{"id":28113,"date":"2024-04-18T17:06:04","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T23:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/farmington-gun-buyback-probe-ends-tort-claim-filed-in-response\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T00:21:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T06:21:02","slug":"farmington-gun-buyback-probe-ends-tort-claim-filed-in-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/farmington-gun-buyback-probe-ends-tort-claim-filed-in-response\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmington gun buyback probe ends; tort claim filed in response"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"This
This is a photo of nine firearms destroyed on Dec. 16 in Farmington by New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence. (Courtesy photo)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A three-month investigation by San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrari into the legality of nonprofit gun buyback programs in New Mexico provided few answers and left the county facing a potential legal claim.<\/p>\n

Ferrari opened an investigation in December into New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence, after the nonprofit came to Farmington to destroy and collect unwanted guns from four households. Ferrari questioned whether this violated New Mexico Statute Section 30-7-7.1.<\/p>\n

He questioned how the guns were destroyed and the legality of what transpired on Dec. 16 when New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence Co-President Miranda Viscoli posted on Facebook that she made a special trip to Farmington to remove and destroy unwanted guns, for which she offered gift cards.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe New Mexico Department of Justice released a statement confirming the legality of the gun buyback programs that have been run by New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence, its officers and members,\u201d the nonprofit organization stated in a news release.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the Department of Justice is specifically not in the business of rendering such opinions, the disinformation campaign created by the Farmington Sheriff\u2019s Office led the U.S. Attorney for the State of New Mexico to take this extraordinary action,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

The investigation by Ferrari began after the city of Farmington canceled a Dec. 8 gun buyback that was supposed to be done in collaboration between the Farmington Police Department and New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur gun buyback was canceled by the city, but local residents asked us to show up anyway. So, we spent today dismantling guns house by house,\u201d the organization posted on social media along with a photograph of several guns cut in half.<\/p>\n

Viscoli said one gift card was given in exchange for the firearms.<\/p>\n

Ferrari began asking for residents who participated in this buyback to come forward, because law enforcement was not present to conduct a \u201cstolen firearm check.\u201d He also worried that the guns were not destroyed to ATF standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo stolen firearm check was conducted on the firearms, and we do not know the firearms\u2019 location due to them being removed from San Juan County,\u201d Ferrari said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important to remember that the Farmington issues began when the sheriff and others canceled our planned gun buyback with local law enforcement in the eleventh hour,\u201d Viscoli said in a prepared statement. \u201cLocal gun owners who did not feel safe having these guns in their homes asked us to help them dispose of the weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time he opened the investigation, Ferrari stated he was not planning to file criminal charges against anyone, he simply had questions about whether the buyback was handled appropriately, since law enforcement staff were not present.<\/p>\n

Ferrari partnered with the San Juan County District Attorney\u2019s Office to question the legality of providing gift cards for guns and whether the guns were destroyed to ATF standards.<\/p>\n

The two agencies asked for a legal analysis by the New Mexico Attorney General\u2019s Office in reference to the legality of nonprofit groups not having to undergo background checks on firearms they purchase while conducting their gun buyback program with and without law enforcement,\u201d Ferrari wrote in an open letter to the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also forwarded our findings of firearms not being properly destroyed to the ATF due to this being a federal violation,\u201d he wrote, adding that he had concerns about Viscoli taking the firearms into schools, where they were turned into garden tools.<\/p>\n

Viscoli stated that New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence \u201cmet with the three top officers of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms to confirm that our established procedures for dismantling firearms conforms with best practices.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cIt is hard to comprehend how or why anyone who cares about the safety of their community would get their holsters in a twist over this one.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Farmington resident, who did not come forward during the investigation, filed a tort claim notice against the county and the Sheriff\u2019s Office afterward. Tracy Thrailkill said Ferrari\u2019s investigation left her suffering from \u201csevere emotional distress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thrailkill had turned over unwanted firearms to Viscoli, because she wanted the guns out of her house, after the gun buyback was canceled. Thrailkill contacted Viscoli, who made a special trip to Farmington to meet with her, and \u201cfour different residences to cut up their guns,\u201d said Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe, who helped facilitate the meeting.<\/p>\n

Thrailkill stated in her tort claim that she was \u201cdragged into and used by Sheriff Ferrari in his witch hunt against New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence and what should have been a good day was turned into a nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ferrari not only consulted with the New Mexico Department of Justice, questioning the buyback, because law enforcement was not present. He also shared photos with the ATF, regarding the destruction of the firearms.<\/p>\n

Thrailkill wrote in her claim that this left her unable to eat or sleep.<\/p>\n

\u201cI collapsed from exhaustion,\u201d she wrote, and \u201cwas physically ill every day for months, wondering if today was the day the sheriff\u2019s department or the Feds would be knocking on my door to arrest me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ferrari and the DA had to wait for an opinion from the New Mexico Department of Justice before action could be taken against anyone, and the response from Chief Deputy Attorney General James Grayson was open-ended.<\/p>\n

Grayson stated that while best practices for gun buyback events should \u201cinclude the involvement of law enforcement simultaneous shredding of the firearm,\u201d and conducting background checks, he pointed out that there may be \u201climited situations\u201d that preclude law enforcement participation and \u201cwould not trigger the requirement of a background check.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe emphasize that it would be prudent to conduct such events only in association with law enforcement,\u201d he said. \u201cA law enforcement presence provides an added measure of safety in conducting such an event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Law enforcement also has the capability of running the serial number \u201cto determine whether a firearm has been reported stolen, and police officers can determine whether a firearm should be preserved in the event it is later found to be evidence of a crime,\u201d Grayson wrote.<\/p>\n

Grayson added that \u201claw enforcement officers are also able to determine whether a certain destruction method satisfies ATF regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grayson summarized his findings by stating that \u201cthere may be lawful methods of conducting a gun buyback event without the presence of law enforcement and without conducting background checks, but it would be a better practice to have law enforcement present and involved in these events.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ferrari and the DA also had concerns about gift cards being exchanged for guns could constitute the \u201csale\u201d of the gun.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a nonprofit entity exchanges a gift card for a firearm, the gift card is \u2018consideration\u2019 that makes the exchange a sale,\u201d Grayson wrote. \u201cThis is true even if the amount of a gift card is unrelated to the value of the firearm because consideration refers to \u2018anything of value exchanged between the parties to a sale.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He then stated that if the firearm is surrendered to a nonprofit that \u201cdestroys it such that it is no longer a firearm, and provides, after destruction, a gift card in appreciation for the surrender, the gift card may not meet the definition of consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her tort claim, Thrailkill stated that the firearms she turned over to New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence, \u201cno longer existed,\u201d because they \u201cwere turned into scraps of metal and pieces of wood.\u201d<\/p>\n

She further stated that she \u201cdid not relinquish ownership\u201d until the firearms were completely destroyed. \u201cNo violation or crime was ever committed by myself or Ms. Viscoli,\u201d Thrailkill wrote.<\/p>\n

She added that no background check was needed, because \u201cthese firearms were legally destroyed while in my possession, the owner, and no firearms existed to be sold.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tri-City Record<\/em> contacted San Juan County officials for a comment. Spokesman Devin Neeley said, \u201cSan Juan County does not comment on any pending litigation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Mexico Department of Justice weighs in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-28113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28113"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80309,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28113\/revisions\/80309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28113"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=28113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}