Published - Sunday, March 18, 2007
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Felons and firearms: Laws are designed to keep weapons from their hands. That hasn’t stopped them
By ANNE JUNGEN | La Crosse Tribune
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In February, a raid on Thomas Dworak’s South Side house turned up about 50 firearms, 55,000 rounds of ammunition, a silencer and military ordnance.
For Dworak, 52, it was deja vu.
Authorities in May 1991 had confiscated more than 50 firearms — including rifles, pistols and shotguns — 30,000 rounds of ammunition, plastic explosives, an anti-tank weapon and bazooka in the same house at 2106 East Ave. S.
That discovery came after Dworak blew up a Trane Co. parking sign with a homemade bomb, police said.
It led a jury in 1992 to make Dworak a convicted felon — which also stripped him of his right to bear arms.
Yet somehow, in 15 years at the same site, he managed to rebuild his home arsenal.
In a city where some estimate 70 percent to 80 percent of residents own a firearm, the case has collectors and dealers downplaying the shock at the number of items found.
But that still leaves the big question — how did a convicted felon get his hands on so many weapons?
Experts say even in these days of background checks and computer records, a number of methods still exist for a determined felon to obtain a gun.
It’s unknown why Dworak rebuilt his collection, or what he intended to do with it. His attorney, Keith Belzer, advised Dworak not speak to the media while the case is pending.
But he certainly isn’t alone in having a gun when he legally can’t. Twenty-six people were charged last year and six so far this year in La Crosse County Circuit Court as a felon in possession of a firearm.
“I don’t think we’re going to stop them from obtaining firearms,” said La Crosse police Capt. Mitch Brohmer. “Even if they put a total ban on firearms in the U.S., criminals would still get firearms.”
Some want them for power, others for protection, police said. Perhaps they’re hunters or, as Dworak claimed to be in 1992, hobby collectors.
They get them at gun shows. From private sellers or a licensed dealer who illegally skips the background check. Some families pass firearms down through generations. Even auctions, estate sales and garage sales can be potential places to buy a gun without worrying about a criminal record.
Some felons use the “straw purchase” method, sending an intermediary to a licensed dealer, said federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms spokeswoman Sherry Duval. She added that those who knowingly provide a felon with a firearm can be federally prosecuted.
Or they rob a gun store or private house, said La Crosse County Assistant District Attorney Todd Bjerke.
Felons also get guns through the criminal network. “That’s a big way to obtain them and that’s a major problem,” Brohmer said.
Sometimes they swap or sell drugs for firearms, which seem to go hand-in-hand, Brohmer said.
“A lot of people involved in drug use become paranoid and feel they need to be protected,” Bjerke said.
Brohmer, a detective for 11 years, doesn’t recall a case in which a felon was able to purchase a firearm at a local gun store, which are required to do background checks before making the sale.
But private individuals aren’t bound by the same requirement, Brohmer said, although it’s recommended by using the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access Web site.
The police department also can run the check for them, he added.
Someone who knowingly sells a firearm to a felon can face criminal charges, Bjerke said. But that can be a tough case to prove.
“If you were reckless in not finding it out, or if you should have known, there may be some ability to charge,” he said. “But we really have a burden of showing that you would have known or should have known that person was a felon.”
Whatever the method used, knowing felons are obtaining firearms can be frustrating to law enforcement, Brohmer said.
“I think it’s dangerous for these people to have the guns, because generally people that do commit the felonies are people that don’t use rational thought process and make improper choices and get convicted of crimes,” Bjerke said.
While Dworak faces charges for having the weapons — and some of the items he had, such as machine gun components and a silencer, are not legal for anyone to own — it’s not a crime for someone without a felony record to amass an extensive collection of firearms.
La Crosse has no ordinance that restricts the number of guns a resident can have at home.
La Crosse Mayor Mark Johnsrud, a former gun shop owner, estimated 70 percent of the city’s residents own firearms.
Wiebke Fur Co. manager Jeff Adamson thinks it’s about 80 percent.
“The area itself has a rich history in hunting,” he said.
Hunters may need a different gun for each animal they hunt, Adamson said.
He has 15 firearms at home. “That’s none, to me,” he said “And they all get shot at least once a year.”
Some enter their collections for prizes at gun shows. Collectors appreciate the history of antique guns, Adamson said, or acquire them as investment, to be sold later when the value increases.
Others have them just to have them.
“There’s no good cut-and-dry reason,” said Monsoor’s Sport Shop owner Roger Wendling. “They like them — it’s craftsmanship, they like to look at them.”
One La Crosse firearms fan said his collection, built over 25 years, now numbers 120 guns. He spoke under the condition his name not be used, he said, because his collection might make him a target for thieves.
Other area collectors cited the same fear in declining to be interviewed.
This collector hunts and target shoots. His collection includes everything from hunting and antique firearms to handguns, carrying price tags of $50 to thousands.
“Some I’ve honestly never used,” he said. “Some are just for the sake of having, partly because they fit in the niche.”
He adds two or three firearms each year. He even has two of the same gun, one synthetic and one wood.
“One’s for looks, the other for shooting,” he said.
He considers it a small collection, saying he knows individuals who have hundreds of weapons.
He has a display case at his home, but most of his guns are locked in a safe or stored at other locations he didn’t feel comfortable disclosing.
He can’t pinpoint exactly why he began amassing firearms. Some are necessary for a complete collection, he said, or could be considered an investment. Others were passed on to him.
A few, he said, he has just to have them.
“I don’t know if there’s any driving force,” he said. “It’s something I enjoy, therefore I do.”
The Dworak home inventory
La Crosse police say the following items were found in Thomas Dworak’s home at
2106 East Ave. S.:
About 50 firearms, including various caliber rifles and gauge shotguns, SKS rifles, high-powered rifles, handguns, a Mauser semi-automatic pistol, an Egyptian assault rifle, 37 mm grenade launcher, various machine gun kits and an Uzi 9 mm.
About 55,000 rounds of ammunition, including 7.62-caliber rounds; .223-caliber rounds; 30.06-caliber rounds; 8 mm rounds; .357-caliber rounds; .38 special caliber rounds; .380-caliber rounds; 9 mm rounds; .45-caliber rounds; .30-caliber carbine rounds; .30-.30 and .22-caliber rounds, 12-gauge shotgun rounds, both pellet and slug; 16-gauge shotgun rounds, both pellet and slug; 20-gauge shotgun rounds, both pellet and slug; .410-gauge shotgun rounds, both pellet and slug; and various rounds of foreign ammunition of unknown caliber.
Numerous multiple round magazines for a variety of weapons
At least one silencer
Ordnance, including hand grenades and detonation cord
About 500 grams of marijuana and drug paraphernalia
