Carroll County Man Charged with Violations of Gun Laws

Maryland Attorney General, Douglas F. Gansler, announced today that Robert Lee Bowman, Jr. was charged in Howard County Circuit Court with making a false statement on an Affidavit and Application to Purchase a Regulated Firearm, Perjury and Attempting to Illegally Possess a Regulated Firearm.

The charges allege that on or about October 21, 2006 Robert Lee Bowman, Jr. executed an Affidavit and Application to Purchase a Regulated Firearm in which he falsely affirmed that he was not a person against whom a current civil protective order had been entered. The application was disapproved by the Maryland State Police Firearms Registration Section in Howard County. No trial date has been set.

False statement on an Application to Purchase a Regulated is punishable by a maximum sentence of three (3) years in prison and a fine of $5000. Perjury is punishable by a maximum sentence of ten (10) years in prison. Common law attempt to illegally possess a regulated firearm is punishable by a maximum sentence of five (5) years in prison.

The pending case will be prosecuted by the Firearms Trafficking Unit of the Attorney General’s Office. Attorney General Gansler thanked Assistant Attorney General Clarence Goetz for his work on the case. A criminal charge is merely an accusation of wrongdoing and the defendant is presumed innocent unless the State proves him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.