Investigators say gun belonged to man involved in shooting ...

FAIRFIELD -- A man who investigators say wounded a sheriff's deputy before killing himself Saturday had his guns taken away from him by police last month -- but one apparently slipped through the cracks.

Ray Weaver, 60, of Wendell owned the .357 magnum revolver that was used in the shootings, said Gooding County Sheriff Shaun Gough.

Weaver on July 29 was supposed to have turned every gun he owned over to officers in connection with a charge of violating a civil protection order, Wendell Police Chief Dave Fisher said.

Weaver that day did hand over 11 guns -- including a .357 magnum pistol, Fisher said. Those guns were still at the Wendell Police Department Tuesday.

So how Weaver came to have a revolver in his pickup on Saturday, when Camas County Deputy Michael John "Buzz" Chapman was shot once in the abdomen, wasn't yet clear Tuesday, Camas County Sheriff Keith Rast said.

"It could have come from anywhere," he said. Officials say Chapman was following up on reports that somebody matching Weaver's description had been driving recklessly near Fairfield and found Weaver at his camper trailer near the Trapper's Inn resort about 25 miles north of Fairfield. Chapman spoke with Weaver for a short time. But when Chapman began arrest procedures on a charge of driving under the influence, Weaver suddenly reached into his pickup, pulled out the revolver and fired a volley of four shots before killing himself instantly with a single shot to the head, according to reports.

Weaver might have been able to hide the revolver when officers came to his house on July 29, Gough said. That's because when guns are seized in many such cases, officers have only a court order -- which does not carry the same weight as a search warrant, Gough said. "On a domestic situation, we don't actually go in and search for the guns," he said. "We get a court order, on some, to have them hand over the weapons."

So officers must in good faith count on defendants to bring the guns to them or voluntarily surrender them at or near their doors, Gough said.

The court order in Weaver's case stemmed from a July 10 charge of domestic battery, Fisher said. After reports that Weaver had repeatedly ignored a restraining order tied to the battery case, he was on July 28 arrested on a charge of violating a civil protection order. As a condition of his release, Weaver was required through a court order to hand his guns over to police. Weaver on July 29 told officers that the 11 guns he handed over were all he had, Fisher said.

The director of a local battered women's shelter confirmed that the law does not allow search and seizure in many cases. A suspect is ordered only to hand over his weapons for the period a restraining order is in effect, said Deb Gabardi, director of the Magic Valley Crisis Center for domestic abuse victims in Twin Falls.

Even so, federal law states that officers can -- upon reasonable suspicion -- ask the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms or a local judge to issue a search warrant to allow them to look for more guns, she said. "There is recourse. Unfortunately, I think the law officers are often too overworked to deal this all this," she said.

Gabardi said her office has encountered cases of people found in possession of weapons who were supposed to have turned their guns over.

And although those people were already in trouble for violating court orders, the crisis center has also asked police to go after search warrants to make sure all their guns are taken away, Gabardi said.

Chapman, 52, on Tuesday was still at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, where he underwent surgery Saturday for his gunshot wound. But a hospital spokeswoman said all reports of his condition had been referred to the Camas County Sheriff's Office.

Rast on Tuesday said Chapman was continuing to improve, in good spirits and expected to make a full recovery.

Fisher said he had visited Chapman, who also serves as a reserve officer with his department. "The Chapman family asks that they and the Weaver family be in the prayers of the community," Fisher said.

I'm shocked! Don't we have gun control laws that will prevent this sort of thing? Didn't somebody tell this guy that he wasn't allowed to do this?

Just out of curiosity, where did all of this happen? I don't recognize any of the place names given.

What I found particularly interesting was the lamentation by the director of the battered women's shelter that LEOs do not always have the power to search and seize all guns possessed by all those subject to restraining orders.

"The gun can just be a threat, but you don't want to take a chance,"

It seems her answer is to take them all.

This is in Camas county, Idaho. The little town of Fairfield is approximately 60 miles northwest of Twin Falls, as the crow flies.

The closest "large" town would be Gooding, approximately 25+ miles to the south.

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