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John Katko, the Republican congressional candidate in the 24th Congressional District, speaks at a campaign event at the Cavalry Club in Manlius, N.Y., on Aug. 13, 2014. Katko, a former federal prosecutor, had his government-issued handgun stolen in 2000 from his car. The gun was used in a robbery on Burt Street in Syracuse, N.Y., that ended with two men being killed.

(Scott Schild | sschild@syracuse.)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- When John Katko quit his job as a federal prosecutor to run for Congress this year, he billed himself as the tough-on-crime, pro-gun candidate who fearlessly took on Syracuse street gangs and put 130 gangsters behind bars.

But the Republican, making his first run for public office, did not talk about his own experience as a crime victim -- one he has kept secret for 14 years.

It's a story that ends with Katko's handgun stolen from his pick-up truck, and then used in a brazen holdup and shootout that left two Syracuse men dead.

Katko broke no state or federal gun laws, and he was not disciplined by the Justice Department. But a review of the case shows he likely violated federal policies for the safe handling and storage of government-issued weapons.

Katko, 51, of Camillus, is running against U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei, D-Syracuse, in the 24th Congressional District.

Police reports and other public records show Katko asked for and received Justice Department permission in December 1999 to carry a concealed weapon -- a .40 caliber Glock semi-automatic pistol -- for his personal protection.

When issued the gun after a threat against his life, Katko had to agree to follow the U.S. Marshals Service policy that requires "weapons be concealed from view when not in use" and "stored in a secure manner to prevent theft, tampering, or misuse when not being carried."

A presidential directive from 1997 required agencies to provide gun or trigger locks to federal law enforcement personnel. The idea was to help secure weapons when they weren't being carried, and to prevent them from being fired by someone else.

Katko's gun is stolen

On the night of April 3, 2000, the prosecutor left the pistol on the floor of his Chevy pickup truck after parking in front of St. Mark's Episcopal Church on Syracuse's West Side, according to a police report.

Two men were shot dead and another wounded April 21, 2000 during a robbery at a gambling den at this house at 222 Burt St. in Syracuse, N.Y. A gun used in the robbery was stolen from then-Assistant U.S. Attorney John Katko, who is now running for Congress in the 24th Congressional District.

Between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., someone broke the truck's passenger side window and stole a green canvas bag containing his gun, U.S. Attorney's Office ID card, personal checks and other papers, Katko told police, according to the report. The pistol was loaded with nine rounds of ammunition.

(Katko told Syracuse.com the gun was in a locked briefcase under the seat of his locked truck.)

Less than three weeks later, five men dressed in black from head-to-toe burst inside an illegal gambling house on Syracuse's South Side, setting off a Friday night gunfight. The hail of bullets sent people jumping out of windows to escape from 222 Burt St.

Two men in the house, Vernon Griffin, 39, and the unrelated Henderson Griffin, 62, were shot to death. A third man, Robert Anderson, 47 at the time, survived after being shot in the back.

Five days later, police tracked down Bryan C. Hunter, a 21-year-old parolee who would become one of five men charged in the robbery and homicides. He was found hiding in Auburn with a loaded handgun - the same Glock stolen from Katko's truck, according to police reports.

Hunter told police that a day after the homicides he and a friend tossed three of the four guns used in the robbery into the Seneca River near his father's house. He kept only the Glock.

A police evidence report stated that only two rounds were left in the gun with a serial number - CXE132US - matching the weapon Katko reported stolen.

Investigators who recovered the gun said it was used in the robbery, but its bullets did not kill Vernon Griffin or Henderson Griffin.

In this file photo from April 2000, Bryan Hunter is arraigned in Syracuse City Court before Judge Jeffrey Merrill on charges stemming from the April 21, 2000 deaths of two Syracuse men during a robbery at a dice game in Syracuse, N.Y.

Hunter pleaded guilty to one count of murder, and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, according to his defense lawyer, Thomas Ryan, of Syracuse.

The Justice Department publicly acknowledged two days after Hunter's arrest that a stolen gun belonging to one of its prosecutors in Syracuse was used in the robbery and shootout. U.S. Attorney Daniel French declined to identify the prosecutor at the time. But he said the prosecutor had been issued the gun in December 1999 because of "a credible death threat."

Katko, the former chief of the Justice Department's Organized Crime Division in Syracuse, confirmed in a written statement that it was his gun that was stolen.

Katko said he was simply the victim of a crime, that he did nothing wrong when handling the gun.

"Legal gun safety is a responsibility all gun owners have. I have always complied with written protocols and department procedures and followed the personal safety advice and training of federal law enforcement professionals," Katko said in his statement.

"I have spent my entire career fighting to make our families safer by working to take illegal guns off the streets and by putting the most dangerous criminals and murderers out there behind bars," Katko said in his statement. "This experience is a reminder that even those fighting to protect the public and secure justice for victims can become victims of crime themselves. No one is immune."

Katko declined to be interviewed about the incident by Syracuse.com.

His campaign spokeswoman, Erin O'Connor, said Katko was not given a gun lock when he was issued the gun. He was given a lock box to secure the gun when he was not carrying it, she said.

Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney John Duncan in Syracuse confirmed that Katko was not disciplined or reprimanded over the stolen gun incident.

"It was reviewed, and it was determined that no further action was required," Duncan said Tuesday.

Joe Ciciarelli, chief deputy at the U.S. Marshals Service in Syracuse, said he did not recall when his department started using gun locks, or trigger locks, or if the federal policy was enforced locally in 2000.

French, now a lawyer in private practice in Syracuse, declined to discuss the case.

Policy required gun lock

Katko would have been required to follow both the "Code of Conduct" for securing weapons as required by the U.S. Marshal's Service and the U.S. Attorney's Manual, according to Justice Department policies.

A section of the U.S. Attorney's Manual updated in May 1999, before Katko was issued his gun, states that "individuals authorized to carry firearms pursuant to this order shall secure the firearms in a proper location when not carried on their person."

The manual states: "Everyone, especially those with young children, is required to comply with the presidential directive to secure their firearms with safety locking devices (gun locks) and receive proper instruction for the use of approved firearms."

The presidential directive from Bill Clinton in March 1997 required safety locks to be provided with each handgun issued to federal law enforcement officers, and to provide instructions for the proper use of the devices.

Police reports filed about the theft and recovery of Katko's gun made no reference to a gun lock, an apparent violation of the Justice Department policy.

Regardless of whether Katko violated a policy, an independent law enforcement expert said it appears Katko violated two basic rules of gun safety by storing the weapon in his vehicle, and failing to secure it with a gun lock.

"It's no different than for a citizen with a gun permit," said John DeCarlo, a 34-year police veteran who now coordinates the police studies program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. "The weapon always has to be kept, when not in your possession, with a gun lock or a barrel lock in a gun safe."

DeCarlo, a former police chief in Branford, Conn., said his former department and all other accredited police departments have strict policies about gun safety and storage. Those policies prohibit storage in the vehicle unless it's in a secure police lock box.

"Was it a wise thing to leave a gun in the vehicle?" DeCarlo said. "At one time, that was a fairly common practice. But I feel the weapon would have been in a more safe condition if it had not been stored in his vehicle."

He added, "It's a good example of how not to handle a weapon."

Katko on gun control

Katko resigned as a federal prosecutor in January to run for Congress against Maffei. On the campaign trail, he has referred frequently to his work prosecuting violent gangs and his support for the Second Amendment.

In his first interview as a candidate, Katko took aim at the New York SAFE Act, a strict gun-control law that Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed one month after 20 children and six adults were shot dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

"I'm an avid hunter and I think the SAFE Act is a knee-jerk reaction to a tragedy," he said. "Criminals don't buy guns legally. If we would enforce the laws now on the books, we would be a lot better off."

Vying against five other GOP hopefuls for the party's designation, Katko referred to his work against gangs March 1 when he persuaded Republican leaders to designate him as their candidate. He said fighting gangs made him tough, quick on his feet and able to talk to anyone.

In a July interview with Syracuse.com, Katko said he opposes the New York SAFE Act and any new federal gun laws.

Katko said he would have voted against an April 2013 bill in the U.S. Senate to expand federal background checks on gun purchases. That bill failed to gain enough votes for passage. Maffei supported a similar House bill to expand the background checks.

"We have a very robust federal system as it is, and I have been enforcing gun laws for 20 years," Katko told Syracuse.com in July. "A lot of the gun laws work and some do not. But I don't think additional bans on guns are going to solve the problem. I am for stepping up enforcement for those people who illegally obtain guns -- criminals -- and I will do everything in my power to make sure the New York SAFE Act never becomes a federal law."

Katko said he would support and encourage measures for safe gun ownership, including a tax rebate for individuals who buy a gun safe.

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