Posted on 11/03/2013 7:10:20 AM PST by Kip Russell
A Lockport man who found himself at the center of controversy two weeks ago when he was charged under an unpopular section of the SAFE Act, limiting ammunition in a magazine, has been ordered by a Niagara County judge to hand over his pistol permit and all his handguns.
Paul A. Wojdan, 26, of Parkwood Drive, was a passenger in a vehicle pulled over by Lockport police Oct. 12, when he was charged after surrendering a loaded semiautomatic handgun in a holster retrieved from the glove compartment.
Although the gun was legal, the ammunition wasn’t. He had 10 rounds of 9 mm ammunition in the magazine, violating the new law, which limits a magazine to seven rounds. He was charged with unlawful possession of an ammunition feeding device, a misdemeanor.
Last weekend, Niagara County sheriff’s deputies were sent to Wojdan’s home to confiscate his pistol permit and handguns.
Wojdan told deputies he had received a “notice of objection” from the Niagara County Pistol Permit Office. Handguns seized included a Glock 9 mm pistol, a Walther .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol, a Springfield 40-caliber semiautomatic pistol, a GSG .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol and an Iver Johnson .22-calber semiautomatic pistol.
Niagara County Pistol Permit Investigator William Ingham said that it was a judicial decision to suspend Wojdan’s pistol permit and that both the suspension and gun seizure were unrelated to the state’s controversial Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act.
Ingham said that in “any arrest, a permit is subject to a review.”
“Guns are seized for a number of reasons, from domestic violence to mental health,” said Niagara County Chief Deputy Steven Preish. “In this case it sounds like his arrest in the city probably triggered the Pistol Permit Office review.”
The night of the arrest, Wojdan’s wife, Tanisha D. Wojdan, was pulled over for speeding, driving 44 mph in a 30-mph zone, on South Transit Street near Strauss Road. Police said she failed to pull over immediately, leading an officer on a brief chase from Willow Street into the city to Strauss Road in the Town of Lockport. She also was driving without a license, police said. Oficer Adam Piedmont asked the two about weapons, and Paul Wojdan was arrested after he turned over his handgun.
State police have released a field guide for troopers addressing SAFE Act issues, including magazines and what constitutes an assault weapon.
The guide notes that if a person produces a permit and there is no indication of unlawful conduct, an inspection is unnecessary.
Troopers are told to secure the weapon temporarily for the duration of the stop and return it to the motorist at the conclusion of the encounter.
After the stop two weeks ago, Lockport City Police Chief Lawrence M. Eggert said this was the first time the department had made a SAFE Act arrest.
The incident triggered an outburst on social media.
“One of the comments said, ‘When are you going to start loading people into cattle cars?’ ” Eggert said.
But Eggert defended the actions of his officer.
Wojdan, who appears on his Facebook site as a supporter of gun rights and has posted a number of pictures of himself carrying weapons, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. He has posted $250 bail and will return to City Court on Nov. 6.
He should have said that he lost the rest of his handguns at the bottom of the lake during a boating accident. B-P
Th Cuomnonistas NAZI`s want to start a war over guns here
and those SOB`s are goona get their wish very very soon come true.
I think I see his mistake.
I just had 4 people break into my house. You tell me what good six rounds would have done if it came down to that?
People of New York State had no say whatsoever in this illegal unconstitutional law.
But it will soon be rectified by the people
but not with paper bullets.
According to a gun grabber I was recently arguing with, anyone who ever needs more than 1 round to take down any target under any circumstances is a "rotten shot" who can't be trusted with a firearm.
Yeah. They really do think that way.
Very true. I call it having to wallow in their own self created toilet.
Someone making that statement does not “think”.
No offense to anyone, but unless Mr. Wojdan was intending to make an issue out of this..had lawyers lined up and his defenses all mapped out, he should have followed the law.
He had to know that a 10 round mag was a problem in NY. Now he is, not by choice, in the system and if he is not prepared, his property & freedom are in jeopardy.
Freedom battles must be fought with the same care that the other side takes...or there must be so many of us engaging in civil disobedience that it is impossible for “authorities” to act.
But, let me tell ya, in those circumstances.
1. Your hands aint doing what the brain tells them to do so much
2. Sometimes the brain isn't recalling basic information so easily.
Ofcourse, I am sure most lib know it alls have never found themselves in such situations. If they did, they probably wouldn't be liberals. ( I was in the house at the time)
the second amendment was not written to protect hunting, self defense or anything other than to allow the people the weapons necessary to overthrow a government gone rogue..
read the federalist papers..
the purpose of the second amendment was to allow the citizens to possess the exact type of weaponry the military possesses...
therefore, machine guns, grenades, rocket launchers, aircraft warships and any other weapons the military possesses, WE are not only allowed to possess, but it is our duty to possess them..
i will now wait for the idiot that asks if nukes are included in this..
question is, would our government use nukes on the citizens in an overthrow of a government gone rogue???
if the answer is yes, then citizens do indeed have the right to possess nuclear weapons...
I continually hear the argument that one lives in other parts of the state that they are unlike New York City. Sorry to tell you folks, the stench permeates the entire state. Leave now before they come to put you in a concentration camp.
From most news that I see of cops shooting at suspects(?) their ratio is about 65 to 1. Most cops spray and pray.
Usually the hits are on dogs, bystanders, cars, flower pots and a sundry other innocent items.
http://nypost.com/2013/09/15/cops-accidentally-shoot-two-bystanders-while-trying-to-subdue-man/
I agree. I am from upstate. The rest of the country is just catching up to the cess pool I left 20 years ago. I can’t imagine what it is like now.
Except it's a felony in NY not to promptly report a lost or stolen handgun.
x2 joe.
And for people saying well, we put restrictions on the 1st Amendment. Yes we do but anyone can still yell, "fire" in a crowded theater, but sane people won't. Just like sane people won't open up with a machine gun in that same theater.
and then they would have trashed his house
Who is the idiot that allowed the search of the car?
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