.''
Mr. Walker, in an interview this week at the Macomb County Jail, said he was shocked when police officers arrived at his home in Capac, Mich., last month and arrested him.
''I remember hearing about the shooting of the cop, and I feel bad for him and his family,'' Mr. Walker said. ''But I had nothing to do with it.''
Eric Kaiser, a prosecutor in the case, said it was ''not relevant'' whether Mr. Walker knew the killer, nor did it matter how many times the gun might have changed hands after Mr. Walker sold it.
''If I have a stick of dynamite and I hand it to you, it might be eight people later before something happens,'' the prosecutor said at the arraignment. ''But it doesn't matter. The damage has been done.''
Criminal justice experts say prosecutors have recently become more likely to file charges against people who supplied guns used in crimes.
The Colorado man who supplied the guns used in the Columbine High School shootings, Donald Manes, was sentenced to six years in prison. And the gun dealer who sold two guns used in the rampage by a white supremacist in Illinois was sentenced to 10 months in prison.
As much as 40 percent of all gun sales occur in the secondary market, without a licensed gun dealer, said Phil Cook, a professor at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
Only a handful of states, including Michigan, require buyers in these private sales to file purchase permits with law enforcement authorities, he said. Even in those states, Mr. Cook said he believed that a relatively small percentage of gun buyers complied with the registration laws.
In the case of Mr. Walker, Judge John Chmura of State District Court has told prosecutors and defense lawyers to file briefs in January about whether the matter should go to trial. Until then, Mr. Walker is being held in lieu of $250,000 bond. People in his hometown have taken up a collection for his legal defense.
Mr. Walker could face up to 15 years in prison on the manslaughter charges. He has also been charged with illegal possession of a gun as a felon. Mr. Walker was sentenced to probation in September for embezzling from a former employer.
The maximum penalty for failing to properly record a gun sale is $100 and 90 days in jail.
Timothy Barkovic, the lawyer for Mr. Walker, said his client was being made a scapegoat. Mr. Barkovic said the police officers failed to search Mr. Juncaj while arresting him on drug charges at his home on Oct. 11. A search would have found the weapon and averted the killing, he said.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9C0DE7DC1739F935A25751C1A9669C8B63
Years After Sale, Handgun Haunts Ex-Owner in Court
By DIRK JOHNSON
Published: December 16, 2000
On the day in October when a police officer was shot to death here, Terry Walker was 70 miles away.
But Mr. Walker, a 49-year-old cook, has been jailed on charges of involuntary manslaughter, even though there is no evidence that he knew the killer, Ljeka Juncaj, who shot himself to death after the slaying of the police officer, Chris Wouters.
The charges stem from Mr. Walker's failure to file the legal forms several years ago when he sold the handgun that wound up in the hands of the killer.
Criminal justice experts say the case is an extraordinary attempt to hold a gun seller responsible for the ultimate use of the gun, even if the weapon changed hands several times before it reached the killer.
Macomb County prosecutors say the charge against Mr. Walker should send a message to gun owners about the dangers of improperly transferring weapons.
But gun rights groups and other conservatives say the prosecution is an unfair use of gun laws to blame a man who had no real connection to the shooting.
''This is a real stretch,'' said Mitch Pearlstein, the president of the Center of the American Experiment, a conservative research organization in Minneapolis. ''It reminds me of these cases we're seeing now of landlords being held responsible for the misbehavior of their tenants.''
Advocates of gun control, meanwhile, say the case demonstrates the importance of the laws on transferring guns. If the gun had been properly registered, they say, it would be less likely that the weapon would have fallen into dangerous hands.
Nancy Hwa, a spokeswoman for Handgun Control in Washington, defended the notion of a ''chain of responsibility that the gun industry and gun owners bear for their product.''
Mr. Walker, in an interview this week at the Macomb County Jail, said he was shocked when police officers arrived at his home in Capac, Mich., last month and arrested him.
''I remember hearing about the shooting of the cop, and I feel bad for him and his family,'' Mr. Walker said. ''But I had nothing to do with it.''
Eric Kaiser, a prosecutor in the case, said it was ''not relevant'' whether Mr. Walker knew the killer, nor did it matter how many times the gun might have changed hands after Mr. Walker sold it.
''If I have a stick of dynamite and I hand it to you, it might be eight people later before something happens,'' the prosecutor said at the arraignment. ''But it doesn't matter. The damage has been done.''
Criminal justice experts say prosecutors have recently become more likely to file charges against people who supplied guns used in crimes.
The Colorado man who supplied the guns used in the Columbine High School shootings, Donald Manes, was sentenced to six years in prison. And the gun dealer who sold two guns used in the rampage by a white supremacist in Illinois was sentenced to 10 months in prison.
As much as 40 percent of all gun sales occur in the secondary market, without a licensed gun dealer, said Phil Cook, a professor at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
Only a handful of states, including Michigan, require buyers in these private sales to file purchase permits with law enforcement authorities, he said. Even in those states, Mr. Cook said he believed that a relatively small percentage of gun buyers complied with the registration laws.
In the case of Mr. Walker, Judge John Chmura of State District Court has told prosecutors and defense lawyers to file briefs in January about whether the matter should go to trial. Until then, Mr. Walker is being held in lieu of $250,000 bond. People in his hometown have taken up a collection for his legal defense.
Mr. Walker could face up to 15 years in prison on the manslaughter charges. He has also been charged with illegal possession of a gun as a felon. Mr. Walker was sentenced to probation in September for embezzling from a former employer.
The maximum penalty for failing to properly record a gun sale is $100 and 90 days in jail.
Timothy Barkovic, the lawyer for Mr. Walker, said his client was being made a scapegoat. Mr. Barkovic said the police officers failed to search Mr. Juncaj while arresting him on drug charges at his home on Oct. 11. A search would have found the weapon and averted the killing, he said.
Any "gun" can be properly registered and still easily be used in a crime. Firearms get stolen all of the time, registered or not.
