by Joseph P. Tartaro and J. David Truby
An easily obtained protection from abuse (PFA) order from a local court can open a Pandora’s box of complications, expense and grief if you are a gun collector on the wrong-side of such a ruling, which might even have been brought out of spite.
In March, Rick Bailey, a 56-year-old disabled Navy veteran in Glendale, AZ, came to that conclusion when his valuable gun collection was confiscated by police as a result of a dispute with a neighbor. The same month, Perry Semelsberger of Patton, PA, a 53-year-old gun collector, came to a similar conclusion when the Cambria County sheriff seized his collection of over 300 firearms. When the temporary PFA was later lifted by a local judge, the sheriff refused to return them unless their owner paid $1200 for the county’s expense in confiscating them.
Both PFAs appear to have been issued not because of any real danger to the complainants but out of spite in personal disputes.
In Bailey’s case it was filed by a neighbor with whom he had a running dispute over the parking of the man’s contracting trucks in the cul de sac where they both live. In Semelsberger’s case the complaint was filed by an estranged female acquaintance, who, while mentioning her concerns about personal safety, specifically mentioned his guns, and claims that some of them might be stolen.
In order to get his guns back, Bailey is going to court, with assistance from the Second Amendment Foundation, as TheGunMag.com reported earlier online and in the May print edition. Semelsberger’s case could end up there as well. Semelsberger has been contacted by representatives from the National Rifle Association and several attorneys , one of whom is Joshua Prince, who has a strong national reputation as a top gun rights lawyer. Prince and Semelsberger are currently discussing the case. but he was still trying to get his guns back by resolving the problem with the sheriff amicably.
The Johnstown Tribune-Democrat has reported that Cambria County Sheriff Bob Kolar said regarding the circumstances in the confiscation of Semelsberger’s collection:
“I had a court order and I was complying with that order.”
As for the $1,200 the man must pay to cover what Kolar described as only a portion of the cost associated with the confiscation, the price tag is higher than average, but is not unusual, the sheriff told the newspaper.
Prince said that while the sheriff may have the power to assess fees for his department’s costs related to protection from abuse, the law is designed to protect gunowners against confiscation.
“The individual with no ability to pay (the assessment) is being deprived of his right to keep and bear arms,” Princesaid, according to the Tribune-Democrat.
At a subsequent hearing, a county judge not only denied a request from the woman for a more permanent PFA , but vacated the temporary order that prompted the gun confiscation.
In the end, none of the guns was stolen. They had all been documented by their owner, and were cleared through the National Crime Information Center of the FBI.
Semelsberger , who has no criminal background or record, said he would not discuss details of the PFA part of the case other than to say it “was ludicrous and made no sense…the judge threw it out.”
He told a representative of TGM that he is going to make one last personal contact with the Cambria County sheriff to see if they can settle this “legal mistake amicably amongst ourselves and get my collection back safely and in the same condition as when they took them.”
Possibly due to the stress involved in the case, Semelsberger suffered a heart attack in mid-April and was Life-flighted to an Altoona, PA, hospital for emergency care. He was released to home care the following week.
