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Suspect In WV Sheriff Shooting Legally Ineligible To Own Guns
By: Associated Press
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A prosecutor says a man accused of killing a West Virginia sheriff bought several guns – not just one – after he had been determined legally ineligible to own them.
Mingo County Prosecutor Michael Sparks says the purchases were made after February 2010, when 37-year-old Tennis Maynard was deemed ineligible. Sparks hasn't said why Maynard wasn't allowed to own a gun, but the suspect's father says Maynard had mental problems and had been institutionalized.
Federal law prohibits the sale of firearms and ammunition to certain individuals with a history of mental illness.
But a state database that shares such information with a national background-check system wasn't operational until January 2011. Sparks says Maynard's purchases were made before then, including the weapon allegedly used to shooting Sheriff Eugene Crum in Williamson.