A New York state homeowner has been arrested and jailed on felony charges after he shot and killed two burglars with an unregistered gun.
But 64-year-old Ronald Stolarczyk isn’t be charged with murder, manslaughter or assault.
He could spend four years in prison under New York’s anti-gun “SAFE” laws, intended to eliminate private gun ownership through harassment of gun owners, after prosecutors realized the gun he used to defend his life was not reported to the government after he inherited it from his late father.
WKTV in Utica reports:
The homeowner right now is not charged in connection with the deaths of the two suspected intruders; just an illegal gun possession charge…
…Right now, Stolarczyk is charged with felony gun possession because investigators believe he used his deceased father’s gun, which he never registered to himself, to kill the two suspected intruders…
…Stolarczyk appeared in Utica City Court Wednesday and is being held on $10,000 cash bail or $15,000 bond. He is scheduled in Deerfield Town Court Monday at 6 p.m. and will remain in custody through that appearance. The maximum sentence for what the homeowner is charged with is 1 1/3 to 4 years in state prison.
The criminals’ family is now calling the dead burglars victims of “gun violence.”
In a statement released to WKTV, the family states: “On May 28th our world was completely changed and will never be the same. We lost two wonderful people to gun violence. We are not sure why our Brother and Aunt were in Deerfield but we can say with certainty that they were not there to harm anyone.They were two amazing, caring, and loving people we truly believe they thought the house was unoccupied. They did not deserve to die!!! The police should have been called and their deaths could have been avoided. They are also victims & will deeply be missed!!”