On Aug. 2, 2006, a man walked into Rayco Sales gun shop in Juneau and asked to look at a .22 caliber rifle. The store owner, Ray Coxe, and the man examined and talked about the gun together, and Coxe gave the man a quote — $195.
The man didn’t buy the gun and picked up his backpack as if to leave the store. When Coxe walked into the back of the store, the man, later identified as Jason Coday, took the rifle and left two $100 bills on the counter.
Two days later, the man used the rifle to murder a 26-year-old man working at the Juneau Fred Meyer whom he had never met before in an unprovoked attack. It was Juneau’s first murder in five years.
Was it an illegal sale off the books? The question now goes before the Alaska Supreme Court. Or rather, the question of whether that should be a question for a jury to decide now goes before the Supreme Court. Oral arguments in the matter were held last week in Juneau.
Jonathan Lowy with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington, D.C., who is co-counsel with Mark Choate on behalf of the family of the murdered Simone Young Kim, argued that Coxe sells guns off the books then later claims that they are missing. Lowy said a previous audit of Rayco Sales found 200 guns missing from the inventory.
“To put that in context, 90 percent of gun dealers have zero guns missing from inventory,” Lowy said. “ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), they looked at the worst of the worst as far as gun dealers in this country. Out of 800,000 gun dealers, they found 16 in the entire nation who had that sort of total.”
Kim’s family originally filed the civil lawsuit seeking damages for $100,000 for the wrongful death of Kim, a painting contractor from Anchorage who was working on the Fred Meyer remodeling project at the time of his death. The family sued Coxe for knowingly violating gun laws by illegally selling the gun to the killer, Jason Coday, and for negligence.
Lowy went on to say in court and in written briefs that two firearms and security experts testified that the guns were likely sold off the books; that ATF found Coxe violated gun laws several times in the past, including disposing of firearms with no record of sale as required by federal law; that Coxe’s own employees expressed concerns to Coxe that it was too easy for someone to steal a gun from the store; and that when four guns were reported missing in rapid succession in 1993, the Juneau Police Department gave Coxe a verbal warning to increase security on his guns.
On top of that, Lowy argues, Coxe’s story is inconsistent, and that there are contradictions in his sworn testimony. For example, Lowy lists, Coxe put forth that the reason he left the future killer Jason Coday unattended in his store is because the store was busy at the time. That’s not true, Lowy said.
“He was the only one there, there was nobody else in the store,” Lowy said. “So not only is that an essential contradiction, but it cuts out the entire logic of Coxe’s story.”
Coxe’s attorney Anthony Sholty said that Coxe had thought Coday had left the store, as indicated by Coday picking up his backpack to leave.
“This transaction is over as far as Mr. Coxe knows,” Sholty said. “...As far as he knew, Mr. Coday was leaving and that was the end of it.”
Sholty called the family’s claims of an illegal sale “purely speculative,” and noted that the trial court judge agreed.
“I think the key point is, can you reasonably infer from the fact that $200 is left on the counter of the gun case display that Mr. Coxe was selling this rifle to Mr. Coday in an illegal fashion? I just don’t think you can infer that because there are a lot of other possibilities just as likely,” Sholty told the court, adding, “There are a number of possibilities for why Mr. Coday put the $200 on the counter, and frankly they’re all speculation.”
A trial court judge had agreed with Sholty that the Kim family’s claim of an illegal sale was based on “unsupported assumptions and speculation” and that it could not overcome Coxe’s sworn testimony. The judge granted a summary judgment, which dismissed the case without it going to a jury.
Sholty said, “It’s not a question of whether Mr. Coday obtained the rifle as a result of Mr. Coxe’s negligence. The trial court granted summary judgment because there was no genuine factual issue about how Jason Coday obtained the rifle from Rayco Sales — he stole it or he took it without Mr. Coxe’s knowledge or permission, and it doesn’t really make a difference how you want to describe it either way. The result should be the same.”
Coxe could not be reached for comment this week.
Factual disputes aside, a bigger-picture issue looming before the state supreme court is whether a federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) is constitutional.
The trial judge had issued his ruling based on Sholty’s argument that the Kim family’s lawsuit was barred under PLCAA. PLCAA prohibits lawsuits against sellers of firearms for harm caused by the misuse of a firearm, though there are some exceptions.
Every appellate court to ever consider the matter has ruled that it is constitutional. Still, Lowy and Choate want the Alaska Supreme Court to consider it, and it would be the first state supreme court to do so.
Lowy describes PLCAA as federal gun industry shield law that’s preventing the Kim’s case from being heard under Alaska law.
“The Kim family, they’re entitled to their day in court, the same justice under the law as everybody else in Alaska,” he said in a phone interview. “It’s outrageous that Ray Coxe wrongfully supplied a crazed criminal with a gun that he should get special protection from the law that you or I or any other small business person in Alaska gets. He’s the last person that deserves special immunity and Congress did not want to give special immunity to people who profited off of supplying criminals.”
• Contact reporter Emily Russo Miller at 523-2263 or at emily.miller@juneauempire.com.
Comments (78)
Add commentRidiculous
"Lowy said a previous audit of Rayco Sales found 200 guns missing from the inventory." That is an extremely high number. I think its time for this place to be SHUT DOWN!
Selling a gun, or a baseball
Selling a gun, or a baseball bat is the same thing. Neither is a weapon until it is used as such.
Ray had better be careful. BO's anti-freedom crowd at DOJ will be gunning for him.
Should have been shut down!
With a known record like this one, the agency in charge is as much at fault as the store owner! The question is, why was Mr. Coxe allowed to remain a gun dealer? Nonfeasance?
Here come the gun kissers!
I am looking forward to the Fox new blonds devotees' posts this morning!
Several things in this article caught my attention. First, um, I don't normally, randomly lay $200 down on a counter of any store I visit. But if I were to do that, um, I think it can be assumed that I bought something there.
Secondly, when a gun store owner has over 200 guns missing from his inventory, how did this escape the attention of JPD, Alaska State Police and ATF? 200 guns?!? Did he report them stolen? If he did, he'd need that police report to file an insurance claim, and JPD should have reported that to ATF. If he didn't report them stolen, then that is a HUGE red flag.
Also, why is the state Supreme Court interpreting federal law? Shouldn't this case be in federal court?
And to Maddy above, how can a gun possibly be interpreted as anything other than a weapon?!? I know many gun kissers consider them to be art to be hung on a wall or displayed on some altar. It doesn't need to be used as a weapon to be a weapon as you claim. Nuclear bombs in silos are weapons dude. So are all guns. Nice try though.
It also made me cringe to know that there are 800,000 gun dealers in the U.S.
And finally, I don't think you can hold a gun shop owner responsible for selling a gun to a person who later commits a homicide with that gun, IF (big "if" here) the sale was a lawful sale. However, if any gun shop owner knowingly and systematically sells guns off the books for whatever reasons, and if this is the case with this gun sale, then the owner could be considered an accessory or at the very least, reckless.
And the fact that this particular gun store has hundreds of guns missing from their inventory implies a possible pattern of recklessness or even wanton disregard for public safety.
I hope the FBI and ATF monitors this store with a colonoscope. Something ain't right.
Responsibility
This same scenario played out in Tacoma. A lax gun store owner who clearly chose not to follow the rules. Who did he let "slip out"? John Allen Muhammad and John Malvo, the notorious Beltway snipers, who mercillesly killed several people with a "lost" Bushmaster assault rifle. Can't run the business right, take away the guns and let him sell fishing tackle.
Jo, when is a gun not a
Jo, when is a gun not a weapon? When its a hunting tool. Are you sure you live in Alaska? Some people seem to have this idea that guns are evil and just waiting to kill someone. It is a tool. A very efficient tool, I'll admit, but if I want you dead, it doesnt matter if I have a gun, knife, chainsaw, or kitchen spoon. It is the intent of the user that matters. More people are killed daily with cars than are killed all year with guns, yet no one (except Al Gore and his luny followers) want cars banned.
Time frame
The article says "Two days later the man used the gun to kill...." Did Coxe report the gun missing during that two day period? Surely, when he went back to where the gun had been left on the counter he noticed it missing!
Careful, kp!
Don't threaten Jo with a kitchen spoon. You might sound like you're looking for a date. Weapon? Paper targets world wide are in great peril. Beer bottles and pop cans are in great danger.
This appears to be negligence. A customer should not be left unattended in a gun store. The two hundies on the counter should have elicited a phone call to the police. Tragic occurrence.
hunting tool = weapon
Same thing.
Your analogy compares guns to cars is very flawed. Nice try though. That's like saying heart attacks kill people too, but Al Gore doesn't want to outlaw heart attacks.
I don't think guns are evil as you ridiculously claim. I support the Second Amendment. I just think that certain people should not be allowed the freedoms allowed by the Second Amendment, such as violent felons, the mentally insane and others. And I feel that gun dealers who sell things off the books or who otherwise operate in an unsafe and questionable manner should not be allowed to do business in this state. They are a danger to society. It's similar to liquor stores selling gin to 12 year old kids. Certain businesses like liquor stores and gun stores have to be LICENSED to operate here. That means, if you are licensed to operate your business, you have to abide by the state's rules, and if you don't, you lose your license to operate your business here. Otherwise, anyone could set up a lemonade stand and sell AK 47's too.
The Constitution doesn't say the "...right to keep and bear tools shall not be infringed." We knew what the framers meant.
A screwdriver is a tool. A gun is a weapon. Both are interchangeable as tools or weapons but the main purpose for a screwdriver is to drive screws, and the main purpose for a gun is to shoot something.
Given your analogy, a gun could also be a toy, as in, something to shoot clay pigeons with. Which reminds me of the silly redneck poem:
This is mah rifle.
This is mah gun.
This one's fer huntin',
This one's fer fun.
Hypothetical scenario
Latitude's Firearms
You come into my store, wanting to buy a gun. But you're a convicted felon and I can't legally sell it to you. But I want to make the sale, and besides, I think EVERYBODY has a right to own a gun, even felons and nut cases.
So I tell you: "Now I'm going to walk into the back room. When I do, you leave $200 right here (I point at a spot on the counter) and take the gun and leave. You won't get a receipt. I'll report the gun stolen. Have a nice day, and thanks for your business. Please come again."
Of course I'm not saying that's what happened in this case, but if I was an unscrupulous gun dealer, that's how I would do it.
I wonder how many felons I could sell guns to in this town pulling that stunt?
Rayco Sales
"A theft or loss of firearms must be reported to your local police as well as to ATF within 48 hours after the discovery."
This a direct quote from the Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide, revised September 2005.
Has old Ray not been doing this, and also keeping that info in his "bound book"? I would guess the ATF will be knocking on his door soon, if they haven't already. Looks like he may be in line to be out of the gun business!
Now, if this particular rifle was logged into his personal collection bound book, it is perfectly legal for him to sell to some one with out doing the instant back ground check. I do not know if it is legal to sell personal guns from your place of business though. Personally, I will not sell any gun, either from my business inventory or my personal collection with out doing the back ground check, even if you are a close personal friend. If the ATF knocks on my door, I certainly want all of my ducks in a row.
You seem to be confused Jo.
You seem to be confused Jo. In your first post, you are comparing guns to nuclear weapons. In the second you are claiming to support the 2nd amendment. Why does it bother you that there are 800,000 gun dealers nation wide? That averages out to 16,000 per state. Maybe one or two per city? Why is that offensive? Guess how many liquer stores there are nationwide! Was Ray negilgent. Yeah. Does that mean he's been engaging in illegal activity? No. The sad fact is that the family feels cheated by not being able to prosecute the shooter in court, and they are being influenced by the Brady bunch to go after anyone they can. The agenda of the Brady bunch is no secret and they will use any tool/weapon they can to reach it. In this case they are using a distraught family and an aging gun shop owner who is not a paperwork person. Do you even know how much paperwork is involved in his business? It is ridiculous. And anything can be a weapon. You need to actually look at some legal definitions and not emotional agenda driven concepts. If I take a kazoo and stab your eye out with it, it has become a weapon. No one in their right mind would argue that all kazoos are weapons. If I am out target shooting with my rifle, it is not a weapon. Once I aim it at you threateningly, it is. Its not that hard of a concept, really.
Get it right Jo.
A gun is a "Firearm" They protect far more people than they harm. They can be used as a "Weapon" They can, and are, used to put food on the table, they are also used for recreation.
Whoa.
If anyone's been in Rayco and met Ray they can tell you he's one the nicest guys in town. Talk with him a while and you'll probably get a peek at his book of jokes and funny anecdotes, come up with a good one and you'll make it in. 200 guns missing? Let me see the black and white report before I go making judgements. He's a trusting, honest man who does a lot for this town, and makes sure that those same principles that define him, define his shop. Someone got a gun and shot someone with it. That's the case, especially considering that everything else is purely speculative. And I question anyone who loses someone and sues for financial gain.
only
The only way to buy a gun is on the trading boards located in the malls, or on Craigslist. Why go to a store and let the government know you've got a gun, what kind of gun, how many guns & where you live. Hurricane Katrina hits & the police go home to home confiscated all the "legal" guns they could.
Newspaper misleading
Ray Coxe did not sell any guns "off the books." No firearms were sold without the proper forms being completed, and no purchased firearm left the building without the required federal form and purchaser background check. Pages missing out of a log book is a reflection of the kind of help a gun store must hire e.g. the people restaurants hire are often convicted felons but those people can't pass the federal backgrounds checks required for working in a federally licensed gun store yet gun stores pay those kind of low wages. This is no different and no more important than a six-pack charter captain losing pages from his log book. No big deal (but of course the attorneys make it sound like something because they want a payday).
Ray Coxe reported the Ruger 10/22 stolen immediately. However, JPD showed little interest until the gun was used in a murder. This news article should have reported that.
The gun store employees would be sued, as they are also licensed, but they have no money. And money is what a civil lawsuit is all about. And that is why a federal law is in state court - because the federal court would not take a civil case where plaintiffs looking for a deep pocket is the main legal matter.
Until the 1968 Gun Control Act there were no licensed gun dealers and no forms required to purchase firearms and ammunition. Lee Oswald bought his Italian military rifle by mail-order but in the anti-gun hysteria that followed the feds - through the 1968 Gun Control Act - built up a large bureaucracy tracing guns and ammunition. That's how those same feds were able to pull off the so-called Fast and Furious gun distribution scheme that sold guns to Mexican gun dealers.
More people drown each year in the US than are killed by firearms yet swimming trunks and swimming pools are not regulated, and there is no record kept of sales. Guns are used in self-defense situations about 2 million times a year, most of the time without a shot being fired. This week all the 6th graders at one of the Juneau middle schools will be shooting firearms as part of the curriculum. Democrats need to get over it.
but dog
But G dog, the dems were successful in banning lawn darts. Given the chance swimming pools may be next
g-dogs
You must have missed this part of the article:
"...a previous audit of Rayco Sales found 200 guns missing from the inventory.
“To put that in context, 90 percent of gun dealers have zero guns missing from inventory,” Lowy said. “ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), they looked at the worst of the worst as far as gun dealers in this country. Out of 800,000 gun dealers, they found 16 in the entire nation who had that sort of total.”
So what you're saying is that out of 800,000 dealers in the nation, only 16 gun stores had as crappy of employees as Rayco's? That would seem to suggest a whole nuther level of incompetence. If Greens Creek hired such incompetent employees and someone ended up dead, the mine would be held accountable. Why is it different with Rayco?
Regarding the rest of your gun screed...totally irrelevant to the case at hand.
Any guns go "missing" this
Any guns go "missing" this weekend?
200 missing -- that is ridiculous
To have had 200 firearms stolen from your business is a definite indicator to me that this guy is the loose cannon. I do not like all the restrictions on selling firearms and having to have a federal license to do so. However, there are lots of license holders and finding a gun shop is not an insurmountable obstacle. And while the license holders cry about being regulated they seem to use the license as a rational to charge you fees for their having one.
All the conditions one accepts when the apply for and obtain a license to deal in firearms and related ammunition is not different than accepting the conditions for selling many other commodities. Car dealers have to be bonded and insured, liquor stores have to employees who have completed a TAMS class and must checked ID for verification of age and restricted from alcohol on that ID and firearms dealers have to sell to a person who passes a background check.
Were this a case involving a few, very few, firearms transactions that the shop owner was using as a basis to challenge the federal laws I'd see the matter as one of a fight for 2nd amendment rights. With a history of 200 missing firearms I doubt I would be able to see this a anything less than an ongoing failure of the owner to comply with the regulations.
This guy was wanted on gun
This guy was wanted on gun charges out of Nevada, and was already a convicted felon. Had the paperwork been completed, this gun could not have been sold to him. What exactly is Mr. Coxe's defense? The gun was stolen? Well in that case Mr. Coxe was clearly negligent - in leaving a customer alone with two firearms to "make a choice" as well as having inadequate security in the store.
This one's fer fun:
Those fun ones Jo? Especially sneaking up from behind.
Latitude
The crime was murder and the murderer was convicted. That should have been the end of it. If the murderer had used an axe or shovel (stolen, purchased, or whatever) then there would be no lawsuit and no news article. These ambulence-chasing, anti-gun, Democratic attorneys are convinced that Ray Coxe has a deep pocket. He owns a building that CBJ says is worth over $1 million, and that may be what the attorneys see as worthwhile for them. Ray immediately reported the gun stolen, and that is all he is required to do. The bookkeeping abilities of an 80 year-old businessman has nothing to do with the murder.
Democrats want our guns, and these attorneys are Democrats. There is no other way to see this. Talk to any CPA in Juneau and they will tell you that most small businesses have poor accounting control. So what?
A different era
Ray's biggest problem is that he is from a different era. I remember the days when you could come see the guns and even check them out, take them to the range, and try them out. You'd bring it back and buy it or return it. I cannot remember what paperwork was involved but I'd suspect that's where the missing guns went.
Ray is from an era when:
Only men bought guns.
People were honest.
A handshake meant something.
Anyone who knows Ray knows
Anyone who knows Ray knows you can distract him for hours with a hunting story or political satire. He stays in busines because his employees run the store while Ray BS's with the clientele. He does the behind the scenes work, but mostly chats. Sometimes when his staffing is low, you have to fight to interrupt the story session to pay for your items.
I also question a Federal audit that found over 200 guns missing. I have seen many many federal investigations and have rarely seen one done acccurately and correctly.Had Ray "lost" 200 guns, the FBI would be crawling all over his shop along with ATF and Ray would be SOL. Haven't seen this happen yet, so I think that there must be more to this story.
Time will tell:
First off let’s let the law figure this out. No one here knows exactly what has happened. I visit that store quit frequently and have known Ray for decades. He is not a crooked man and would never sell to a known felon. I do believe he runs a very relaxed store and only because he believes in his fellow man. He seems to trust everyone. Is that a bad trait I don’t think so. However under the circumstances of the business he might want to rethink that.
Bigdan57, a dealer has to call NICS on any sale concerning a firearm. Rifle, handgun or shotgun. It is not necessary however if that person holds a Alaska concealed weapons’ permit. Also a personal firearm can be sold out of you’re personnel collection as long as it was registered in the “bound book” and has been in you’re inventory for at least a year. Also, even though you are selling a firearm from you’re personal collection you still have to do a background check on that buyer.
This was an illegal purchase...not an illegal sale
There is a difference - but I'm not sure the law has defined both. If Rayco sold Coday the weapon without going through the correct procedures because Coday was a felon that would be an ILLEGAL SALE.
If Coday knew he couldn't buy a gun the legal way and took the gun but left behind the money in hopes of not being pursued as a thief, then that is an ILLEGAL PURCHASE.
Those are totally different things.....in the first the merchant is totally in the wrong and must be prosecuted. The second scenario is not the merchants fault at all - the "purchaser" should be prosecuted for illegally obtaining a firearm.
SilentMajority. I remember
SilentMajority. I remember that. Ray would offen let you take the gun to the range and "test drive" it. I suspect that Ray would still let me do that, but then again he has known me for multiple decades. I doubt he would let someone he doesnt know do that at this point. I also dont remember any paper work done for that. It was a nice service though. If I am buying a used gun, I want to know what I am getting. Ray is a rare breed in that he does trust his fellow man. He treats everyone fairly (unless he's buying) and is a nice, honest man. It is unfortunate that this happened. Anyone who thinks Ray has deep pockets though is in for a shock. The store is about all he's got. And just because CBJ says its worth $1 mil doesnt mean anything. I know he tried to sell it a few years back and ended up unlisting it.
Lynden Johnson: Democrat
Lynden Johnson signed the “Gun control act of 1968” into law. It was after this that all the restrictions and paper work came into effect, form 4473 “yellow form” now white for example.
I also remember when Ray would let you test drive a firearm, but now he will not let you do so until there is a background check and the 4473 is completed. Times have changed. However I feel not for the good.
stolen?
If Rayco sales reported the gun stolen, then he's CYA as far as i'm concerned. As far as the 200 guns missing?, Could be bad inventory tracking. If you bring a gun in on consignment and they fill out the paper work and log it in the books, the gun does'nt sell and the consignee comes back and takes the gun back home, but the paper work is not adjusted to show that the gun has been removed from the store maybe?
I doubt it was 200 NEW guns, guess we'll find out soon.