Gordon Rago

grago@ydr.com

Howard Cofflin had the parts, but there was work he needed to do.

The 56-year-old — previously of Loganville — compiled the necessary components to build an AR-15, police said, which would be used in a detailed plan to carry out the killings of his ex-girlfriend and police officers.

But state and federal laws presented him with road blocks along the way.

Cofflin was convicted as far back as 1978 and 1995 with crimes in Maryland that barred him from purchasing a firearm in the state, according to charging documents. Among them are charges in 1994 and 1995 of telephone misuse and resisting arrest, respectively.

And for Cofflin, it came down to one part of the AR-15, a rifle made for the U.S. military that is also legal for sale in Pennsylvania, that presented another large road block: The receiver.

The lower receiver on an AR-15 is the "guts" of the weapon, said Mike McCormick, a Pennsylvania gun rights attorney based in Verona, outside Pittsburgh. It's also the part that has the serial number. That means if you want to buy it, you have to undergo a background check.

"(Cofflin) didn't have the lower receiver," said Trooper Rob Hicks, a spokesperson with Pennsylvania State Police. PSP charged Cofflin in his plot to kill as well for making statements about plans to blow up the Loganville state police barracks.

So Cofflin instead bought a chunk of metal and planned to mill out the piece into the shape of a receiver by drilling holes. He sought to convert that piece into the lower receiver, skirting any laws that might require him to undergo a background check, Hicks said.

"He knew what he was doing, he knew the laws," Hicks said. "He knew he couldn't purchase one, so he was going about it in this method."

For other parts, Cofflin had gone to a gun show in Harrisburg, Baltimore County Police said this week. Police there believe he bought all the parts in Pennsylvania, spokesman John Wachter said.

Regulated

Gun parts like scopes and other add-ons are not regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said spokesman Steve Bartholomew. That's true unless the part is a frame or a receiver, as defined under federal law. In fact, under federal law, a firearm frame or receiver is listed under the definition of a firearm.

"It's the critical part of the firearm," McCormick said. "Without (the receiver), you don't have a firearm. That's the part into which all the other parts get fitted into."

People who sell firearms have to be licensed with the ATF. Generally, the ATF defines sellers as people who repetitively buy and sell firearms with the motive to make a profit.

It's unclear where Cofflin got the block of metal — it's possible he bought it online, Hicks said. And these days, there is a market for partially-built receivers, something that has drawn controversy, McCormick said.

Some companies in the U.S. sell 80 percent of a receiver, McCormick said, and buyers use tools like a drill to complete the part.

The attorney's response to the partial weapons?

"My belief is that if you're a prohibited person, you shouldn't have a firearm," he said.

But, he said, "as long as there have been laws, people have tried to get around them."

The sale of firearms (and receivers) have different applications under federal law. An unlicensed person is prohibited from transferring a firearm to another person who doesn't live in the seller's state, according to the ATF.

For the sale to happen lawfully, the firearm has to be shipped to a Federal Firearms Licensee in the recipient's state of residency.

One such person who does those types of transfers in York is Morrie Hooper. He runs background checks.

Hooper also sells gun parts for older military guns that people are trying to restore. In his mind, there are two reasons someone would buy gun parts instead of the whole gun.

"A lot of people mechanically are fixer-uppers, they like to make things," Hooper said.

The second reason: "It's a heck of a lot cheaper."

Police this week have said how Cofflin made statements about his "mechanical engineering" background. And that the tools necessary to convert the piece of metal were at the home in Loganville where he had lived.

What about Pennsylvania?

Federal law states that anyone convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year is not allowed to purchase a gun or ammunition.

That means Cofflin was barred from buying a firearm and is most likely the reason he sought to get parts. At least two of his former convictions — resisting arrest and telephone misuse — are misdemeanors and carry prison sentences of no more than three years, according to Maryland criminal code.

There are ways of getting around the law when it comes to purchasing a firearm, but someone like Cofflin is committing a crime in itself if he did buy one, McCormick said.

"What this guy was doing was trying to circumvent the law," McCormick said.

Extradition

Cofflin is being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center without bail. The York County District Attorney's Office has started the extradition process, spokesman Kyle King said Friday. But, he added, it is most likely that nothing will be done until Cofflin's Baltimore County charges are addressed next month.

In Baltimore County, police charged Cofflin with illegal possession of ammunition and a rifle/shotgun. Court records show he is scheduled for a court hearing there on Feb. 10.