Gun sale sting shows law gap

PHOTOGRAPHER: Justin Mason

At some point during the Cobleskill Gun Show last summer, John Malinowski allegedly sold a Colt 7.62 mm Sporter assault rifle to another man.

The Waterford man wasn’t a licensed dealer, but was legally allowed to sell the military-style weapon during the show. Only Malinowski completed the sale without requiring the buyer to submit to a mandatory criminal background check, according to an undercover investigator with the state Attorney General’s Office who posed as the purchaser.

And apparently, he wasn’t the only one at the two-day show willing to sell a firearm without running the prospective buyer’s name through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background check system. Investigators said Sam Savino of North Bellmore in Nassau County sold an Enfield military rifle to an undercover agent he met during the show.

Savino and Malinowski were among 10 individuals charged with unlawfully selling a firearm at a gun show, a misdemeanor-level violation of the state’s general business law.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman offered them as evidence that New York’s gun show operators have turned a blind eye to unlawful private transactions occurring during and around their exhibitions.

“This is a serious matter of public safety,” he said Wednesday during a news conference at the state Capitol. “The worst-kept secret in America is that guns are freely available to all at gun shows.”

Schneiderman said illegal sales were found to have occurred at all six gun shows investigators visited during the eight-month probe. In each instance, he said undercover investigators approached a seller claiming to have a circumstance — such as an order of protection for domestic violence — that would prevent them from being able to pass a criminal background check.

In some instances, Schneiderman said, the sellers scoffed at the concern about the background checks expressed by undercover investigators. He said some even casually suggested the gun shows as the right place to flout the law.

“This indicates to us that this is not an unusual occurrence,” he said.

Investigators visited two other gun shows in the greater Capital Region, one in Greenwich in May and another in Saratoga Springs. Two other area residents — Michael Ferrara of Saratoga Springs and David Cox of Stillwater — were charged with misdemeanor firearms violations. Neither could be reached for comment for this story.

A person answering the phone at Malinowski’s home said he isn’t commenting.

Gap in the law

Schneiderman has sent cease and desist letters to the operators hosting the six gun shows where the illegal sales were alleged, while issuing subpoenas to several others seeking documentation and testimony related to their events. He also called on state Legislature to address the lack of liability for gun show operators who allow sales without background checks.

“This is clearly pointing to a flaw in our laws,” he said.

Schneiderman’s announcement caught gun show proprietors and firearms advocates off guard. Tom King, the president of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, said the investigation is an effort by an ambitious anti-gun attorney general to shut down gun shows across the state.

“I think this whole thing is bogus,” he said. “Gun owners are legal and lawful people.”

King said one of the men charged later told him that the buyer never suggested he couldn’t pass a criminal background check. He suspected others didn’t realize they needed to go through the process for a private sale.

“They are all individuals who thought what they were doing was legal,” he said.

David Petronis, the operator of the gun shows in Saratoga Springs and Greenwich, said he follows the letter of the law during his exhibitions. He defended his licensed dealers, but said he can’t stop what happens once people leave his gun shows.

“I can’t follow those people outside to a McDonald’s parking lot and stop them from dealing,” he said. “That’s not my job. My job stops at the door.”

Petronis said the 200-plus dealers he hosts at the show also help ensure private sales are done legally. These dealers will often alert him when they suspect a private sale appears to be occurring without a background check.

“It’s a rarity that something like that escapes the dealers at our shows,” he said.

Seth Turner, the promoter of the gun show in Cobleskill, was baffled by Schneiderman’s assertion that two weapons were sold illegally. He said all people carrying a gun into the show must present their drivers’ license and can only get it back if they leave with the weapon or a receipt that shows they sold the weapon to someone who passed a background check.

“No gun is allowed to leave one of my gun shows unless its been through an NICS background check,” he said.