Report: Gun sale by Reno police officer didn’t break laws

RENO — No laws were broken and no charges will be filed against a Reno police sergeant or a 19-year-old mentally ill man who purchased a handgun from her in July, authorities said.

The Reno Gazette-Journal reported that the investigation conducted by the Sparks Police Department and released Wednesday found that neither former Reno police Sgt. Laura Conklin nor the man violated the law.

The man responded to an online ad and bought the weapon from Conklin on July 2 after meeting her at a Starbucks at 4 a.m. while she was on duty. The young man’s mother, Jill Schaller, was upset by the transaction and contacted officials because her son has Asperger’s syndrome and is periodically suicidal.

A judge had placed the young man under guardianship of his parents in July 2012 because of his mental illness, thus prohibiting him from possessing a gun.

Schaller demanded that he return the gun once they were back in Reno from their Fourth of July vacation. After an emotional scene involving Washoe County sheriff’s deputies, Conklin bought the gun back.

Reno police Chief Steve Pitts asked Sparks police to review the case for any possible charges.

“Through my investigation I have found that according to state and federal law, Laura Conklin is not required to perform a background check on an individual wishing to obtain a firearm via private party transfer,” Sparks police Detective Tony Marconato wrote in his report.

And although the young man was under guardianship, “it does not appear that (he) was ever informed of the fact that this precluded him from obtaining or possessing a firearm by any court or law enforcement official, his parents or any other individual in this matter,” the detective said.

For those reasons, Marconato said the department will not file charges against anyone involved in the incident.

Schaller, who has since moved to California, said she was not surprised at the findings.

“But I am still shocked that it’s not considered a big deal by anybody in law enforcement,” she told the newspaper. “They don’t consider it bad decision-making.”

Conklin’s lawyer, Thomas Viloria, said they were confident that she had not violated any laws or department policies.

“The Reno Police Department does not have any policy which precludes the sale of guns while on duty,” Viloria said in an email.

Conklin was demoted from sergeant to officer after the incident.

Pia Carusone, executive director of Americans for Responsible Solutions, a group formed by former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona after she was shot by a mentally ill man in 2011, said “the fact that no laws were broken is exactly the problem.”

“This is a perfect example of why we need common-sense laws that ensure these types of sales between strangers are subject to simple background checks, and that more mental health records are included in the background checks system,” she said.