Authorities say enforcing order restraining weapons not easy

[Lucky45]

Authorities say enforcing orders restraining weapons is not easy
By MICHAEL A. SCARCELLA
HERALD TRIBUNE
michael.scarcella@heraldtribune.com

BRADENTON, FL -- By law, Mark W. Koenigs was not supposed to have a gun. His Bradenton neighbor got a restraining order against him this summer compelling Koenigs to stay away and to surrender any firearms. Koenigs, authorities say, did not turn in a single gun after he was served court papers.
The provision to relinquish firearms in domestic and repeat-violence civil cases carries little weight because it simply asks the person who is being restrained to comply. Authorities do not routinely search homes for guns. "It's nice that they have that in there, but all you can do is ask them for any guns," Manatee County sheriff's spokesman Dave Bristow said Friday. "Every now and then someone will give one up. But it doesn't happen that often."
Koenigs, 54, whom his neighbor describes as mentally deranged, is accused of shooting prominent Holmes Beach businesswoman and community leader Sue Normand in her store last week. Normand is recovering in a hospital in St. Petersburg. Koenigs is expected to be charged with aggravated assault and attempted murder. The motive for the shooting remains unclear, nor is it known where Koenigs got the 9 mm handgun allegedly used in the shooting. His neighbor in Bradenton, Ramona Brunner, said authorities should have done more to find out whether Koenigs had any guns.
"That's the law. They knew he had a gun," Brunner, 59, said in an interview Friday. "It makes me upset. If they know he has a gun, they should search his house and his vehicle to get it." But authorities say only a search warrant will allow an inspection of a house if a person refuses to let an officer inside. Restraining orders do not give police the power to enter a person's home to seize firearms. Trying to block a person from getting a gun on the street -- say, from a garage sale or from a friend -- is nearly impossible.
"You can pick up a gun almost anywhere," Bradenton Beach Police Detective Sgt. Lenard Diaz said Friday. "There's no way to stop that. If you want a gun, ask around and you'll be able to find one." Diaz was the lead investigator in a murder-suicide in Bradenton Beach in August 2006.
The shooter, Orland Nathan Hanks, 32, killed his ex-girlfriend near the Longboat Pass drawbridge. The victim had a restraining order against Hanks, who fatally shot himself. The shooting ended a tumultuous relationship.
In Charlotte County this year, 31-year-old Yana Huss,, a longtime victim of domestic violence, was fatally stabbed by her husband in their Port Charlotte home, authorities say. Scott Huss surrendered some firearms, authorities say. But Yana Huss accused him of hiding others. "We explain to victims the whole gun part. When law enforcement serves an injunction, let them know he has weapons in the house and where they are," said Laurel Lynch, director of Hope Family Services, a domestic violence advocacy center in Bradenton. "Even at that, law enforcement doesn't always get them. There is no foolproof system for handling that."
A person with an injunction for domestic or repeat violence cannot purchase a firearm.
Once an injunction has been served, court clerks forward the information to law enforcement and the restraining order is entered into state and national criminal databases. In repeat violence cases, the victim must prove two incidents of violence such as stalking, battery and assault. One act of violence, no matter how serious, is not enough to get a repeat-violence restraining order.
Brunner, who lives across the street from Koenigs, was unable to get a restraining order against Koenigs in April. But she got one in July. Prosecutors in August charged Koenigs with criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, for reportedly damaging a fountain in Brunner's yard. But the state attorney's office declined to file a stalking charge, saying there was not enough evidence to do so. Brunner showed prosecutors video tapes she made of Koenigs following her. A gas station surveillance tape shows Koenigs confronting Brunner. But authorities said the evidence was insufficient. After the restraining order was filed, Koenigs was prohibited from coming within 100 feet of Brunner's car, and he was banned from all communication. Violating a restraining order can end up in an arrest.
"Overall, it's been our experience we don't have great success generally in terms of enforcement of injunctions," Lynch said. "Typically, if a person is gong to violate it, it's usually in a big way and then it's too late. If they violate it in a little way, there's often not enough evidence to prove it."

Last modified: December 09. 2007 12:00AM

Does TX have any provisions in the law similar to this???

[srothstein]

AS far as I know, the closest to this in Texas would be PC 46.04(c). This makes it illegal for anyone other than a peace officer to possess a firearm while they are the subject of a protective order. This would apply to family violence or sexual assault cases only.

I have no idea why peace officers are exempted. Federal law bans it for them also, so they still cannot carry or possess a firearm if they are under a protective order.