State Police Superintendent Col. David B. Mitchell reassigned administrators in charge of licensing yesterday after delays in criminal background checks allowed 54 guns to be purchased by criminals and others ineligible to own handguns.
The decision comes in the wake of revelations about a five-month backlog in performing 1,500 background checks required for Marylanders who buy pistols. People convicted of crimes as diverse as attempted rape and simple drug possession were able to get guns.
All but one of the 54 guns bought illegally in recent months have been retrieved by state police and local law enforcement agencies.
Capt. Greg Shipley, state police spokesman, said yesterday that the personnel changes are the result of information discovered during the investigation into the backlog.
Shipley, however, declined to give specific reasons for each transfer or divulge the information discovered during the investigation.
"These were administrative transfers," he said. "They were not demotions or a result of disciplinary action."
Mitchell issued a statement in which he said, "I am committed to ensuring that every aspect of the Maryland State Police is operating in a manner that efficiently adheres to Department regulations and procedures."
Del. PeterFranchot, a Democrat from Montgomery County, said he was pleased with Mitchell's action and hoped that it would prevent a recurrence.
"From everyone's standpoint what happened was unacceptable -- it was a letdown in management, and allowed shady individuals access to firearms," said Franchot, who serves as chair of the public safety and administrative subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.
The changes are:
Lt. Col. Cynthia R. Smith, chief of the Support Services Bureau, will switch places with Lt. Col. David W. Czorapinski, chief of Administrative Services.
Maj. Steven T. Rupard, assistant bureau chief of the Support Services Bureau, will exchange positions with Maj. Frank D. Moran, in the Field Operations Bureau, Western Region's office.
Capt. Earl B. Bredenburg was transferred from his position as commander of the Licensing Division to commander of the Facilities Management Division. He was replaced by Capt. C. Thomas Bowers, who has been serving as the head of the Maryland State Police Crime Gun Enforcement Initiative.
The Licensing Division is under the Support Services Bureau.
State police have blamed the delays in background checks on a new computer system.
Shipley said no evidence exists that any of the guns sold illegally were used in violent crimes, but local police departments have begun their own investigations. Baltimore police said they were looking at significant leads to determine if any of the weapons were used in crimes.
The process for purchasing guns is standard across Maryland. Gun buyers fill out applications and merchants notify the state police, who in turn run criminal background checks on the buyers.
People convicted of felonies, certain misdemeanors, and domestic violence cannot own handguns. People with histories of mental illness, drug or alcohol abuse, and people younger than 21 also are prohibited from buying guns.
A seven-day waiting period begins when an applicant makes a down payment on a weapon. When the seven-day waiting period expires, a gun purchaser can pick up the merchandise -- even if the criminal background check results aren't available.
Several gun sellers contacted this week say that they still are not receiving timely background checks. Shipley said that no backlog exists and that state police detectives are making calls and visits to the shops of the sellers to update them on the status of the checks.
The problem of backlogged criminal background checks is not new. An audit, released in January of last year, of how state police processed handgun applications in 1995 showed that delays occurred then, too.
The agency did not approve 344 of the 32,697 applications for gun ownership that year. Auditors randomly chose 25 of those rejected applications and found that 14 had been up to three months late. Three guns had to be retrieved from convicted criminals who had illegally purchased them.
State police have been unable to say how many applications they have processed and how many requests for gun ownership were denied this year.
State legislators learned of the troubles with the criminal checks after Del. Cheryl C. Kagan, a Montgomery County Democrat, became aware of the backlog during a recent hearing in Annapolis.
"I'm hopeful that these changes will make a difference, but I am still worried," Kagan said yesterday. "This problem needed to be fixed years ago. I am worried that the title changes are a public-relations attempt to reassure the public, but the public can only be reassured by timely background checks."
On Friday, the state police released the names of 27 convicted criminals who have been charged with filing a false application to buy a firearm and perjury after allegedly buying guns illegally.
Pub Date: 3/21/99