Posted on 09/16/2002 7:24:13 PM PDT by tarawa
Owners may not get guns back
By JIM DALGLEISH / H-P City Editor
SODUS - None of the 36 guns seized in February at a Sodus Township home were illegal, federal authorities say, but the owners still may not get them back.
Because police found less than a half-ounce of marijuana, the U.S. Attorney's Office has launched civil forfeiture proceedings to keep the guns and 28,359 rounds of ammunition, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Delaney said from his Grand Rapids office. He said felony criminal charges could follow if prosecutors conclude the owners lied on gun registration forms when answering standard questions about possible drug use.
Tricia Carrie-LaVanway Bauer, who owns the guns with her father, David LaVanway, and her husband, Blaine, said the marijuana possession was a fluke, a one-time occurrence.
"Just one time, and they're going to take 36 guns away? C'mon ...," she said.
She said that the guns are worth between $25,000 and $30,000 and that authorities seized only 8,000 rounds with bullets. The rest were primers.
"Eight-thousand rounds isn't much when it's divided by (36) guns," she said.
All 36 guns were fully registered and were often used in gun safety training, LaVanway Bauer said. The Bauers say they are gun instructors, with certifications from the National Rifle Association and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
LaVanway Bauer said the couple cannot teach gun safety without firearms.
Police found a small amount of marijuana in her purse when her car was stopped Feb. 26 at Hillandale and Watson roads in Sodus Township.
The then-Coloma schools substitute bus driver pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of having carried the drugs in a school zone. Coloma's bus garage is next to the high school. The drug charge cost her the job.
She said she had never failed a state-mandated bus driver drug test.
During the home raid, authorities seized 0.42 ounces of marijuana from David LaVanway's bedroom. The amount would make no more than three joints, she said.
She said her father had not used marijuana for years and had been given the drugs by a friend who occasionally stops by the house.
She said her father was not a drug user when he registered six guns about seven years ago through the Berrien County Sheriff's Department.
The Bauers and LaVanway live in the house, which sits on 3.2 acres along Lett Road in a rural part of the township. LaVanway Bauer said her grandmother owns the house.
She said surrounding property owners for years have tried to buy the house so they could divide up the property, and her family's refusal to sell may have prompted neighbors to fabricate stories for police.
Neighbors first called the sheriff's department in March 2001 to report automatic gunfire, drug sales and militia activity, according to an affidavit by Special Agent James Walsh of the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.
Other people quoted in the report alleged they saw automatic weapons, a silencer - an illegal gun accessory - a large truck with marijuana and human-shaped targets.
But investigators found no evidence to support those claims, Delaney said.
LaVanway Bauer said there was no evidence because no such things were ever at the home.
Much of ATF agent Walsh's report is drawn from sheriff's Detective Lt. David Chandler's interviews with four people, identified in Walsh's report only as "concerned neighbor" or "confidential source."
LaVanway Bauer said the anonymity of the sources is irksome.
"I think they (the sources) should have to come out," she said. "They have destroyed our lives over a bunch of gossip."
She said county and federal authorities needed only to knock on their door to inspect their guns, house and land. Instead, they sought federal warrants and performed a full-fledged raid Feb. 26.
Blaine Bauer was arrested nearby as he was driving home in his tow truck. Police found a handgun behind his seat.
LaVanway Bauer said the gun was registered, legally carried and contained no rounds. Bauer used the gun for shooting behind the tow truck service's garage while waiting for calls.
Nonetheless, he pleaded no contest to a concealed weapons charge and was sentenced to one year's probation. The charge could be dismissed if he meets probation terms.
Assistant Berrien County Prosecutor Caryn Hebets said testimony showed the gun was accessible for Bauer from the driver's seat and that it was not properly cased. Hebets said Bauer told the court he had the gun in the truck for four or five days.
For trucks, state law says a gun must be in a locked case designed for guns, the ammunition must be kept separate, and the gun can only be carried directly to and from shooting ranges.
"You can't carry it around in your vehicle indefinitely," Hebets said.
BS aside .......... Great Read eh Ern !!
Stay Safe !
"What did I do"?
"It's right there, Code 486.345a. 'Sneezing and thereby allowing bodily fluids (phlegm) to soil the public sidewalk'. You were observed doing this, by an anonymous source."
But, I didn't know it was illegal!!!"
"Ignorance of the Law is no excuse. Since you admit the violation, summary judgement is 90 days incarceration; $25,000 fine and forefieture of your life savings."
"You're f%$#&^ing nuts!"
"Resisting an officer of the Law. Add 10 years to your sentence."
I'm going to donate to the public library here and then see if they put i on the shelf.
Actually I've been thinking of going down to the Library and complaining (politely the first couple of times) about the fact that they have no, none, zero hunting, fishing, or shooting magazine subscriptions.
They have the English language version of some French Commie newspaper which I'm sure gets a lot of traffic.
I know there are lots huntersand shooters around here. I'm going to even bring down some issues of Soldier of Fortune and some gun mags to show them the safety articles in the gun mags and the war reporting and sex slave trade articles in SOF.
Probably be lucky to get a smile out of them but it's worth a try.
Ernie
I think with PETA losing their tax exempt status and you dropping a bunch of gun rags in the local socialist reading room a criticality could occur up there :o)
Tell em now that Rosie's magazine rag has gone bottom up (I know its a big bottom) they can buy SOF , Predator , 4 Wheeler ect ect.........
Stay Safe
Most mandatory drug tests are pre-hire and post-accident. "Random tests" are expensive, and become lawsuit bait if everyone isn't randomly tested at once. Quite possible to pass the test and be a user, just stay clean before the initial test, and don't get in a wreck.
BTW, most jurisdictions frown on having a drunk behind the wheel, too. (No CDL, No Chauffer's license with DUI). Mere posession of booze is not a crime if you are not a minor(unless you are driving wih an open container in many states). Drugs are a different story.
There are far better test cases, where someone had marijuana growing on some remote corner of a large property, and lost their guns, even though a quite credible case could be made that they were unaware of the presence of the plants.
You want a test case, go there, not flying the flag for folks who knew they were in violation of the law.
I agree in many cases that performance on the job should be the main criterion, but some jobs are considered important enough, or to have a great enough potential for disaster that a condition of employment is not using drugs, or abusing alcohol. Sea Captains, Commercial Truck Drivers (D.O.T.), and Airline Pilots are all examples of occupations in which the standard for intoxication is 0.04% B.A.C., not the 0.08 to 0.10 % for ordinary drivers. We as a culture consider a busload of schoolchildren important enough that we expect a higher standard of behaviour.
Or should we wait for the wreck to decide there might be a problem?
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