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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_county/bal-abrams0114,0,4809804.story
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baltimoresun.com
Parkville gun dealer gets 5 years in prison
Former NRA board member illegally provided weapons
By Matthew Dolan
Sun reporter
11:10 AM EST, January 14, 2008
A Baltimore County gun dealer charged with illegally providing weapons to a man who died in a firefight with police last year received today a five-year suspended prison sentence and one year of probation.
Sanford M. Abrams entered an Alford plea in Baltimore County Circuit Court, in which he did not admit guilt but conceded that the state has enough evidence to convict him. The judge then entered a guilty plea for unlawfully selling a restricted firearm.
The plea marked the latest, and potentially the most serious, chapter in the long legal saga of Abrams, the former National Rifle Association national board member stripped of his license by federal agents nearly two years ago for failing to keep track of hundreds of weapons in his shop's inventory.
In the Parkville case this year, Baltimore County police charged Abrams, saying in court papers that the sale was illegal because customer Keith J. Showalter had a criminal record that prevented him from owning a gun legally and because such gun sales are supposed to be reported to the Maryland State Police.
Police responding to a call from Showalter's estranged girlfriend on Feb. 18, 2007, fatally shot him after he refused to surrender and fired seven rounds from a military-style rifle at the officers, according to police.
As part of their investigation, police say they also found an illegal machine gun in Abrams' custody during a search of his property.
Gun-control advocates who have tracked Abrams for years had lauded a rare state prosecution of a licensed gun dealer but decried the lack of federal criminal laws governing the sale of weapons by rogue dealers.
Baltimore County police first became involved with Abrams in 2006. Federal agents asked county police for help in seizing the firearms at Abrams' Valley Gun shop in the 7700 block of Harford Road after his federal and state firearms licenses had been revoked. After the weapons were secured, Baltimore County Detective William Ryan wrote in charging documents that he began to receive several tips that Abrams was still selling weapons.
Abrams had lost his license after the federal courts determined he had more than 900 violations of recordkeeping regulations designed to help police track guns used in crimes.
Abrams said at the time that he planned to sell his remaining 700-gun inventory on consignment to an independent shop next door in a building owned by his family. But after Showalter shot at police, Baltimore County authorities said in court papers that they found otherwise.
After the February fatal shooting, Ryan wrote that he found two guns on Showalter's body and one inside the safe of his apartment. In addition to the Yugoslavian rifle, the others were a Bushmaster assault rifle and a Remington semiautomatic rifle with the butt stock and barrel sawed off.
Records showed that all three weapons had been in the possession of Abrams, but there was no record of a sale to Showalter. The Yugoslavian rifle, Ryan wrote in court papers, was not covered by Maryland firearms laws. But the other two weapons were, he wrote.
Contrary to Abrams' pledge, the owner of Just Guns, the shop that took over for Abrams' Valley Gun, did not receive all of Abrams' inventory, according to police interviews. In addition, Ryan found that Showalter had been convicted of second-degree assault in 2002, making him ineligible to possess any firearms.
Those facts, Ryan wrote, "are indicative of Sanford Michael Abrams trafficking/selling firearms without abiding by current laws," Ryan wrote.
Later, at Abrams' weapons supply shop, county police found a machine gun and paperwork indicating Abrams was in the process of selling it.
"The actual possessor of a machine gun is required to register that machine gun to themselves and in this case Sanford Abrams failed to do so," Ryan wrote.
Finally, police wrote that they found records that show Abrams sold Showalter the Bushmaster rifle but failed to follow firearms regulations and report the sale to the state police.
"If Mr. Abrams had followed legally prescribed methods to sell the firearm," Ryan wrote, "the sale would not have been approved due to Keith Showalter's prohibiting criminal record."
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[email protected]
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baltimoresun.com
Parkville gun dealer gets 5 years in prison
Former NRA board member illegally provided weapons
By Matthew Dolan
Sun reporter
11:10 AM EST, January 14, 2008
A Baltimore County gun dealer charged with illegally providing weapons to a man who died in a firefight with police last year received today a five-year suspended prison sentence and one year of probation.
Sanford M. Abrams entered an Alford plea in Baltimore County Circuit Court, in which he did not admit guilt but conceded that the state has enough evidence to convict him. The judge then entered a guilty plea for unlawfully selling a restricted firearm.
The plea marked the latest, and potentially the most serious, chapter in the long legal saga of Abrams, the former National Rifle Association national board member stripped of his license by federal agents nearly two years ago for failing to keep track of hundreds of weapons in his shop's inventory.
In the Parkville case this year, Baltimore County police charged Abrams, saying in court papers that the sale was illegal because customer Keith J. Showalter had a criminal record that prevented him from owning a gun legally and because such gun sales are supposed to be reported to the Maryland State Police.
Police responding to a call from Showalter's estranged girlfriend on Feb. 18, 2007, fatally shot him after he refused to surrender and fired seven rounds from a military-style rifle at the officers, according to police.
As part of their investigation, police say they also found an illegal machine gun in Abrams' custody during a search of his property.
Gun-control advocates who have tracked Abrams for years had lauded a rare state prosecution of a licensed gun dealer but decried the lack of federal criminal laws governing the sale of weapons by rogue dealers.
Baltimore County police first became involved with Abrams in 2006. Federal agents asked county police for help in seizing the firearms at Abrams' Valley Gun shop in the 7700 block of Harford Road after his federal and state firearms licenses had been revoked. After the weapons were secured, Baltimore County Detective William Ryan wrote in charging documents that he began to receive several tips that Abrams was still selling weapons.
Abrams had lost his license after the federal courts determined he had more than 900 violations of recordkeeping regulations designed to help police track guns used in crimes.
Abrams said at the time that he planned to sell his remaining 700-gun inventory on consignment to an independent shop next door in a building owned by his family. But after Showalter shot at police, Baltimore County authorities said in court papers that they found otherwise.
After the February fatal shooting, Ryan wrote that he found two guns on Showalter's body and one inside the safe of his apartment. In addition to the Yugoslavian rifle, the others were a Bushmaster assault rifle and a Remington semiautomatic rifle with the butt stock and barrel sawed off.
Records showed that all three weapons had been in the possession of Abrams, but there was no record of a sale to Showalter. The Yugoslavian rifle, Ryan wrote in court papers, was not covered by Maryland firearms laws. But the other two weapons were, he wrote.
Contrary to Abrams' pledge, the owner of Just Guns, the shop that took over for Abrams' Valley Gun, did not receive all of Abrams' inventory, according to police interviews. In addition, Ryan found that Showalter had been convicted of second-degree assault in 2002, making him ineligible to possess any firearms.
Those facts, Ryan wrote, "are indicative of Sanford Michael Abrams trafficking/selling firearms without abiding by current laws," Ryan wrote.
Later, at Abrams' weapons supply shop, county police found a machine gun and paperwork indicating Abrams was in the process of selling it.
"The actual possessor of a machine gun is required to register that machine gun to themselves and in this case Sanford Abrams failed to do so," Ryan wrote.
Finally, police wrote that they found records that show Abrams sold Showalter the Bushmaster rifle but failed to follow firearms regulations and report the sale to the state police.
"If Mr. Abrams had followed legally prescribed methods to sell the firearm," Ryan wrote, "the sale would not have been approved due to Keith Showalter's prohibiting criminal record."
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[email protected]
