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.
That is true. Still, citizens should have an informed opinion about USSC ruling and whether or not they are being true to the written Constitution.
I often disagree with them but if they decide it's OK to take these guns, then it's OK. That's the breaks.
Does asset forfeiture such as this violate any aspect of the Constitution, according to how you read and understand the Constitution?
I do not advocate illegal drug use at all, but I agree and I don't think it is right to take all their firearms away over something like this.
Give them any reason at all and they will take your guns away in a heartbeat.
It is fair game to ask a poster for their opinion on an issue which they are discussing, be it abortion or the constitutionality of a law.
IMO.
I don't know why the heck you are bringing up "anarchy" and "Quixotic warriors".
What's that got to do with someone's opinion on whether the USSC is ruling according to the written Constitution?
I appreciate the explanation of why you hold your positions. I was interested in what one of those positions was.
Thanks for the discussion, I'm off to bed.
Good night.
I will not tolerate the presence of illegal drugs in my home or vehicle. My friends know this, and the rare few who might partake will not compromise me by having drugs in their posession when they come to visit.
Does go to show that the drug test doesn't seem to be working very well, though--at least in this instance.
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