Oregon trio indicted on gun sale charges

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Oregon trio indicted on gun sale chargesThis story was published 12/28/2001By Mary HopkinHerald Valley bureauWESTON, Ore. -- A federal grand jury has indicted three Weston residents on charges they illegally sold firearms.Viktor Mascak, his girlfriend Beatrice "Jo" Lowe and Mascak's son, Jamie Mascak, face 56 charges that include giving false statements to authorities and selling firearms without a license.According to the indictment, at least five guns sold by Viktor Mascak were used in crimes committed by others.Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms raided the Tollgate Mountain home of Viktor Mascak and Lowe last January, seizing 118 firearms after tracking the conduct of the three at gun shows throughout Eastern Oregon and Washington.The grand jury said evidence shows the couple lied on some federal forms, overstating the number of guns sold, and failed to complete required forms on other sales.In addition, the indictment says Viktor Mascak and Lowe attended 33 gun shows as dealers and sold firearms, but neither held a dealer's license at the time. They also unwittingly sold guns to federal agents without filling out required paperwork, the indictment says.Several guns involved in Mid-Columbia incidents have been traced back to the three, including a handgun carried to Hanford Middle School last May by a 13-year-old Richland student.Another gun, originally sold to Lowe by Jamie Mascak in 1998, was recovered by the Walla Walla Police Department last March after it was used in a bank robbery."Viktor (Mascak) has been illegally putting a lot of guns on the street," said federal agent Mike Stewart in a July interview. "That kind of gun ends up on the street."Mascak has said he is simply a gun enthusiast who has been collecting firearms since he first came to the United States from Czechoslovakia in 1962.Federal records indicate that in the last five years, Mascak has bought nearly 200 guns from his son, who is federally licensed to sell firearms. But when agents raided Mascak's home, they found only 10 of the guns he bought from his son.The rest of the weapons seized were part of his private collection, he said."I have a truckload of witnesses that knew those guns had never been up for sale," Mascak said. "They were old history weapons -- old Winchesters and Remingtons."Mascak said he will appear in federal court in Portland on Jan. 10 for arraignment and to enter a plea and is looking forward to a jury trial, where he can tell his side of the story."I didn't come to this country to have my guns taken away from me," he said. "I've seen the Gestapo before." http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/2001/1228/story2.html