Wis. / Owner of seized guns charged

[hammAR]

Hudson, Wis. / Owner of seized guns charged
BY DAVID HANNERS
Pioneer Press
12/21/2007

Man says he was hobbyist; feds say he was illegal dealer

A man who had 21 guns seized from his Hudson, Wis., home has been charged with lying to gun dealers and selling firearms without a license.

Steven Jay Novick, 52, was named in a 28-count indictment returned Tuesday by a federal grand jury. The charges come a month after federal agents took several firearms from his home, including revolvers, pistols, a shotgun and a derringer.

A day before he was indicted, Novick filed a claim in federal court to get the guns back.

Novick is not in custody and has a court appearance scheduled for Jan. 3.

Said his attorney, Minneapolis lawyer Jon Hopeman: "He's an honorably discharged armed services veteran, and he intends to fight this with all the resources at his command. He wasn't in the firearms business. He's in the auto sales business. The law doesn't say you can't buy and sell guns as a hobby."

Federal authorities have claimed Novick's trafficking in firearms was more than a hobby.

In an affidavit filed in connection with the earlier seizure, an agent claimed that between 2002 and February 2007, Novick bought 98 guns, six of them later recovered by police in Minnesota in criminal cases, including a drive-by shooting in St. Paul in 2003.

In the affidavit, Special Agent David Frazier Carriker of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives portrays Novick as a car salesman who had an un-licensed firearms business on the side, often sold cheap guns to people with criminal records and asked few questions of buyers.

"For his part, Novick stated that he asks customers for their driver's license and if they have been convicted of a felony," Carriker stated.

The seizure was a civil action, but the charges in the indictment allege criminal acts. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of the seized weapons.

The indictment includes a single count of selling firearms without a license and 27 counts of making false statements to licensed firearms dealers - one count each for 27 handguns Novick allegedly bought from Dec. 12, 2003, through Feb. 19 of this year.

On a government form he filled out for each purchase, he stated that he intended to buy the guns for himself, but he actually planned to sell the weapons, the government alleges.

The 27 firearms comprised 17 pistols and 10 revolvers.

According to Carriker's earlier affidavit, Novick worked at a car lot in Woodbury and would sell guns to some of the people who came to the dealership. It was claimed that he also sold guns to friends of one of his sons, who is a convicted felon.

Federal records show Novick bought 31 guns in 2002, and his purchases prompted federal authorities to tell him he either needed to get a dealer's license or face prosecution. Novick had told investigators he was a hobbyist, not a dealer. In his affidavit, Carriker took issue with that claim.

"Over 75 percent of the firearms purchased by Novick retailed at less than $170. This information is not consistent with firearms being purchased by an individual purchaser for enhancement of his personal collection," the agent wrote. "Based on my experience, and the experience of other law enforcement officers, these types of fairly inexpensive firearms are used in connection with criminal conduct more frequently than more expensive firearms."

Novick stopped buying guns until October 2003, the affidavit claims. From that month to February of this year, though, federal records show he bought 67 firearms.

David Hanners can be reached at dhanners@pioneerpress.com or 612-338-6516.

[Motobob]

Well, he's from WI and it doesn't involve dead animals, that's a plus ???

[mnxd9]

Well, he's from WI and it doesn't involve dead animals, that's a plus ???

Always kind of consider humans a animals, more or less anyways.... Soundy shady, atleast from the news report.....

[Andrew Rothman]

"Over 75 percent of the firearms purchased by Novick retailed at less than $170. This information is not consistent with firearms being purchased by an individual purchaser for enhancement of his personal collection," the agent wrote. "Based on my experience, and the experience of other law enforcement officers, these types of fairly inexpensive firearms are used in connection with criminal conduct more frequently than more expensive firearms."

So now there's a law against having a "crappy gun" collection? So glad we live in a free country.

[aviator]

If my math isn't too far off, he purchased just over an average of one gun per month. Hmmm! Where have we heard that before?

[hammAR]

So glad we live in a free country.

You haven't been alive that long to remember that..................

[goalie]

I'm trying to think if I have ever bought ANY firearm with my C&R license that was MORE than 175 dollars????

I don't think so. Let's see:

Mosin Nagant rifles were about 75 bucks
Lee-Enfield's were going for about 100-125
Yugo Mausers were under 100 bucks
A like-new SKS of the Yugo variety was 150 bucks


I could go on, but why?

[Ramoel]

I don't think buying guns is a problem no matter how many or how often. You start to get noticed when you begin selling. As far as I know, it's BATFE that decides whether or not you are an "unlicensed dealer", not some predetermined number of transactions.

If you sell a gun to someone and later it's traced back to you because of a crime, more than likely they will review your history of gun sales. That's why it's smart to only sell to someone with a purchase/carry permit.

[Fast351]

Man says he was hobbyist; feds say he was illegal dealer

A man who had 21 guns seized from his Hudson, Wis. ....

Rut roh...

Time to go boating with all my firearms...

[ttousi]

Man says he was hobbyist; feds say he was illegal dealer

A man who had 21 guns seized from his Hudson, Wis. ....

Rut roh...

Time to go boating with all my firearms...

like crossing the river to Hudson?