SIMI VALLEY : Owner Believed Pen Pistols Were Legal

The owner of a Simi Valley gun store who was selling pistols disguised to look like pens believed the weapons were legal based on documents provided by the manufacturer, the store owner’s attorney said Wednesday.

Westlake Village lawyer Philip R. Dunn said Steve Cotter, owner of Hilldale Discount Gun Sales Inc., is considering filing a civil lawsuit against Simi Valley police for raiding his store July 22 and seizing business records, two sets of illegal brass knuckles and a locked safe. Police had a search warrant for that raid.

On July 16, police seized three .25-caliber pen pistols from the store.

“They’re ruining their business all for selling a firearm that’s legal,” Dunn said.

But Simi Valley Police Lt. Mark Layhew said the state Department of Justice considers the sale and possession of the pen pistols a violation of California criminal law that bans firearms not readily recognizable as guns.

Layhew would not otherwise comment on the case, which he said they may take to the Ventura County district attorney’s office in the next 10 days. The district attorney’s office will then decide whether to file charges against Cotter.

Dunn said Cotter’s belief that the guns are legal is based on two documents he received from the weapon’s manufacturer, American Derringer Corp. of Waco, Tex.

One is a letter from the company president citing a conversation with the state attorney general’s office. The other is a letter from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, which does not comment on the gun’s legal status in California, police said.